With school starting, you may have students enroll who arrive with notations on their records that they did not return or pay for all their textbooks or technological equipment at their previous campuses. While this may sound like a trivial issue, the Texas Legislature wanted to give schools some teeth to recover or replace learning materials damaged or lost by students. The teeth the Legislature gave schools may not be long and sharp, but schools have more than plastic chattering teeth with which to recover the materials or the money to replace the materials.
Section 31.001 of the Education Code sets the ground rules: all students receive free textbooks. Nevertheless, each student (or the student’s parent or guardian) is responsible for school-provided textbooks, electronic textbooks, and all technological equipment issued to the student. Tex. Educ. Code Ann. § 31.104(d) (West 2010). Section 11.158 of the Education Code permits schools to charge fees for the “actual annual maintenance cost, and the use of” band or orchestra instruments provided by the school, as well as uniforms, but the section does not designate either instruments or uniforms to be textbooks or technological equipment. Id. at § 11.158. Other fees authorized in this section of the statute such as fees for yearbooks, personal P.E. clothing, I.D. cards, and class rings would also not be considered either textbooks or technological equipment for which schools can withhold records.
What qualifies?
The statute defines technological equipment to be “hardware, a device, or equipment necessary for [ ] instructional use in the classroom. . . .” Id. at 31.002(4). Devices such as scientific calculators, GPS devices, and school issued laptops would certainly be considered “technological equipment.” If the school uses Kindles or other e-book readers for textbooks, those would likely be considered either electronic textbooks or technological equipment, as well.
Is a library book a “textbook”? The Education Code at this section defines textbooks as “a book, a system of instructional materials, or a combination of a book and supplementary instructional materials that conveys information to the student or otherwise contributes to the learning process, or an electronic textbook.” Id. at § 31.002(3). To the extent that a book is “issued to” a student when it is checked out, a library book might qualify as a textbook for the purposes of withholding records. However, in the section on fees, schools are authorized to charge “fines for lost, damaged, or overdue books”, and unpaid fines are not authorized as a reason to withhold student records. Id. at § 11.158(b)(5).
If a student fails to return in “acceptable condition” a textbook, electronic textbook, or technological equipment, the student forfeits the right to have free textbooks until the student pays for whatever was lost or damaged. What is considered “acceptable condition” is defined by the Commissioner of Education. The proposed rule for this definition is available online at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/commissioner/proposed/0410/ch66cc-one.html. The rules (which will be part of the Texas Administrative Code) should be final sometime in October 2010, and will likely be very similar to the proposed rules. A district may establish, by policy, a means to waive or reduce payment for lost or damaged materials if the student is from a “low-income family.” A district policy would have to define what is a “low-income family” for the purposes of this clause. Many school districts indicate at FP (LOCAL) that they will use the same standards as are used to determine eligibility for the federal breakfast and lunch program (free and reduced-price meals).
The teeth to enforce the statute against students who ignore the requirement to replace lost or damaged materials are that the district may withhold the student’s records. While such a consequence will strongly affect students who transfer away or need a transcript to apply to college, it may have no effect on students who remain in the district since the student (or his parents) can get the documents under FERPA. Nevertheless, you may withhold an “official” transcript that may be necessary for college admission or enlistment into the military. Under Texas Education Code § 28.022, the district must give parents a report of performance at least every twelve weeks, and that requirement is not waived by pending charges for lost or damaged materials. And the district cannot prevent a student from graduating, receiving a diploma, or participating in the graduation ceremony solely because the student has unpaid textbook or technology fees.
Not so fast!
Can you imagine that some students will immediately decide to toss the books and equipment to avoid having to do work? Well, they don’t get off quite that easily. The district cannot completely deprive a student of textbooks. Even though the district does not have to issue textbooks or technological equipment to the student, the district must allow the student to use books and equipment at school during the school day. It will be up to the student to figure out how to do homework without textbooks or equipment outside of the school day. The student must still meet his academic obligations, even if he does not have textbooks issued to him.
And just because the district may hold students accountable for books and equipment, don’t assume the same rule applies to teachers. Under Texas Education Code § 31.104(e) the district may not hold teachers responsible for damage to or loss of textbooks, electronic textbooks or technological equipment. A district may, however, enter into an agreement with a teacher to assume financial responsibility for such material if and only if the district allows the teacher to use the equipment for personal business. The agreement must be separate from the standard teaching contract, and it must clearly inform the teacher of the value of the materials and recommend the teacher purchase appropriate insurance. So your teacher may be responsible if the dog eats the district’s laptop computer, but only if you have the appropriate agreement in place. Just remember that such an agreement may not be a condition of employment.
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