HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 45

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Sandra D. Jeff

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF INCLUDING THE SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY STANDARDS-BASED FUNDING PROCESS.

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school provides education to students from seventh through twelfth grades; and

      WHEREAS, students attending the Santa Fe Indian school come from all nineteen Indian pueblos within the state of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the nineteen Indian pueblos in the state of New Mexico encompass land in numerous counties throughout the state; and

     WHEREAS, in 2000, the attorney general opined that the Santa Fe Indian school is a statewide institution because it provides education to New Mexico students who would otherwise need to be educated in other New Mexico public schools; and

     WHEREAS, the purpose of the Santa Fe Indian school is to provide a challenging, stimulating academic program of excellence that shares the responsibility with students and their parents in developing the students' potential to meet obligations to themselves and their communities within New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, students at the Santa Fe Indian school are provided with a place to explore, walk new paths and seek new experiences and career opportunities, while remaining true to their Native American identity; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school's importance and value to the state's Native American community and to the state in general are unquestioned; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school does not participate in the state's public school operational funding formula or the higher education funding process; and

     WHEREAS, the Santa Fe Indian school has no state project review process through which it can prioritize and justify its capital outlay needs;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public school capital outlay council be requested, in cooperation with representatives of the legislative finance committee, the legislative education study committee, the public education department and the department of finance and administration, to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of including the Santa Fe Indian school in the public school capital outlay standards-based funding process; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the work group report the results of its study to the legislature and the executive prior to the beginning of the 2014 legislative session; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the public school capital outlay council, the directors of the legislative finance committee and legislative education study committee, the secretary of public education and the secretary of finance and administration.

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