HOUSE BILL 874
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Nora Espinoza
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; REQUIRING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OR OTHER SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY TO CRAFT STANDARDS FOR A DRUG TESTING POLICY FOR TRUANTS AND HABITUAL TRUANTS; DEFINING DRUG TESTING.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DRUG TESTING POLICY FOR TRUANTS AND HABITUAL TRUANTS.--
A. The department shall establish a model drug testing policy for a school district or other governing body of a school that includes:
(1) minimum accuracy standards;
(2) descriptions of acts that may be used to find an individualized suspicion of illegal drug use; and
(3) adequate safeguards against false positive results in a drug test.
B. The department shall provide by rule a means to cooperate with the district's nearest juvenile probation department in drug testing of a truant or habitual truant while protecting individually identifiable student information."
Section 2. Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Code:
A. "academic proficiency" means mastery of the subject-matter knowledge and skills specified in state academic content and performance standards for a student's grade level;
B. "adequate yearly progress" means the measure adopted by the department based on federal requirements to assess the progress that a public school or school district or the state makes toward improving student achievement;
C. "commission" means the public education commission;
D. "department" means the public education department;
E. "drug testing" means an analysis of blood, hair or urine administered under the auspices of a juvenile probation office to screen for the presence of an illegal substance;
[E.] F. "forty-day report" means the report of qualified student membership of each school district and of those eligible to be qualified students but enrolled in a private school or a home school for the first forty days of school;
[F.] G. "home school" means the operation by the parent of a school-age person of a home study program of instruction that provides a basic academic educational program, including reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science;
[G.] H. "instructional support provider" means a person who is employed to support the instructional program of a school district, including educational assistant, school counselor, social worker, school nurse, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, interpreter for the deaf and diagnostician;
[H.] I. "licensed school employee" means teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers;
[I.] J. "local school board" means the policy-setting body of a school district;
[J.] K. "local superintendent" means the chief executive officer of a school district;
[K.] L. "parent" includes a guardian or other person having custody and control of a school-age person;
[L.] M. "private school" means a school, other than a home school, that offers on-site programs of instruction and that is not under the control, supervision or management of a local school board;
[M.] N. "public school" means that part of a school district that is a single attendance center in which instruction is offered by one or more teachers and is discernible as a building or group of buildings generally recognized as either an elementary, middle, junior high or high school or any combination of those and includes a charter school;
[N.] O. "school" means a supervised program of instruction designed to educate a student in a particular place, manner and subject area;
[O.] P. "school administrator" means a person licensed to administer in a school district and includes school principals and central district administrators;
[P.] Q. "school-age person" means a person who is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school year and who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent. A maximum age of twenty-one shall be used for a person who is classified as special education membership as defined in Section 22-8-21 NMSA 1978 or as a resident of a state institution;
[Q.] R. "school building" means a public school, an administration building and related school structures or facilities, including teacher housing, that is owned, acquired or constructed by the school district as necessary to carry out the functions of the school district;
[R.] S. "school bus private owner" means a person, other than a school district, the department, the state or any other political subdivision of the state, that owns a school bus;
[S.] T. "school district" means an area of land established as a political subdivision of the state for the administration of public schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding purposes;
[T.] U. "school employee" includes licensed and nonlicensed employees of a school district;
[U.] V. "school principal" means the chief instructional leader and administrative head of a public school;
[V.] W. "school year" means the total number of contract days offered by public schools in a school district during a period of twelve consecutive months;
[W.] X. "secretary" means the secretary of public education;
[X.] Y. "state agency" or "state institution" means the New Mexico military institute, New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, New Mexico school for the deaf, New Mexico boys' school, girls' welfare home, New Mexico youth diagnostic and development center, Sequoyah adolescent treatment center, Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital, New Mexico behavioral health institute at Las Vegas and any other state agency responsible for educating resident children;
[Y.] Z. "state educational institution" means an institution enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;
[Z.] AA. "substitute teacher" means a person who holds a certificate to substitute for a teacher in the classroom;
[AA.] BB. "teacher" means a person who holds a level one, two or three-A license and whose primary duty is classroom instruction or the supervision, below the school principal level, of an instructional program or whose duties include curriculum development, peer intervention, peer coaching or mentoring or serving as a resource teacher for other teachers;
[BB.] CC. "certified school instructor" means a teacher or instructional support provider; and
[CC.] DD. "certified school employee" or "certified school personnel" means a licensed school employee."
