2023 Tennessee Code › Title 49 - EDUCATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-50-1703) › Chapter 6 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (§§ 49-6-101 — 49-6-8106) › Part 22 - TEXTBOOKS (§§ 49-6-2201 — 49-6-2211) › Section 49-6-2203 - Contracts with publishers

(a)
The commission may promulgate rules establishing minimum manufacturing standards and specifications for textbooks and instructional materials and establishing the conditions under which the commission contracts with publishers. The commission may make contracts with the publishers for a period of no more than ninety-seven (97) months. The commission may extend any existing contracts entered after April 27, 1984, for up to two (2) additional years if the commission notifies the affected publishers at least six (6) months prior to the beginning of the extension period. With the advice and consent of the state board of education, in order to implement the board's standards and courses of study, the commission may prescribe minimum content and reading level of textbooks and instructional materials.
(b)
No less than thirty (30) days prior to the deadline for receipt of bids, the commission shall give notice to school book publishers when bids must be received on all books to be listed, the contracts of which expire or are to be terminated on June 30 of the succeeding year and when it will meet to consider the bids received. The commission shall meet on the day designated to consider the bids received, shall read them publicly and shall then proceed to select books for the approved lists on which bids have been requested. The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations governing bids and any additional information that will be required to be submitted with the bids.
(c)
All bids shall be made on uniform blanks, which are to be supplied by the commission and shall be filed with the secretary of the commission on or before ten o'clock a.m. (10:00 a.m.) on the day designated for the call of bids. Each bid shall be accompanied by a certified check of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the amount of the check to be determined at the rate of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each book bid, but in no event to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for any one (1) bidder. The checks shall be payable to the state treasurer and shall be forfeited to the state if the bidder, whose bid or part of the bid is accepted, fails, within thirty (30) days after the award, to execute the contract and bond, as provided in this part. The checks of unsuccessful bidders shall be returned immediately after the listing. The checks of successful bidders shall be returned upon proper execution of the contract and bond. An acceptable performance bond may be filed with the commission in lieu of a certified check.
(d)
(1)
Copies of all textbooks and instructional materials bid shall be filed with the secretary of the commission on or before a date specified by the commission, but no later than the date of the start of the review by the advisory panels. A publisher shall not submit draft copies of textbooks, instructional materials or other ancillary materials. All textbooks, instructional materials and accompanying manuals, workbooks and other ancillary materials shall be submitted in finished form no later than the start of the review period. If a complete copy of any textbooks, instructional materials or any of their ancillary materials is not filed prior to the date specified by the commission, then the textbook or instructional materials shall not be considered for adoption. The textbooks and instructional materials shall be accompanied by a list stating the edition, title and author of each textbook or any instructional materials offered.
(2)
No textbook or instructional materials shall be listed for adoption unless they have been filed as provided in subdivision (d)(1). Textbooks and instructional materials listed for adoption shall be retained by the commissioner for the period of the adoption.
(3)
(A)
In addition to the finished textbooks and instructional materials required to be filed with the secretary of the commission, publishers shall make all textbooks and instructional materials proposed for adoption available for inspection by LEAs and the public online, which may include access via the state textbook depository's website. The online inspection must allow inspection of both the textbook or instructional materials and all accompanying manuals, workbooks, and other ancillary materials. The content, including pictures and graphs, of the textbooks, instructional materials, and supplementary materials that are made available for online inspection must be in finished form and must be the same as what would be distributed to public schools.
(B)
The commission shall require that a publisher in its bid document agree to provide complete online copies of the textbooks or instructional materials bid during the review process by the advisory panels for a period of no less than ninety (90) days. Textbooks and instructional materials approved by the state board of education for local adoption must remain accessible to the public pursuant to subdivision (d)(3)(C).
(C)
(i)
A publisher that submits textbooks or instructional materials for adoption shall provide the department of education with a link to the textbooks or instructional materials that the public and advisory panel members can use to access the textbooks or instructional materials. The department shall post the links provided by publishers pursuant to this subdivision (d)(3)(C)(i) on the department's website.
(ii)
A publisher of textbooks or instructional materials approved by the state board for local adoption shall provide each LEA with a link to the textbooks or instructional materials that the public can use to access the textbooks or instructional materials. Each LEA shall:
(a)
Post, on the LEA's website, the links provided by publishers pursuant to this subdivision (d)(3)(C)(ii) for textbooks or instructional materials adopted by the LEA; or
(b)
Identify, on the LEA's website, the name and publisher of textbooks or instructional materials adopted by the LEA and provide a link to the state textbook depository's website where the textbooks or instructional materials may be accessed.
