District of Columbia Public Schools Free Textbook Amendment Act of 2001
Bill 14-36

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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Councilmember Vincent B. Orange, Sr. introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on Education, Libraries, and Recreation.

To amend An Act to provide books and educational supplies free of charge to pupils of the public schools for the District of Columbia; to require that the Board of Education issue each public school student with textbooks, workbooks, and adequate instructional materials, free of charge, for each core curriculum subject by the second-week of each new semester; that the Board of Education may require a refundable textbook deposit in grades 7 through 12 to offset costs associated with lost or damaged textbooks; that the Board of Education shall provide a refund of the deposit at the conclusion of the school year; that the Superintendent shall certify to the Council of the District of Columbia within 30-days of the beginning of each new semester that each student has been issued textbooks, workbooks, and adequate instructional materials, free of charge, for each core curriculum subject; that the Board of Education review all books in use every five-years and certify that the books meet accepted industry standards and advance the educational policies of the Board; and to authorize the Board of Education to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "District of Columbia Public Schools Free Textbook Amendment Act of 2001".

Sec. 2. Section 1 of An Act To provide books and educational supplies free of charge to pupils of the public schools of the District of Columbia is amended Title 31 of the D.C. Code is amended as follows:

"(a) The Board of Education of the District of Columbia shall issue each student of the public elementary schools, public junior high schools, and public senior high schools of the District of Columbia textbooks, workbooks, and adequate instructional materials for each core curriculum subject, free of charge, by the second-week of each new semester. The Superintendent shall certify to the Council of the District of Columbia, within 30-days of each new semester, that each student has been issued textbooks, workbooks, and adequate instructional materials for each core curriculum subject, free of charge.

"(b) The Board of Education shall evaluate and certify every five-years to the Council of the District of Columbia that all textbooks used in the public school system meet the Board of Education's goals and objectives and the curriculum framework established for the District of Columbia's public schools.

"(c) The Board of Education may require a refundable textbook deposit in grades 7 through 12 to offset costs associated with lost or damaged textbooks. If the Board of Education requires that a textbook deposit pursuant to this subsection, then the Board of Education shall provide for refund of the deposit at the conclusion of the relevant semester or school year for which the textbook was issued. The Board of Education shall adopt regulations to implement the provisions of this section.".

Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.

The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code § 1-233(c)(3)).

Sec. 5. Effective date.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of a veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), approval by the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(x) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code §47-392.3(x)), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.