Section 3. Section 22-2-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-2-2. DEPARTMENT--GENERAL DUTIES.--The department shall:
A. properly and uniformly enforce the provisions of the Public School Code;
B. determine policy for the operation of all public schools and vocational education programs in the state, including vocational programs that are part of a juvenile construction industries initiative for juveniles who are committed to the custody of the children, youth and families department;
C. supervise all schools and school officials coming under its jurisdiction, including taking over the control and management of a public school or school district that has failed to meet requirements of law or department rules or standards, and, until such time as requirements of law, standards or rules have been met and compliance is ensured, the powers and duties of the local school board and local superintendent shall be suspended;
D. prescribe courses of instruction to be taught in all public schools in the state, requirements for graduation and standards for all public schools, for private schools seeking state accreditation and for the educational programs conducted in state institutions other than the New Mexico military institute;
E. provide technical assistance to local school boards and school districts;
F. assess and evaluate public schools for accreditation purposes to determine the adequacy of student gain in standards-required subject matter, adequacy of student activities, functional feasibility of public school and school district organization, adequacy of staff preparation and other matters bearing upon the education of the students;
G. assess and evaluate all state institutions and those private schools that desire state accreditation;
H. enforce requirements for home schools. Upon finding that a home school is not in compliance with law, the department may order that a student attend a public school or a private school;
I. require periodic reports on forms prescribed by it from all public schools and attendance reports from private schools;
J. determine the qualifications for and issue licenses to teachers, instructional support providers and school administrators according to law and according to a system of classification adopted and promulgated by rules of the department;
K. deny, suspend or revoke a license according to law for incompetency, moral turpitude or any other good and just cause;
L. approve or disapprove all rules promulgated by an association or organization attempting to regulate a public school activity and invalidate any rule in conflict with any rule promulgated by the department. The department shall require an association or organization attempting to regulate a public school activity to comply with the provisions of the Open Meetings Act and be subject to the inspection provisions of the Public Records Act. The department may require performance and financial audits of an association or organization attempting to regulate a public school activity. The department shall have no power or control over the rules or the bylaws governing the administration of the internal organization of the association or organization;
M. review decisions made by the governing board or officials of an organization or association regulating a public school activity, and any decision of the department shall be final in respect thereto;
N. require a public school under its jurisdiction that sponsors athletic programs involving sports to mandate that the participating student obtain catastrophic health and accident insurance coverage, such coverage to be offered through the school and issued by an insurance company duly licensed pursuant to the laws of New Mexico;
O. establish and maintain regional centers, at its discretion, for conducting cooperative services between public schools and school districts within and among those regions and for facilitating regulation and evaluation of school programs;
P. approve education curricula and programs offered in all two-year public post-secondary educational institutions, except those in Chapter 21, Article 12 NMSA 1978, that lead to alternative licenses for degreed persons pursuant to Section 22-10A-8 NMSA 1978 or licensure for educational assistants;
Q. establish a model drug testing policy for a school district or other governing body of a school, including minimum accuracy standards, actions that justify individualized suspicion and adequate safeguards against false positive results;
[Q.] R. withhold program approval from a college of education or teacher preparation program that fails to offer a course on teaching reading that:
(1) is based upon current scientifically based reading research;
(2) aligns with department-adopted reading standards;
(3) includes strategies and assessment measures to ensure that beginning teachers are proficient in teaching reading; and
(4) was designed after seeking input from experts in the education field;
[R.] S. annually, prior to December 1, prepare and publish a report on public and private education in the state and distribute the report to the governor and the legislature;
[S.] T. solicit input from local school boards and school districts in the formulation and implementation of department rules; and
[T.] U. report to the legislature or any of its committees as requested and report findings of any educational research study made with public money to the legislature through its appropriate interim or standing committees."
