SECTION 66.76. New Editions of Adopted Instructional Materials

(a) A publisher may submit a request to the commissioner of education for approval to substitute a new edition of state-adopted instructional materials. A publisher requesting approval of a new edition shall provide a written request in a manner designated by the commissioner that includes an explanation of the reason for the substitution. The request must be accompanied by an electronic sample and a correlation document that meets all the requirements of the correlation document provided for the initial review. This requirement includes electronic instructional materials and Internet products for which all users receive the same updates. Proposed changes shall be made available for public review on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website for a minimum of 60 calendar days prior to approval.

(b) A publisher that requests to substitute a new edition of state-adopted instructional materials must comply with the following additional requirements:

(1) provide that there will be no additional cost to the state;

(2) certify in writing that the new material meets the applicable Texas essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) or Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (TPG) and is free from factual errors; and

(3) certify that the updates in the new edition do not affect the product's coverage of Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.002(h), as it relates to that specific subject and grade level or course(s), understanding the importance of patriotism and functioning productively in a free-enterprise society with appreciation for the basic democratic values of our state and national heritage.

(c) With prior commissioner approval, publishers may, at any time, substitute a new edition if the changes made to the new edition do not affect the product's TEKS coverage or its coverage of TEC, §28.002(h).

(1) Substitution requests to content that was not used in determining the product's eligibility for adoption must be submitted to the commissioner to confirm the changes do not affect TEKS coverage or coverage of TEC, §28.002(h).

(2) Responses from the commissioner to update requests shall be provided within 60 days after receipt of the request. If no action has been taken by the end of the 60 days, the request is deemed approved.

(3) Proposed changes shall be posted on the TEA website for a minimum of 60 days prior to approval.

(d) All requests for updates involving content used in determining the product's eligibility for adoption must be approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) prior to their introduction into state-adopted instructional materials. Requests must be submitted in a format designated by the commissioner and must include correlations to applicable student expectations. The SBOE may assess penalties as allowed by law against publishers that fail to obtain approval for updates to such content in state-adopted instructional materials prior to delivery of the materials to school districts.

(e) Publishers must agree to supply the previous version of state-adopted instructional materials to school districts that choose to continue using the previous version during the duration of the original contract. This subsection does not apply to electronic instructional materials.

Source Note: The provisions of this §66.76 adopted to be effective March 24, 2020, 45 TexReg 1989