RELATING TO THE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FUND; PROVIDING AN EQUITY ADJUSTMENT TO ASSURE MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM THE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FUND.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 22-15A-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 96, Section 9) is amended to read:

"22-15A-9. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FUND--DISTRIBUTION.--

A. Upon annual review and approval of a school district's educational technology plan, the bureau shall determine a separate distribution from the educational technology fund for each school district.

B. On or before July 31 of each year, the bureau shall distribute money in the educational technology fund directly to each school district in an amount equal to ninety percent of the district's estimated adjusted entitlement calculated pursuant to Subsection C of this section. A school district's unadjusted entitlement is that portion of the total amount of the annual appropriation that the projected membership bears to the projected membership of the state. Kindergarten membership shall be calculated on a one-half full-time equivalent basis.

C. After calculation of a school district's unadjusted entitlement as provided in Subsection B of this section, the bureau shall calculate a base allocation for each school district by multiplying the total annual appropriation by a base equity factor of seventy-five thousandths of one percent. The adjusted entitlement amount for each school district whose entitlement falls at or below the base allocation amount shall be an amount equal to the base allocation. The bureau shall then subtract from the total annual appropriation amount the total of the adjusted entitlement amounts calculated for distribution to those school districts that will receive the base allocation amounts and subtract from the total projected state membership the membership of those school districts that will receive the base allocation amount. The adjusted entitlement amount for each of the remaining school districts shall be the amount of the adjusted annual appropriation that the projected membership of each remaining district bears to the projected membership of all remaining districts.

D. On or before January 30 of each year, the bureau shall recompute each adjusted entitlement using the final funded membership for that year and shall allocate the balance of the annual appropriation adjusting for any over- or under-projection of membership.

E. Any school district receiving funding pursuant to the Technology for Education Act is responsible for the purchase, distribution, use and maintenance of educational technology.

F. As used in this section, "membership" means the total enrollment of qualified students, as defined in the Public School Finance Act, on the current roll of class or school on a specified day. The current roll is established by the addition of original entries and re-entries minus withdrawals. Withdrawal of students, in addition to students formally withdrawn from the public school, includes students absent from the public school for as many as ten consecutive school days."