SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL 323

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; ALLOWING EARLY ENROLLMENT IN KINDERGARTEN FOR CHILDREN WHO TURN FIVE YEARS OLD BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 1 AND DECEMBER 15 OF THAT SCHOOL YEAR; REQUIRING ASSESSMENTS FOR KINDERGARTEN READINESS FOR THOSE CHILDREN; INCLUDING EARLY ENROLLEES IN THE DEFINITION OF "QUALIFIED STUDENT" FOR LIMITED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 128, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-8-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Finance Act:

          A. "ADM" or "MEM" means membership;

          B. "membership" means the total enrollment of qualified students on the current roll of a class or school on a specified day. The current roll is established by the addition of original entries and reentries minus withdrawals. Withdrawals of students, in addition to students formally withdrawn from the public school, include students absent from the public school for as many as ten consecutive school days; provided that withdrawals do not include students in need of early intervention and habitual truants the school district is required to intervene with and keep in an educational setting as provided in Section 22-12-9 NMSA 1978;

          C. "basic program ADM" or "basic program MEM" means the MEM of qualified students but excludes the full-time-equivalent MEM in early childhood education and three- and four-year-old students receiving special education services;

          D. "cost differential factor" is the numerical expression of the ratio of the cost of a particular segment of the school program to the cost of the basic program in grades four through six;

          E. "department" or "division" means the public education department;

          F. "early childhood education ADM" or "early childhood education MEM" means the full-time-equivalent MEM of students attending approved early childhood education programs;

          G. "full-time-equivalent ADM" or "full-time-equivalent MEM" is that membership calculated by applying to the MEM in an approved public school program the ratio of the number of hours per school day devoted to the program to six hours or the number of hours per school week devoted to the program to thirty hours;

          H. "operating budget" means the annual financial plan required to be submitted by a local school board or governing body of a state-chartered charter school;

          I. "program cost" is the product of the total number of program units to which a school district is entitled multiplied by the dollar value per program unit established by the legislature;

          J. "program element" is that component of a public school system to which a cost differential factor is applied to determine the number of program units to which a school district is entitled, including but not limited to MEM, full-time-equivalent MEM, teacher, classroom or public school;

          K. "program unit" is the product of the program element multiplied by the applicable cost differential factor;

          L. "public money" or "public funds" means all money from public or private sources received by a school district or state-chartered charter school or officer or employee of a school district or state-chartered charter school for public use;

          M. "qualified student" means a public school student who:

                (1) has not graduated from high school;

                (2) is regularly enrolled in one-half or more of the minimum course requirements approved by the department for public school students; and

                (3) in terms of age:

                     (a) is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school year or will turn five between September 1 and December 15 of the school year and only for the purpose of funding early enrollment as provided in Section 22-13-3.2 NMSA 1978;

                     (b) is at least three years of age at any time during the school year and is receiving special education services pursuant to rules of the department; or

                     (c) has not reached the student's

twenty-second birthday on the first day of the school year and is receiving special education services pursuant to rules of the department; and

          N. "state superintendent" means the secretary of public education or the secretary's designee."

     SECTION 2. Section 22-13-3.2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2000, Chapter 107, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-13-3.2. FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS--EARLY ADMISSION FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN.--

          A. The [state board] department shall adopt rules for the development and implementation of child-centered and developmentally appropriate full-day kindergarten programs. Establishment of full-day kindergarten programs shall be voluntary on the part of school districts, and student participation shall be voluntary on the part of parents.

          B. The department [of education] shall require schools with full-day kindergarten programs to conduct age-appropriate assessments to determine the placement of students at instructional level and the effectiveness of child-centered, developmentally appropriate kindergarten.

          C. The department [of education] shall monitor full-day kindergarten programs and ensure that they serve the [children] students most in need based upon indicators in the at-risk index. If the department [of education] determines that a program is not meeting the benchmarks necessary to ensure the progress of students in the program, the department [of education] shall notify the school district that failure to meet the benchmarks shall result in the cessation of funding for the following school year. The department [of education] shall compile the program results submitted by the school districts and make an annual report to the legislative education study committee and the legislature.

          D. Full-day kindergarten programs shall be phased in over a five-year period as follows with priority given to those school districts that serve [children] students in schools with the highest proportion of students most in need based upon indicators in the at-risk index or that serve [children] students by means of grade-level schools that serve an entire school district:

                (1) effective with the 2000-2001 school year, one-fifth of New Mexico's kindergarten classes may be full day;

                (2) effective with the 2001-2002 school year, two-fifths of New Mexico's kindergarten classes may be full day;

                (3) effective with the 2002-2003 school year, three-fifths of New Mexico's kindergarten classes may be full day;

                (4) effective with the 2003-2004 school year, four-fifths of New Mexico's kindergarten classes may be full day; and

                (5) effective with the 2004-2005 school year, all of New Mexico's kindergarten classes may be full day.

          E. School districts shall apply to the department [of education] to receive funding for full-day kindergarten programs. In granting approval for funding of full-day kindergarten programs, the department [of education] shall ensure that full-day kindergarten programs are first implemented in schools that have the highest proportion of students most in need based upon the at-risk index and in schools with available classroom space.

          F. A local school board may adopt a policy to allow children whose fifth birthdays fall between September 1 and December 15 of the school year to enroll in kindergarten if their skills and maturity level indicate kindergarten readiness. Qualified staff shall determine readiness through the assessment of each child's cognitive, social, physical and language development. If the child qualifies for early enrollment, the kindergarten teacher shall conduct a parent conference at the end of six weeks of school to review the student's progress.

          G. The school district shall select the assessment tool to be used to assess a child's readiness for early enrollment and other procedures necessary to fulfill the intent of the local school board's policy of early enrollment."

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