HOUSE BILL 691

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Rhonda S. King

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; CLARIFYING THE SCHOOL YEAR AND LENGTH OF SCHOOL DAY.

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

     Section 1. Section 22-2-8.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-2-8.1. SCHOOL YEAR--LENGTH OF SCHOOL DAY--MINIMUM.--

          A. A school year consists of at least one hundred eighty full instructional days for a regular school year calendar, exclusive of any release time for in-service training. A school year consists of at least one hundred fifty-one full instructional days for a variable school year calendar, exclusive of any release time for in-service training. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, days or parts of days that are lost to weather, in-service training or other events that are not school-directed programs shall be made up so that students are given a full instructional school year.

[A.] B. Except as otherwise provided in this

section, regular students shall be in school-directed programs, exclusive of lunch, for a minimum of the following:

                (1) kindergarten, for half-day programs, two and one-half hours per day [or four hundred fifty hours per year] or, for full-day programs, five and one-half hours per day [or nine hundred ninety hours per year];

                (2) grades one through six, five and one-half hours per day [or nine hundred ninety hours per year]; and

                (3) grades seven through twelve, six hours per day. [or one thousand eighty hours per year

          B.] C. Thirty-three hours of the full-day kindergarten program may be used for home visits by the teacher or for parent-teacher conferences. Twenty-two hours of grades one through five programs may be used for home visits by the teacher or for parent-teacher conferences.

          [C.] D. Nothing in this section precludes a local school board from setting a school year or the length of school days in excess of the minimum requirements established by [Subsection] Subsections A and B of this section.

          [D.] E. The [state superintendent] secretary may waive the minimum length of school days in those districts where such minimums would create undue hardships as defined by the [state board] department as long as the school year is adjusted to ensure that students in those school districts receive the same total instructional time as other students in the state."

     Section 2. Section 22-8-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 63, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-8-9. BUDGETS--MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.--

          A. A budget for a school district shall not be approved by the department that does not provide for:

                (1) a school year [consisting of at least one hundred eighty full instructional days or the equivalent thereof, exclusive of any release time for in-service training; or

                (2) a variable school year consisting of a minimum number of instructional hours established by the state board] and school day as provided in Section 22-2-8.1 NMSA 1978; and

                [(3)] (2) a pupil-teacher ratio or class or teaching load as provided in Section 22-10A-20 NMSA 1978.

          B. The [state board] department shall, by rule, establish the requirements for an instructional day, the standards for an instructional hour and the standards for a full-time teacher and for the equivalent thereof."

     Section 3. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act apply to the 2009-2010 and subsequent school years.

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