45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE; CHANGING THE CALCULATION OF THE AT-RISK INDEX USED TO DETERMINE ADDITIONAL PROGRAM UNITS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

Section 1. Section 22-8-23.3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 40, Section 7) is amended to read:

"22-8-23.3. AT-RISK PROGRAM UNITS.--

A. A school district is eligible for additional program units if it establishes within its state board approved educational plan identified services to assist students to reach their full academic potential. A school district receiving additional at-risk program units shall include a report of specified services in its annual accountability report pursuant to Section 22-1-6 NMSA 1978. The number of additional units to which a school district is entitled under this section is computed in the following manner:

At-Risk Index x MEM = Units

where MEM is equal to the total district membership, including early childhood education, full-time-equivalent membership and special education membership and where the at-risk index is calculated in the following manner:

B. To calculate the [refined at-risk cluster] three-year average total rate, the department shall [rank order each school district in the state on the basis] compute a three-year average of the district's percentage of membership used to determine its Title I allocation, a three-year average of the percentage of membership classified as [limited] English [proficient] language learners using criteria established by the federal office of civil rights and a three-year average of the percentage of student mobility [and the percentage of dropouts in the school district. Using this data, the department shall initially group districts into nine clusters using a neural network computer analysis. Each school district shall be assigned a whole number from one to nine reflecting its initial cluster assignment, with higher need districts receiving a higher number and lower need districts receiving a lower number. This number shall be modified on the basis of a school district's relative position in the cluster and further refined through the use of a second neural network computer analysis, a back propagation. Using the results of this analysis, the department shall refine the cluster assignment and the number assigned to each school district]. The department shall then add the three-year average rates. The number obtained from this calculation is the [refined at-risk cluster] three-year average total rate.

C. The department shall recalculate the at-risk index for each school district every [two years] year. For the school years beginning in 2002, 2003 and 2004, no school district shall receive less than ninety percent of the at-risk funding generated in the immediately preceding fiscal year."

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Three million dollars ($3,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2003 to provide funding for at-risk programs in public schools statewide. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2003 shall revert to the general fund.