Published: October 1, 1997

Balancing The Books

A Florida school district may be the first in the nation to stretch its limited dollars for instructional materials by leasing new textbooks from a used-book dealer.

Officials of the Duval County schools in Jacksonville approved a deal in August to sell about $9 million worth of new books to Follett Educational Services and lease them back over the next six years. The seemingly convoluted sell-lease arrangement is necessary because state law requires districts to buy books only from publishers. The Chicago-based secondhand dealer will also help manage textbook inventories at each of the district's 150 schools and remove the books when the contract expires.

Follett will earn back the cost of the texts plus almost 6 percent interest and will then have the opportunity to sell the books on the used-textbook market. Company officials hope the deal with Duval County, the 17th-largest district in the nation, will influence other districts seeking ways to finance book purchases when money is tight. "This service program provides a source of alternative funding, which allows schools to develop or continue critically needed programs that play a vital role in a quality education," says Kent Follett,...