3026 Lending Textbooks to Children Enrolled in Private Schools 

3026

Lending Textbooks to Children Enrolled in Private Schools

Through June 30, 2024, the school district shall make textbooks available to private school children who reside within the district or are otherwise entitled to borrow them pursuant to statute and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code, section 4.  The district is obligated to purchase and lend textbooks only to the extent that the Legislature appropriates funds to the Nebraska Department of Education to be distributed for this purpose.  As used in this policy, “textbooks” shall have the definition adopted by the Nebraska State Board of Education in Rule 4.  

The district shall make a request for funds by filing an application on the form prescribed by the Department of Education no later than February 15th prior to the school year for which the application is made. The application shall include: the number of applications received; the number of textbooks requested; the number of textbooks needed to be purchased to fill the requests; the purchase price of the textbooks needed to be purchased which may include up to 5% of the cost to defray administrative expense; the title, purchase price, and number requested of each textbook including any shipping or handling charges; and if applicable the amount of carryover funds remaining from the previous year, amount of funds on hand from sale of unused textbooks, and amount of funds on hand from reimbursements for damaged textbook. 

Textbooks which have not been requested for three consecutive years may be classified as unused and disposed of by sale or otherwise. 

On or before November 15th, the district shall prepare a list of textbooks that are designated for use in the district during the current year and a list of new textbooks designated for use the following school year.  The lists shall be kept current and in a place where they may be viewed during regular business hours. The district shall maintain a separate inventory of textbooks purchased for the use of private school children residing in the district. 

Any parent or legal guardian who wishes to borrow textbooks shall submit an application on the form prescribed by the Department of Education to the district’s administration offices on or before January 15th prior to the school year for which the application is made. The district shall maintain a supply of blank application forms and receipt forms.  It shall keep the forms that have been signed by parents and guardians in a separate file for at least 5 years. It shall notify the parents and guardians at least 10 days prior to the start of school when and where the textbooks will be available.  It shall make textbooks available to parents or guardians on or before August 15th.  If the number of textbooks for a particular subject or grade level is insufficient to fill all of the requests, the textbooks shall be distributed to parents and guardians based on a random drawing.

Parents and guardians shall sign a receipt on the form prescribed by the Department of Education when they pick up the textbooks and shall return the textbooks that can be returned no later than 15 days after the district’s last day of class.  The district shall assess the returned textbooks for damage beyond normal wear and tear.  The parent or guardian who signed the receipt is responsible for paying the reasonable cost of the repair or replacement of any book that is damaged, lost, stolen, or not returned.

The school district shall limit the loan each year to ten textbooks per student for students in grades K-6 and to eight textbooks per student for students in grades 7-12.

This policy shall terminate July 1, 2024.

Adopted on: June 202

Revised on: __14 June 2023_______________________

Reviewed on: ________________________