Obion County Board of Education
October 3, 2011

Background Information:

Annually, the Board approves members to serve on the textbook adoption committees pursuant to TCA §49-6-2207(c)(1-4), (d)(1-2),(e), and (f), which provide

(c)(1)  Boards shall make their adoption upon recommendations of committees. These committees shall be set up by subject matter fields and composed of teachers, or supervisors and teachers, with the number of members of each committee to be determined by the board based upon the relative size of the local school system.

(2) These committees shall be composed of teachers and supervisors who are now teaching or supervising the respective subject and shall be by grade or groups of grades arranged so that a committee may consider an entire series of books if it should so desire; provided, that in all cases, the teachers appointed on the committees herein provided for shall hold professional certificates and have had three (3) or more years of experience as teachers or supervisors in the public schools.

(3)  The members of the committee authorized in this section shall serve for one (1) fiscal year.

(4) In recommending textbooks for use in economics or business-oriented courses or programs, the local committee should include, at least as a supplemental textbook, one (1) textbook written, illustrated and exemplified in such a manner as to facilitate comprehension by all students, including those of disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances and of culturally different backgrounds.

(d)(1)  All members appointed on such committees shall subscribe to the oath as set out in §49-6-2201(f).

(2) The oath shall be administered by the county mayor or by some authorized official empowered to administer an oath.

(e)  The director of schools in the school district, adopting textbooks under the provisions of this part, shall serve as ex officio member of all committees, and shall record a list of all books adopted and immediately at the completion of the adoption forward a copy of such recorded adoption to the commissioner of education.

(f) As provided in 49-6-2202(d), a local board may furnish electronic textbooks to pupils attending the public schools, provided the electronic textbooks are furnished free of charge. A board that chooses to furnish electronic textbooks to pupils attending school in the district shall provide reasonable access to the electronic textbooks and other necessary computer equipment to pupils in the district who are required to complete homework assignments and to teachers providing homework assignments utilizing electronic textbooks furnished by the board.

Staff Recommendation:

I agree with the above-noted appointments and recommend approval of the various grade level committees for the adoption of the appropriate textbooks.