FISCAL NOTE

Senate Bill 15 as introduced could increase the financial obligations of the State Department of Education, to reimburse experts and members of instructional materials review committees, established by the State Superintendent of Education to review and rate the quality and alignment of instructional materials, for per diem and travel expenses from funds appropriated to the Department. The amount of the increased obligation is undetermined, but would be dependent upon: (1) the number of committees convened; (2) the number of members on each committee, and (3) the number of days that each committee meets.

As substituted and reported by the Committee on Education Policy, allows the State Textbook Committee to meet up to an additional ten days during a school year which could increase the obligations of State Department of Education by an estimated maximum of $37,000 annually if the Committee meets for the additional days. This bill requires the SDE to make final ratings and reviews available on the Department’s website which could increase the administrative obligations of the Department by an undetermined amount. 

Further, this bill could increase the obligations of the Education Trust Fund, subject to appropriations from the Legislature, by allowing the State Board of Education to pay a portion of a negotiated textbook price or grant additional funds to local boards who purchase high quality textbooks, as determined by the State Board of Education. The bill allows the State Superintendent of Education to contract or consult with experts to conduct textbook reviews which could further increase the obligations of the SDE by an undetermined amount dependent upon the number of textbook reviews conducted by experts and the contract price negotiated. 

In addition, this bill exempts local boards of education purchasing certain instructional materials, including electronic versions, from the competitive bidding process for purchases from a current vetted and approved list published by the SDE which could increase or decrease the obligations of local boards of education by an undetermined amount dependent upon: (1) the advertising costs for each bid; (2) the number of bids a local board advertises; and (3) the cost of the instructional materials, including the electronic versions.