92 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 4, § 004 - Requirements for Boards of Education Through the 2024-25 School Year
004.01
Local procedures. Each school district must have local rules and regulations for the distribution of textbooks and the management of funds under this chapter, which must include, but not be limited to:
004.01A Making available, no later than November 15, a list of textbooks designated for use in the public schools of the district during the current school year, a list of any new textbooks that the school district has determined by November 15 must be used during the next school year, and a list showing, by title (including edition and copyright), the numbers of all textbooks previously purchased for the textbook loan program and still available for loan. As applicable, the lists must indicate if a textbook is multiple texts, a non-tangible electronic or digital format, e.g. web-based (on-line) material, accessible by private school children through a subscription or license agreement; or a hard-copy, write-in work text accessible by private school children pursuant to a multi-year subscription (see Section 002.03).
004.01B The availability of a copy of the list for inspection at the central administrative offices of the district, as well as reproduction at a reasonable cost upon request.
004.01C Procedures and dates for distribution of textbooks, for return of textbooks that can be returned to an inventory site and loaned anew to another private-school child and for the provision and cessation of access to instructional material provided through a license or subscription agreement if applicable (see Section 002.03).
004.01D Procedures for the receipt and disbursement of funds pursuant to this chapter.
004.01E Procedures for establishing and maintaining a separate inventory of textbooks for loan to private school children.
004.01F Procedures for disposing of unused textbooks. Only textbooks which have not been requested for three consecutive years may be classified as unused and, therefore, disposed of by sale or otherwise. All funds received from any sale of unused textbooks that were originally purchased pursuant to this chapter must be retained in a separate account, treated in the same manner as carryover funds and used to offset the amount otherwise to be requested in one or more future years for distribution under this chapter.
004.02
Notification. Boards of education must, at least ten days prior to the beginning of public school classes, notify in writing the parent, legal guardian, or authorized parent representative of each private school child at the address specified in the application, where and when textbooks will be made available.
004.03
Receipt. Boards of education must require a parent, legal guardian, or authorized parent representative of each private school child to sign a receipt at the time the textbooks that can be returned to an inventory site and loaned anew to another private school child are picked up on designated Form NDE #22-002.
004.04
Distribution of funds. Boards of education must make application for funds from the Department of Education by filing an application with the Department of Education on designated Form NDE #22-003, no later than February 15 preceding the start of classes for the school year for which the application has been made. The board of education must specify in the application:
004.04A The total number of applications received;
004.04B The total number of textbooks requested and the total number of textbooks needed to be purchased to fulfill the requests;
004.04C The dollar amount to purchase the number of textbooks needed to be purchased in order to fulfill the requests. A district may claim up to 5% of that cost in order to defray administrative expense;
004.04D The titles of all textbooks, the number requested of each textbook, the price per textbook, and, if applicable, the amount of shipping and handling charges added to the invoice or billing by the seller/vendor; and
004.04E If applicable, the amount of carryover funds remaining from the previous year if the total amount received was not expended (and an explanation of the reasons for the carryover), the amount of funds on hand from any sale of unused textbooks (per Section 004.01F), and the amount of funds on hand from reimbursements received for damaged textbooks (per Section 004.08).
004.05
Time of distribution. The Department of Education must distribute available funds no later than March 15.
004.06
Purchase of textbooks. If, after the distribution of funds, boards of education are unable to provide all of the textbooks for which applications have been made due to a pro rata funding reduction by the Department of Education, then boards of education may seek input from the authorized parent representatives, and thereupon must use their best judgment in selecting the textbooks which will be purchased. If, after exercising such judgment, there are not enough textbooks of a particular subject and grade level to fulfill all of the individual requests, then such textbooks must be distributed on the basis of a random drawing.
004.07
Availability of textbook inventory.
004.07A Tangible textbooks purchased with funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter must be maintained in a separate inventory and must be made available to private school children so long as the textbook titles remain on the list required in Section 004.01A, and the textbooks are not lost, stolen, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair. Such inventory may be maintained at a facility of the school district which purchased the textbooks or at an alternative site or sites agreed upon by the school district and the authorized parent representative(s) responsible for such textbooks. If an alternative inventory site is designated, the authorized parent representative(s) will be deemed to have custody of such textbooks, be personally liable for the safekeeping of such textbooks, and must maintain a documented inventory-control system as agreed upon with the school district.
004.07B Any unexpired subscriptions and license agreements that constitute textbooks purchased with funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter must be maintained separately in the form of documentation.
004.08
Recovery of damages. Amounts reimbursed by children, parents, guardians or authorized parent representative(s) for damaged textbooks or textbooks not returned pursuant to Section 003.01 must be retained in a separate account and used to offset the amount otherwise needed to be requested in future years for distribution under this chapter.
004.09
Textbook list. Each school district must provide a detailed list, as prescribed by the Commissioner, of the textbooks maintained in the inventory required pursuant to section 004.07 of this chapter for the 202425 school year, including textbooks loaned to private school children for such school year.
