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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Griego

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-22-2007

2-26-2007 HB

SHORT TITLE School Closure Moratorium

SB 1126/aSEC/aSCONC/aSFL#1

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

*NFI Non-Recurring

General Fund

*Please see narrative

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to appropriations in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Senate Floor Amendment #1

Action on the Senate Floor amends Senate Bill 1126/aSEC/aSCONC such that;

1. Strike Senate Conservation Committee Amendment 1.

2. On page 1, line 20, strike "shall" and insert in lieu thereof "may be closed by a majority

plus one vote if all members of the school board are present and voting or may".

Senate Floor amendments alter the criteria of a school-closing vote from unanimous to a super-

majority of one over the majority of local school board members.

Senate Bill 1126/aSEC/aSCONC/aSFL#1 – Page

2

Synopsis of SCONC Amendment

The Senate Conservation Committee amends Senate Bill 1126/aSEC such that;

1.) On page, 1, line 20, strike “shall" and insert in lieu thereof “may be closed by unanimous

vote if all members of the school board are present and voting or may".

2.) On page 1, line 24, after “board" and insert in lieu thereof a comma.

3.) On page 2, line 2, after “affiliation" insert “, by simple majority vote".

Senate Conservation Committee amendments make minor changes to the proposed legislation,

thereby clarifying its intention. The amendments allow provisions for maintaining local school

board autonomy in decisions regarding closing schools.

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee amends Senate Bill 1126 such that;

1. On page 1, line 24, strike "six" and insert in lieu thereof "five".

2. On page 2, strike lines 12 through 14 in their entirety and renumber the succeeding

paragraphs accordingly.

3. On page 3, line 3, strike "six" and insert in lieu thereof "five".

4. On page 3, line 10, strike "six" and insert in lieu thereof "five" and strike "eight" and insert

in lieu thereof "seven".,

Senate Education Committee amendments makes a slight change to the proposed legislation,

thereby altering the legislation. The intent of the changes are such that one of the previously

mentioned conditions for consideration of school closing is removed from the bill. Identification

of a school for restructuring 2 under the Public Education department’s improvement system has

been removed from the list of criteria signaling a school for consideration for closure.

Additionally, the text of Senate Bill 1126/aSEC has been altered such that with the removal of

that criteria, now only 5 of 7 criteria would need to be met in order to trigger the notification and

probationary period process laid out in the provisions of the bill.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 1126 carries no appropriation.

The bill establishes a list of eight criteria signaling a school for consideration for closure. If a

school meets 6 of 8 items, there is a notification and 2 year probation. If the school fails to

improve in any areas, it can be closed.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Bill 1126 does not appear to contain an appropriation component, however, the Attorney

General Office notes that by providing any additional funding to local school districts to continue

Senate Bill 1126/aSEC/aSCONC/aSFL#1 – Page

3

to operate schools designated for closure, the bill circumvents calculations resulting in the state

equalization guarantee distribution for school district operating revenue as set forth in NMSA

Section 22-8-25.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

If Senate Bill 1126 is enacted, a local school board may close a school within a two-year period

if six of the following criteria are met:

(1) The school has an enrollment, on the eightieth enrollment day of the most recent

school year, of less than seventy-five percent of the school's maximum students

capacity published by the school district's administration, excluding portable

classrooms;

(2) The percentage of students living within a school's attendance area that are

enrolled in that school on the eightieth day, determined by dividing the number of

students living within a school area attending their assigned school divided by the

total number of students living within the school zone is less than seventy percent;

(3) The school has been identified as restructuring 2 under the department's school

improvement system;

(4) The school facility is considered functionally obsolete;

(5) More than ten years have elapsed since the last facility upgrades or remodels in

excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000);

(6) The current facility is out of conformity to building or safety codes;

(7) The current facility needs upgrades or remodeling that exceeds five hundred

thousand dollars ($500,000) in cost; and

(8) There has been a cumulative drop of twenty-five percent or more in the

enrollment of pre-school and school-age children during the prior three-year

period.

If a public school meets six of the eight conditions listed, the school's principal, teachers,

students, parents and neighborhood shall be formally notified of the school's eligibility for

closure, the school shall be placed on probation and shall have the following two academic

school years to improve its standing in these areas. If the school is re-assessed and no longer

meets 6 of the criteria, it will not be closed.

Testimony throughout the summer regarding funding formula impacts on districts indicates that

student enrollment declines are having a devastating impact on medium size districts with a low

Training and Experience Index (T&E). Many school districts have worked to cut budgets, staff

and other operational expenses and are still falling significantly short in operating budgets.

Further testimony indicated that although the Legislature appropriates sufficient funding to meet

school district needs, when it flows through the formula, a number of districts receive less

funding than is needed to meet operating expenses while other districts receive more than

needed. The funding formula study task force is working on changes to the funding formula and

is expected to make recommendations to the Legislature in early fall 07 2008 and will make

recommendations to the Legislature in time for the 2008 session.

PD/csd