(iii)
The links provided pursuant to this subdivision (d)(3)(C) must remain active for all textbooks and instructional materials approved by the state board for so long as the textbooks and instructional materials are approved for local adoption or adopted by the LEA, respectively.
(D)
(i)
A publisher of textbooks or instructional materials for which a waiver is granted to an LEA pursuant to §
49-6-2206
, shall provide the respective LEA with a link to the textbooks or instructional materials that the public can use to access the textbooks or instructional materials.
(ii)
Each LEA shall:
(a)
Post, on the LEA's website, the link provided by the publisher pursuant to subdivision (d)(3)(D)(i); or
(b)
Identify, on the LEA's website, the name and publisher of the textbooks or instructional materials for which the LEA received a waiver pursuant to §
49-6-2206
, and provide:
(1)
A link to the state textbook depository's website where the textbooks or instructional materials may be accessed by the public; or
(2)
Instructions for how the public may access the textbooks or instructional materials at the central office of the LEA's local board of education.
(iii)
The links provided pursuant to this subdivision (d)(3)(D) must remain active for all textbooks or instructional materials for so long as the textbooks or instructional materials are adopted.
(4)
The department shall develop a procedure by which members of the public may comment on the books proposed for adoption. Comments shall be accepted by regular mail, email or in another electronic format as determined by the department. Public comments received by the department shall be posted on the department's website; provided, that any comment posted shall pertain only to the review of a textbook or any instructional materials being proposed for adoption. The department shall distribute the public comments on a textbook or any instructional materials to the advisory panelists prior to the making of their recommendations on the textbook or instructional materials and to the commission before its approval of the textbook or instructional materials for inclusion on the textbook list.
(e)
In all future contracts entered into on behalf of the state with publishers and distributors of approved elementary and high school textbooks and instructional materials, provision shall be made, at the discretion of the governor or the adopting authority, for the establishment, maintenance and operation of at least one (1) depot or distributing agency in each of the three (3) grand divisions, which shall be located as near the center of each grand division as is practical.
(f)
It shall be a part of the terms and conditions of every contract made under this part that the state shall not be liable to any contractor or the contractor's agent in any manner or for any sum whatever. The contractors and agents shall receive their pay and compensation solely and exclusively from the proceeds of the sale of books under their contract.
(g)
In the adoption of textbooks and instructional materials by boards of education as provided in this part, the committees appointed by these respective boards of education shall first determine, from the published list of textbooks and instructional materials provided for in §
49-6-2202(a)
, what book or books shall be changed and request samples of the various publishers for books only that are to be changed, the samples to remain property of the respective publishers, who shall have the right to claim the books within thirty (30) days after any adoption. Books not claimed within thirty (30) days by the publishers shall become the property of the respective boards of education and shall be used for library purposes only.
(h)
Contracts for the books listed shall be executed in duplicate by the commissioner as secretary of the commission, on forms prepared and approved by the attorney general and reporter. One (1) copy of the contract shall be retained by the publisher and one (1) copy shall be kept on file in the office of the secretary of the commission. Each contract shall state that the prices contained in the contract do not exceed prices offered currently elsewhere.
(i)
The commission may require the publisher to print or affix in each book the retail price of the book as fixed by the commission.
(j)
The contractor shall file with the contract a good and sufficient bond with a surety company authorized to do business in this state in the sum to be determined by the commission but no less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and conditioned upon the faithful performance of all conditions of the contract and this part.
Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 192,s 3, eff. 4/24/2023.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 471, s 1, eff. 5/18/2021.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 341, s 2, eff. 7/1/2021.
Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 770, s 1, eff. 8/1/2020.
Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 711, s 6, eff. 4/12/2018.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 999, s 11, eff. 4/27/2016.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 981,s 9, eff. 1/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 981,s 12, eff. 1/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 981,s 11, eff. 1/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 981,s 10, eff. 1/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 981,s 5, eff. 1/1/2015.
Acts 1949, ch. 14, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 2453.3 (Williams, § 2453.26); Acts 1951, ch. 180, §§ 6, 8-10, 12, 14 (Williams, §§ 2453.26, 2453.32, 2453.34-2453.36, 2453.38, 2453.40); Acts 1974, ch. 654, § 119; 1981, ch. 188, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 49-2010 -- 49-2013, 49-2015, 49-2017, 49-2018; Acts 1984, ch. 595, §§ 5, 6; 1988, ch. 590, § 2; 1998, ch. 656, §§ 1, 2; 1999, ch. 228, §§ 2, 3; 2002, ch. 673, § 1.