Section 4. Section 22-12-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 175, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-12-7. ENFORCEMENT OF ATTENDANCE LAW--HABITUAL TRUANTS--PENALTY.--
A. Each local school board and each governing body of a charter school or private school shall initiate the enforcement of the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law for students enrolled in their respective schools.
B. To initiate enforcement of the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law against an habitual truant, a local school board or governing body of a charter school or private school or its authorized representatives shall give written notice of the habitual truancy by certified mail to or by personal service on the parent of the student subject to and in noncompliance with the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law.
C. If unexcused absences continue after written notice of habitual truancy as provided in Subsection B of this section has occurred, the student shall be reported to the probation services office of the judicial district where the student resides for an investigation as to whether the student shall be considered to be a neglected child or a child in a family in need of services because of habitual truancy and thus subject to the provisions of the Children's Code. In addition to any other disposition, the children's court may order the habitual truant's driving privileges to be suspended for a specified time not to exceed ninety days on the first finding of habitual truancy and not to exceed one year for a subsequent finding of habitual truancy.
D. Continued absence after a written notice of habitual truancy may constitute individualized suspicion sufficient to justify drug testing. A student who fails to submit to drug testing pursuant to this subsection may be suspended or expelled.
[D.] E. If, after review by the juvenile probation office where the student resides, a determination and finding is made that the habitual truancy by the student may have been caused by the parent of the student, then the matter will be referred by the juvenile probation office to the district attorney's office or any law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for appropriate investigation and filing of charges allowed under the Compulsory School Attendance Law. Charges against the parent may be filed in metropolitan court, magistrate court or district court.
[E.] F. A parent of the student who, after receiving written notice as provided in Subsection B of this section and after the matter has been reviewed in accordance with Subsection [D] E of this section, knowingly allows the student to continue to violate the Compulsory School Attendance Law shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor. Upon the first conviction, a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than one hundred dollars ($100) may be imposed, or the parent of the student may be ordered to perform community service. If violations of the Compulsory School Attendance Law continue, upon the second and subsequent convictions, the parent of the student who knowingly allows the student to continue to violate the Compulsory School Attendance Law shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment for a definite term not to exceed six months or both.
[F.] G. The provisions of this section shall apply beginning July 1, 2004."
Section 5. Section 22-12-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2004, Chapter 28, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-12-9. UNEXCUSED ABSENCES AND TRUANCY--ATTENDANCE AND DRUG TESTING POLICIES.--
A. As used in this section and Sections 22-12-7 and 22-12-8 NMSA 1978:
(1) "habitual truant" means a student who has accumulated the equivalent of ten or more unexcused absences within a school year;
(2) "truant" means a student who has accumulated five unexcused absences within any twenty-day period; and
(3) "unexcused absence" means an absence from school or a class for which the student does not have an allowable excuse pursuant to the Compulsory School Attendance Law or rules of the local school board or governing authority of a charter school or private school.
B. Each school district and charter school shall maintain an attendance policy that:
(1) provides for early identification of students with unexcused absences, truants and habitual truants and provides intervention strategies that focus on keeping truants in an educational setting and prohibit out-of-school suspension and expulsion as the punishment for truancy;
(2) uses withdrawal as provided in Section
22-8-2 NMSA 1978 only after exhausting efforts to keep students in educational settings; [and]
(3) requires that class attendance be taken for every instructional day in every public school or school program in the school district; and
(4) provides for drug testing a truant or an habitual truant in conformance with a state model drug testing policy.
C. School districts and charter schools shall report truancy and habitual truancy rates to the department in a form and at such times as the department determines and shall document efforts made to keep truants and habitual truants in educational settings. Locally chartered charter schools shall provide copies of their reports to the school district."
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