004.10
Retention of textbooks. Any designated agent who meets the requirements of section 005.03 of this chapter for the 2025-26 school year on or before October 15, 2024, may retain any textbooks loaned to children in the designated agent's school under the provisions of section 003 of this chapter that are in the possession of such agent or school at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
004.11
Textbooks not retained. The Commissioner must notify school districts of the procedures to be followed for any textbooks which are not retained by a designated agent at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
004.01 Local procedures. Each school district must have local rules and regulations for the distribution of textbooks and the management of funds under this chapter, which must include, but not be limited to:
004.01A Making available, no later than November 15, a list of textbooks designated for use in the public schools of the district during the current school year, a list of any new textbooks that the school district has determined by November 15 must be used during the next school year, and a list showing, by title (including edition and copyright), the numbers of all textbooks previously purchased for the textbook loan program and still available for loan . As applicable, the lists must indicate if a textbook is multiple texts, a non-tangible electronic or digital format, e.g. web-based (on-line) material, accessible by private school children through a subscription or license agreement; or a hard-copy, write-in work text accessible by private school children pursuant to a multi-year subscription (see Section 002.03).
004.01B The availability of a copy of the list for inspection at the central administrative offices of the district, as well as reproduction at a reasonable cost upon request.
004.01C Procedures and dates for distribution of textbooks, for return of textbooks that can be returned to an inventory site and loaned anew to another private-school child and for the provision and cessation of access to instructional material provided through a license or subscription agreement if applicable (see Section 002.03).
004.01D Procedures for the receipt and disbursement of funds pursuant to this chapter.
004.01E Procedures for establishing and maintaining a separate inventory of textbooks for loan to private school children.
004.01F Procedures for disposing of unused textbooks. Only textbooks which have not been requested for three consecutive years may be classified as unused and, therefore, disposed of by sale or otherwise. All funds received from any sale of unused textbooks that were originally purchased pursuant to this chapter must be retained in a separate account, treated in the same manner as carryover funds and used to offset the amount otherwise to be requested in one or more future years for distribution under this chapter.
004.02 Notification. Boards of education must, at least ten days prior to the beginning of public school classes, notify in writing the parent, legal guardian, or authorized parent representative of each private school child at the address specified in the application, where and when textbooks will be made available.
004.03 Receipt. Boards of education must require a parent, legal guardian, or authorized parent representative of each private school child to sign a receipt at the time the textbooks that can be returned to an inventory site and loaned anew to another private school child are picked up on designated Form NDE #22-002.
004.04 Distribution of funds. Boards of education must make application for funds from the Department of Education by filing an application with the Department of Education on designated Form NDE #22-003, no later than February 15 preceding the start of classes for the school year for which the application has been made. The board of education must specify in the application:
004.04A The total number of applications received;
004.04B The total number of textbooks requested and the total number of textbooks needed to be purchased to fulfill the requests;
004.04C The dollar amount to purchase the number of textbooks needed to be purchased in order to fulfill the requests. A district may claim up to 5% of that cost in order to defray administrative expense;
004.04D The titles of all textbooks, the number requested of each textbook , the price per textbook , and, if applicable, the amount of shipping and handling charges added to the invoice or billing by the seller/vendor; and
004.04E If applicable, the amount of carryover funds remaining from the previous year if the total amount received was not expended (and an explanation of the reasons for the carryover), the amount of funds on hand from any sale of unused textbooks (per Section 004.01F), and the amount of funds on hand from reimbursements received for damaged textbooks (per Section 004.08).
004.05 Time of distribution. The Department of Education must distribute available funds no later than March 15.
004.06 Purchase of textbooks. If, after the distribution of funds, boards of education are unable to provide all of the textbooks for which applications have been made due to a pro rata funding reduction by the Department of Education, then boards of education may seek input from the authorized parent representatives, and thereupon must use their best judgment in selecting the textbooks which will be purchased. If, after exercising such judgment, there are not enough textbooks of a particular subject and grade level to fulfill all of the individual requests, then such textbooks must be distributed on the basis of a random drawing.
004.07 Availability of textbook inventory.
004.07A Tangible textbooks purchased with funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter must be maintained in a separate inventory and must be made available to private school children so long as the textbook titles remain on the list required in Section 004.01A, and the textbooks are not lost, stolen, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair. Such inventory may be maintained at a facility of the school district which purchased the textbooks or at an alternative site or sites agreed upon by the school district and the authorized parent representative (s) responsible for such textbooks. If an alternative inventory site is designated, the authorized parent representative (s) will be deemed to have custody of such textbooks, be personally liable for the safekeeping of such textbooks, and must maintain a documented inventory-control system as agreed upon with the school district .
004.07B Any unexpired subscriptions and license agreements that constitute textbooks purchased with funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter must be maintained separately in the form of documentation.
004.08 Recovery of damages. Amounts reimbursed by children, parents, guardians or authorized parent representative (s) for damaged textbooks or textbooks not returned pursuant to Section 003.01 must be retained in a separate account and used to offset the amount otherwise needed to be requested in future years for distribution under this chapter.
004.09 Textbook list. Each school district must provide a detailed list, as prescribed by the Commissioner , of the textbooks maintained in the inventory required pursuant to section 004.07 of this chapter for the 202425 school year, including textbooks loaned to private school children for such school year.
004.10 Retention of textbooks. Any designated agent who meets the requirements of section 005.03 of this chapter for the 2025-26 school year on or before October 15, 2024, may retain any textbooks loaned to children in the designated agent 's school under the provisions of section 003 of this chapter that are in the possession of such agent or school at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
004.11 Textbooks not retained. The Commissioner must notify school districts of the procedures to be followed for any textbooks which are not retained by a designated agent at the end of the 2024-25 school year.