For purposes of adopting basic instructional materials in a given subject area pursuant to Section 60200, all of the following shall apply:

(a) (1) Before conducting an adoption in a given subject area, the department shall provide notice, pursuant to paragraph (2), to all publishers or manufacturers known to produce basic instructional materials in that subject area, post an appropriate notice on the Internet Web site of the department, and take other reasonable measures to ensure that appropriate notice is widely circulated to potentially interested publishers and manufacturers.

(2) The notice provided pursuant to paragraph (1) shall specify that each publisher or manufacturer choosing to participate in the adoption process shall be assessed a fee based on the number of programs the publisher or manufacturer indicates will be submitted for review and the number of grade levels proposed to be covered by each program.

(b) The department, before incurring substantial costs for the adoption, shall require that a publisher or manufacturer who wishes to participate in the adoption first declare the intent to submit one or more specific programs for adoption and specify the specific grade levels to be covered by each program. After a publisher or manufacturer has declared the intent to submit one or more programs and the grade levels to be covered by each program, the department shall assess a fee. The fee shall be payable by the publisher or manufacturer even if the publisher or manufacturer subsequently chooses to withdraw a program or reduce the number of grade levels covered. A submission by a publisher or manufacturer shall not be reviewed for purposes of adoption until the fee assessed has been paid in full.

(c) The fee assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall cover the cost of conducting the adoption. The department shall take reasonable steps to limit costs of the adoption and to keep the fee modest.

(d) (1) Upon the request of a small publisher or small manufacturer, the state board may reduce the fee for participation in the adoption.

(2) For purposes of this section, “small publisher” and “small manufacturer” mean an independently owned or operated publisher or manufacturer who is not dominant in its field of operation, and who, together with its affiliates, has 100 or fewer employees, and has average annual gross receipts of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) or less over the previous three years.

(e) Revenue derived from fees assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be budgeted as reimbursements and subject to review through the annual budget process, and may be used to pay for costs associated with any adoption and for any costs associated with the review of instructional materials, including costs of substitutes for teacher reviewers and stipends for content review experts.

(f) If the department determines that there is little or no interest in participating in an adoption by publishers and manufacturers, the department shall recommend to the state board whether or not the adoption shall be conducted, and the state board may choose not to conduct the adoption.

(g) General fund revenue shall not be used for the cost of conducting an adoption of instructional materials.

(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 15, Sec. 64. (AB 99) Effective June 27, 2017.)