S 1129 General Bill, By M.T. Rose
 A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Section
 59-31-70 so as to provide that any school district of this State may purchase
 school textbooks already approved by the Department of Education for
 instructional use in school directly from an available supplier when needed
 for instruction by the school district if the textbooks are not available from
 the State Department of Education, and to provide that the District shall be
 reimbursed for such purchase; by adding Section 59-31-75 so as to provide that
 no public school of this State may offer a course to students for which any
 textbook or other material for the course is not available to be used in the
 course, or on order with a confirmed delivery date of prior to the beginning
 date of the course; and by adding Section 59-31-80 so as to require each
 school district to report annually to the State Superintendent of Education
 the textbooks it does not have available for students during the current
 school year, the reasons for the shortage, the corrective action attempted to
 alleviate the shortage, and the projected dollar shortage for needed textbooks
 for the next school year, to require the Superintendent of Education to
 compile and summarize these reports and submit them to the General Assembly,
 to require the General Assembly to fund these textbook needs for the next
 school year as reflected in the summary of the Superintendent of Education
 before any other appropriations for public education may be made, and to
 require a two-thirds vote of each house if the funding provided for textbooks
 is less than what is reflected in the report of the Superintendent of
 Education.

   02/03/94  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-4
   02/03/94  Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-4

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-31-70 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THIS STATE MAY PURCHASE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS ALREADY APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR INSTRUCTIONAL USE IN SCHOOL DIRECTLY FROM AN AVAILABLE SUPPLIER WHEN NEEDED FOR INSTRUCTION BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IF THE TEXTBOOKS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE DISTRICT SHALL BE REIMBURSED FOR SUCH PURCHASE; BY ADDING SECTION 59-31-75 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NO PUBLIC SCHOOL OF THIS STATE MAY OFFER A COURSE TO STUDENTS FOR WHICH ANY TEXTBOOK OR OTHER MATERIAL FOR THE COURSE IS NOT AVAILABLE TO BE USED IN THE COURSE, OR ON ORDER WITH A CONFIRMED DELIVERY DATE OF PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING DATE OF THE COURSE; AND BY ADDING SECTION 59-31-80 SO AS TO REQUIRE EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION THE TEXTBOOKS IT DOES NOT HAVE AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS DURING THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, THE REASONS FOR THE SHORTAGE, THE CORRECTIVE ACTION ATTEMPTED TO ALLEVIATE THE SHORTAGE, AND THE PROJECTED DOLLAR SHORTAGE FOR NEEDED TEXTBOOKS FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, TO REQUIRE THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION TO COMPILE AND SUMMARIZE THESE REPORTS AND SUBMIT THEM TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, TO REQUIRE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO FUND THESE TEXTBOOK NEEDS FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR AS REFLECTED IN THE SUMMARY OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION BEFORE ANY OTHER APPROPRIATIONS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION MAY BE MADE, AND TO REQUIRE A TWO-THIRDS VOTE OF EACH HOUSE IF THE FUNDING PROVIDED FOR TEXTBOOKS IS LESS THAN WHAT IS REFLECTED IN THE REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-31-70. Any school district of this State may purchase school textbooks already approved by the Department of Education for instructional use in school directly from an available supplier when needed for instruction by the school district if the textbooks are not available from the State Department of Education. In this event, the district shall be reimbursed from state school textbook funds of the Department of Education when these textbook funds become available, in accordance with any agreement between the school district and the department."

SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-31-75. No public school of this State may offer a course to students for which any textbook or other material for the course is not available to be used in the course or on order with a confirmed delivery date prior to the beginning date of the course."

SECTION 3. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-31-80. (A) Each school district shall report annually to the State Superintendent of Education by the last day of September of each year the specific title, author, name, and numbers of school textbooks which are not available to be distributed to students of the district needing them as of the fifteenth day of September of that year. The school district in this report also shall state the reasons for all textbook shortages and what it attempted to do to correct the shortages. Each school district in the report also shall project the dollar amount it will lack, if any, to acquire needed school textbooks for the next school year. These reports shall be summarized and compiled on a district-by-district basis by the State Superintendent of Education and the summary furnished to the General Assembly by October fifteenth of that year, provided that the State Superintendent of Education also must report to the General Assembly the figures reported by the school districts.

(B) The General Assembly, in the annual general appropriations act for the fiscal year beginning the first day of July following the October fifteenth date of the summary report must provide state funding which together with other funds available to the districts for this purpose will be sufficient for the districts as a whole to acquire the needed textbooks for the ensuing school year. Any funding less than the total required by the summary report of the Superintendent of Education requires a two-thirds vote of each House. The General Assembly in the annual general appropriations act shall provide for the manner in which this textbook funding must be distributed to the several school districts of this State. No other appropriations for public education may be made or are in order unless the school textbook funding required by this section is contained in the general appropriations bill for the particular year involved."

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.