45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2001

RELATING TO EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR ADDITIONAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED SCHOOL PERSONNEL; PROVIDING FOR COMPENSATED TEACHER PREPARATION PERIODS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

Section 1. Section 22-10-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 113, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-10-11. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS--DURATION--ADDITIONAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED SCHOOL PERSONNEL.--

A. All employment contracts between local school boards and certified school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors shall be in writing on forms approved by the state board. These forms shall contain and specify the term of service, the salary to be paid, the method of payment, the causes for termination of the contract and other provisions required by the regulations of the state board.

B. All employment contracts between local school boards and certified school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors shall be for a period of one school year except:

(1) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to fill personnel vacancies [which] that occur during the school year;

(2) contracts for the remainder of a school year are permitted to staff programs when the availability of funds for the programs is not known until after the beginning of the school year;

(3) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to staff summer school programs and to staff federally funded programs in which the federally approved programs are specified to be conducted for less than one school year;

(4) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted for certified school administrators in public schools who are engaged in administrative functions for more than one-half of their employment time; and

(5) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted at the discretion of the local school board for certified school instructors in public schools who have been employed in the school district for three consecutive school years.

C. Persons employed under contracts for periods of less than one school year as provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection B of this section shall be accorded all the duties, rights and privileges of the [Certified] School Personnel Act.

D. In determination of eligibility for unemployment compensation rights and benefits for certified school instructors where those rights and benefits are claimed to arise from the employment relationship between governing authorities of state agencies or local school boards and certified school instructors, that period of a year not covered by a school year shall not be considered an unemployment period.

E. Except as provided in Section 22-10-12 NMSA 1978, a person employed by contract pursuant to this section has no legitimate objective expectancy of reemployment, and no contract entered into pursuant to this section shall be construed as an implied promise of continued employment pursuant to a subsequent contract.

F. Employment contracts between local school boards and certified school instructors shall ensure that certified school instructors are provided a compensated teaching preparation period of no less than one-half hour during each contract day. For purposes of this subsection, a "teaching preparation period" means a set duration when a certified school instructor does not instruct students and prepares for future instruction to students or addresses administrative matters pertaining to instruction."

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Fifty-seven million five hundred seventy thousand four hundred dollars ($57,570,400) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2002 to extend the contract day by one-half hour to be used by teachers for student curriculum and instructional preparation time. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2002 shall revert to the general fund.