46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; CREATING A PUBLIC SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PILOT PROJECT; PROVIDING FOR EVALUATION; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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] PUBLIC SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PILOT PROJECT CREATED--BOARDS--DUTIES.--

A. The "public school-community partnership pilot project" is created as a five-year project to determine whether public school-community partnership boards with the authority to make changes in public schools will enhance the performance of students in public schools that do not meet state standards. The pilot project shall be conducted in each public school in the Albuquerque public school district that has not met state standards for three consecutive years.

B. A public school shall establish a "public school-community partnership board" appointed by the local school board as follows:

(1) parents and community members shall constitute at least fifty-one percent of the board membership and teachers and administrators of the public school shall constitute the other members;

(2) each grade level shall have a representative on the board;

(3) the parents from each grade shall select representatives; and

(4) four members of the board shall represent the community at large, selected from within the attendance boundary of the public school.

C. A public school-community partnership board shall:

(1) elect a chairperson, a vice chairperson and a secretary;

(2) report directly to the school principal and the local school board;

(3) hold at least four meetings a year with parents from each grade in the public school. The board has the responsibility to ensure that parents' views are heard at all meetings;

(4) conduct at least one general combined meeting a year with the entire public school community;

(5) develop through a public dialogue process conducted with all citizens who live within the attendance boundary of the public school and have an interest in public school outcomes a written school vision statement that includes goals, measurable objectives and operation plans;

(6) ensure that all demographic groups living within the attendance boundary of the public school have equal representation in the public dialogue and vision process;

(7) review the budget of the public school;

(8) oversee all school processes, including student achievement, building and grounds maintenance and parental and community involvement in the public school;

(9) together with the principal, evaluate the progress of all students in the public school and find ways to improve the achievement of all students and to determine the best use of school property throughout the year and how to decrease dropout rates in the school; and

(10) attend mandatory training.

D. A school principal shall:

(1) provide to a public school-community partnership board a list of all teachers, their qualifications and the reasons why the teachers were hired;

(2) provide the test scores of students taught by each teacher and the written goals, measurable objectives and action plans for improving the test scores of each student; provided that the information shall not identify individual students; and

(3) communicate with the board, specifically with the chairperson of the board, on a regular basis.

E. The department of education and the Albuquerque public school district shall develop and conduct public school-community partnership board training, which training shall be specific to the duties pursuant to the pilot project.

F. The local school board shall provide the means for all the public school-community partnership boards to meet and share their successes and challenges.

G. The department of education shall evaluate the progress of the public school-community partnership pilot project through improved student test scores at the participating schools and by other measures deemed appropriate by the department. The department shall make periodic reports to the legislative education study committee and a final report to the committee and the legislature at the end of the pilot project. The legislative education study committee may make recommendations to the legislature at any time concerning the efficacy of the pilot project and shall make final recommendations on continuation or expansion of the program as a pilot project or general law.

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($225,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2004 to conduct the public school-community partnership pilot project. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004 shall revert to the general fund.