Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 66 - STATE ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS › Subchapter CC - COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ALLOTMENT › Section 66.1311 - Special Instructional Materials

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				  All laws and rules applying to instructional materials provided to students
				  with no disabilities that are not in conflict with the Texas Education Code,
				  §
										31.028,
				  or this section shall apply to the distribution and control of special
				  instructional materials.
(b)
				  Special instructional materials include braille, large-print, and audio books
				  and any other formats designed specifically to provide equal access to students
				  with disabilities.
(c) Requisitions
				  for special instructional materials shall be based on actual student enrollment
				  but may include up to two copies per student if necessary to meet individual
				  needs.
(d) Special instructional
				  materials are the property of the state. School districts and open-enrollment
				  charter schools are responsible for replacing or reimbursing the state for
				  lost, stolen, or damaged special instructional materials.
(e) Publishers shall grant permission to the
				  state to have adopted instructional materials converted into special
				  instructional materials without penalty or royalty.
(f) On or before the deadline specified in
				  the schedule of adoption procedures, each publisher of newly adopted print
				  instructional materials shall provide computerized files to the state as
				  specified in the proclamation to be used for producing special instructional
				  materials. All information contained in adopted instructional materials shall
				  be included on the computerized files. Computerized files may be copied and
				  distributed to school districts, upon request, for use with a student who
				  requires the use of computerized instructional materials, pursuant to an
				  individualized plan developed for the student under the Rehabilitation Act,
				  §504, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the Individuals with
				  Disabilities Education Act.
(g)
				  Gifts of special instructional materials may be accepted by the commissioner of
				  education and shall become state property. Gift materials may be shipped by
				  Free Matter for the Blind and Other Physically Handicapped Persons to the
				  Special Textbook Redistribution Center or other location designated by the
				  TEA.
(h) Adopted instructional
				  materials needed by a Texas public school teacher with a print disability to
				  carry out his or her instructional duties shall be furnished in the required
				  format without cost. The materials are to be loaned to the public school
				  districts as long as needed and are to be returned to the state when they are
				  no longer needed.
(i) Large-print
				  instructional materials intended for student use must comply with the standards
				  in the latest edition of the Manufacturing Standards and Specifications for
				  Textbooks.
(j) Adopted
				  instructional materials in a specialized format that are requested by a parent
				  with a print disability shall be furnished without cost by the state. Requests
				  for electronic files will be filled by the TEA after the parent signs and the
				  TEA receives a statement, through the appropriate school district, promising
				  that the parent will safeguard the security of the files and observe all
				  current copyright laws, including those that forbid reproduction of the files
				  and their transfer to other parties. All special instructional materials and
				  electronic files that have been provided must be returned to the local school
				  district at the end of the school year.
(k) Adopted instructional materials that are
				  not compliant with the technical standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act,
				  Section 508, or do not conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
				  required in the proclamation will be removed from the state ordering system and
				  will not be available for order through the TEA.
(l) Producers that enter into a contract with
				  the TEA for the production and distribution of special instructional materials
				  shall provide them to students with disabilities at the same time other
				  students in the same school district receive print instructional
				  materials.