(a) The state contract for materials placed on the list of approved materials shall not be changed or modified without the approval of Texas Education Agency (TEA) legal counsel.
(b) Contracts shall be sent to publishers for signature. Signed contracts returned by publishers shall be signed by the chair of the State Board of Education (SBOE) and attested to by the commissioner of education. Properly signed and attested contracts shall be filed with TEA.
(c) The publisher of instructional materials approved by the SBOE shall:
  (1) enter into a contract with the SBOE for a term not to exceed an initial term of eight years; and
  (2) commit to provide the instructional materials in the manner specified by the publisher in the official bid specified in §67.23 of this title (relating to Requirements for Publisher Participation in Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA)).
(d) The commissioner shall annually review contracts for instructional materials and present to the SBOE those contracts that are eligible for renewal.
(e) The SBOE shall renew existing contracts upon determining that the renewal would be in the best interest of the state and after considering the following factors:
  (1) placement of subject areas in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills review schedule;
  (2) willingness of publishers to renew contracts; and
  (3) cost of instructional materials under a renewal contract.
(f) Publishers awarded new contracts shall be prepared to make the approved instructional materials available for at least one contract renewal period of not more than four years at prices that are mutually agreeable to publishers and to the commissioner. The SBOE may consider refusing to award future contracts to a publisher that, after receiving written notice to do so, refuses to rebid instructional materials at least once. Failure of a publisher to negotiate an acceptable price for an extended contract shall not be considered failure to rebid instructional materials.
(g) Contracts with publishers are subject to all provisions of Texas Education Code (TEC), Chapter 31.
(h) This section does not apply to open education resource instructional material.

Source Note: The provisions of this §67.81 adopted to be effective March 31, 2024, 49 TexReg 1917