Contracts with publishers

(a) The commission may promulgate rules establishing minimum manufacturing standards and specifications for textbooks and instructional materials and establishing the conditions under which the commission contracts with publishers. The commission may make contracts with the publishers for a period of no more than ninety-seven (97) months. The commission may extend any existing contracts entered after April 27, 1984, for up to two (2) additional years if the commission notifies the affected publishers at least six (6) months prior to the beginning of the extension period. With the advice and consent of the state board of education, in order to implement the board’s standards and courses of study, the commission may prescribe minimum content and reading level of textbooks and instructional materials. Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!(b) No less than thirty (30) days prior to the deadline for receipt of bids, the commission shall give notice to school book publishers when bids must be received on all books to be listed, the contracts of which expire or are to be terminated on June 30 of the succeeding year and when it will meet to consider the bids received. The commission shall meet on the day designated to consider the bids received, shall read them publicly and shall then proceed to select books for the approved lists on which bids have been requested. The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations governing bids and any additional information that will be required to be submitted with the bids. (c) All bids shall be made on uniform blanks, which are to be supplied by the commission and shall be filed with the secretary of the commission on or before ten o’clock a.m. (10:00 a.m.) on the day designated for the call of bids. Each bid shall be accompanied by a certified check of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the amount of the check to be determined at the rate of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each book bid, but in no event to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for any one (1) bidder. The checks shall be payable to the state treasurer and shall be forfeited to the state if the bidder, whose bid or part of the bid is accepted, fails, within thirty (30) days after the award, to execute the contract and bond, as provided in this part. The checks of unsuccessful bidders shall be returned immediately after the listing. The checks of successful bidders shall be returned upon proper execution of the contract and bond. An acceptable performance bond may be filed with the commission in lieu of a certified check. (d) (1) Copies of all textbooks and instructional materials bid shall be filed with the secretary of the commission on or before a date specified by the commission, but no later than the date of the start of the review by the advisory panels. A publisher shall not submit draft copies of textbooks, instructional materials or other ancillary materials. All textbooks, instructional materials and accompanying manuals, workbooks and other ancillary materials shall be submitted in finished form no later than the start of the review period. If a complete copy of any textbooks, instructional materials or any of their ancillary materials is not filed prior to the date specified by the commission, then the textbook or instructional materials shall not be considered for adoption. The textbooks and instructional materials shall be accompanied by a list stating the edition, title and author of each textbook or any instructional materials offered. (2) No textbook or instructional materials shall be listed for adoption unless they have been filed as provided in subdivision (d)(1). Textbooks and instructional materials listed for adoption shall be retained by the commissioner for the period of the adoption. (3) (A) In addition to the finished textbooks and instructional materials required to be filed with the secretary of the commission, publishers shall make all textbooks and instructional materials proposed for adoption available for inspection by LEAs and the public online, which may include access via the state textbook depository’s website. The online inspection must allow inspection of both the textbook or instructional materials and all accompanying manuals, workbooks, and other ancillary materials. The content, including pictures and graphs, of the textbooks, instructional materials, and supplementary materials that are made available for online inspection must be in finished form and must be the same as what would be distributed to public schools. (B) The commission shall require that a publisher in its bid document agree to provide complete online copies of the textbooks or instructional materials bid during the review process by the advisory panels for a period of no less than ninety (90) days. Textbooks and instructional materials approved by the state board of education for local adoption must remain accessible to the public pursuant