The 2016‒2017 instructional materials allotment (IMA) allocations for each district and open-enrollment charter school are now available. The district IMA allocations are expected to be populated in the instructional materials ordering system known as EMAT by June 30, 2015.
House Bill 1474, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature and signed into law on June 17, 2015, changed the IMA from an annual allocation to a biennial allocation and requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to make the full amount available to districts on September 1 of the first year of the biennium. Districts need to know that the amounts in the EMAT system must serve them for two full school years rather than just one. District personnel responsible for making instructional materials and educational technology purchasing decisions will want to carefully plan out the two years’ spending to ensure that appropriate funding is available for the full two school years.
Although the amounts will be available in EMAT, the actual funds will not be available until September 1, 2015. Districts and open enrollment charter schools may use unexpended funds from the 2014‒2015 biennium for IMA expenditures including newly adopted instructional materials, continuing contracts, technological equipment, and/or technology services.