Instructional materials: digital format.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt at least 5 basic instructional materials in specified subject areas for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for district boards, as defined. Existing law also requires the governing board of each school district maintaining one or more high schools to adopt instructional materials that meet specified criteria for use in the high schools under its control. Existing law prohibits the state board from adopting instructional materials until the 2015–16 school year. Existing law requires a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials to provide to the state, at no cost, computer files or other electronic versions of each state-adopted literary title and the right to transcribe, reproduce, modify, and distribute the material in braille, large print if the publisher does not offer a large print edition, recordings, American Sign Language videos for the deaf, or other specialized accessible media exclusively for use by pupils with visual or other disabilities that prevent use of standard instructional materials. This bill would specify that school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools are not restricted in their ability to negotiate the price of standards-aligned instructional materials and supplemental instructional materials in a printed or digital format if the negotiated price complies with certain requirements. The bill would require instructional materials that are consistent with specific requirements of the Pupil Textbook and Instructional Materials Incentive Program Act to be offered by a publisher or manufacturer as unbundled elements. The bill also would authorize a school district to use instructional materials in digital format that were purchased by the school district to create a districtwide online digital database for classroom use, as specified.