Technology and Instructional Materials Allotment for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021

PDF Version

The 2020‒2021 technology and instructional materials allotment allocations for each district and open-enrollment charter school are now available at /sites/default/files/IMA%20-%202020%E2%80%932021%20Biennium_rev8022019.pdf. The district allotment allocations are expected to be populated in EMAT, the state’s online ordering system, on August 2, 2019.

House Bill 1474 (84th Texas Legislature, 2015) changed the allotment from an annual allocation to a biennial allocation and required the Texas Education Agency to make the full amount available to districts at the beginning of each biennium. The amounts in EMAT must serve districts for two full school years. District personnel responsible for making instructional materials and educational technology purchasing decisions will want to carefully plan the two years’ spending to ensure that funds are available when they are needed.

Although the amounts will soon be available in EMAT, the actual funds will not be available until after September 1, 2019. Until that time, districts and open enrollment charter schools may use unexpended funds (carry-over funds) for allotment expenditures, including newly adopted instructional materials, continuing contracts, technological equipment, and/or technology services.

If carry-over funds are not available, districts may order materials through requisitions for up to 80% of their 2020‒2021 allotment funds through the delayed-payment option. The delayed-payment option, authorized under the Texas Education Code, §31.0215, enables districts to requisition and receive state-adopted instructional materials before actual allotment funds are available. Please share this information with all those responsible for fiscal accountability in your district.

Publishers that have agreed to receive delayed payments are identified in EMAT. Payments for delayed-payment orders will be made to publishers after September 1 when the new allotment funds become available and will take priority over districts’ disbursement requests.

Adopted instructional materials for the visually impaired (braille, large-print, and audio) are the property of the state and are not paid for out of a district's allotment. They can be requested through EMAT and must be returned to the redistribution center when they are no longer in use. Districts that choose to purchase non-adopted instructional materials should remember that, should braille, large-print, or audio versions be required by a student’s individualized education plan or Section 504 plan, the district is required to provide those versions using allotment or local funds.