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AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION; ENACTING THE STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY

ACT; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; PROVIDING STANDARDS FOR

ALLOCATING THE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEFICIENCY CORRECTION

FUND.

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:

"SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 7 of this act may be

cited as the "Statewide Cyber Academy Act"."

Section 2. A new section of the Public School Code is

enacted to read:

"DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Statewide Cyber Academy

Act:

A. "course provider" means a person that supplies

educational course content for distance learning courses;

B. "distance learning course" means an educational

course that is taught where the student and primary

instructor are separated by time or space and linked by

technology;

C. "distance learning student" means a qualified

student as defined in Section 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 who is

enrolled in one or more distance learning courses for credit;

D. "learning management system" means a software

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application that facilitates online instruction and

interaction between teachers and distance learning students;

E. "local distance learning site" means a school

district or charter school that offers and grants credit for

distance learning courses to distance learning students

enrolled in the school district or charter school;

F. "primary enrolling district" means the school

district or charter school in which the distance learning

student is enrolled;

G. "regional host" means an educational

institution, school district or other entity selected by the

statewide cyber academy to coordinate the delivery of

distance learning courses within a broad geographic region of

the state;

H. "service center" means the single central

facility where administrative and management functions of the

statewide cyber academy are physically located in New Mexico;

and

I. "statewide cyber academy" means the

department's collaborative program that offers distance

learning courses to all local distance learning sites."

Section 3. A new section of the Public School Code is

enacted to read:

"STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY CREATED.--The "statewide cyber

academy" program is created in the department. The statewide

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cyber academy is a collaborative program among the

department, the higher education department,

telecommunications networks and representatives of other

state agencies engaged in providing distance education. The

statewide cyber academy shall provide distance learning

courses for grades six through twelve and professional

development for teachers, instructional support providers and

school administrators."

Section 4. A new section of the Public School code is

enacted to read:

"DEPARTMENT RULES.--The department shall promulgate

rules to carry out the provisions of the Statewide Cyber

Academy Act."

Section 5. A new section of the Public School Code is

enacted to read:

"STATEWIDE CYBER ACADEMY--DUTIES.--The statewide cyber

academy shall:

A. establish a distance learning course delivery

system that is efficient and cost-effective and that uses a

statewide service center and regional hosts to provide

approved distance learning courses;

B. select regional hosts based on pre-existing

experience and capacity to facilitate the delivery of

distance educational programs, including public

post-secondary educational institutions, regional education

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cooperatives and school districts;

C. provide technical and program support to

regional hosts and local distance learning sites;

D. ensure that all distance learning courses

offered by course providers are taught by highly qualified

teachers or members of the faculty of accredited

post-secondary educational institutions and meet state

academic content and performance standards;

E. provide for reasonable and equitable means to

allocate the costs of distance learning courses among the

statewide cyber academy, the course providers and the school

districts whose students are enrolled in a distance learning

course;

F. give first priority to the delivery of distance

learning courses for credit to distance learning students who

have the greatest need because of geographic location or

circumstances in which a school district may have difficulty

delivering essential course instruction due to financial

restraints or lack of highly qualified teachers; provided

that in fiscal year 2008 the statewide cyber academy shall

include, among those distance learning students who are

determined to have the greatest need, distance learning

students served by school districts that are members of

regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine;

G. ensure that the statewide cyber academy's

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learning management system is compatible with school district

and department data collection, analysis and reporting

systems;

H. ensure that all deficiencies in the

infrastructure, hardware and software in the statewide cyber

academy are corrected in accordance with educational

technology adequacy standards pursuant to Section 22-15A-11

NMSA 1978;

I. comply with all rules governing privacy and

confidentiality of student records for secure record storage;

J. offer distance learning courses to distance

learning students;

K. offer professional development via distance

learning, using a learning management system;

L. assist the council on technology in education

in its development of the statewide plan required by Section

22-15A-7 NMSA 1978, including a statewide cyber academy plan

that addresses short- and long-range goals;

M. define and coordinate the roles and

responsibilities of the collaborating agencies to establish a

distance learning governance and accountability framework;

and

N. conduct an annual evaluation and provide an

annual report to the department and the legislature that

includes a detailed report of expenditures; a description of

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services provided, including the number and location of local

distance learning sites, public schools and distance learning

students served; the courses offered; the credits generated

by local distance learning sites; and student and teacher

accountability reporting data."

Section 6. A new section of the Public School Code is

enacted to read:

"DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS.--

A. A student must be enrolled in a public school

or a state-supported school and must have the permission of

the student's local distance education learning site to

enroll in a distance learning course. A distance learning

student shall only be counted in the student's primary

enrolling district for the purpose of determining the

membership used to calculate a school district's state

equalization guarantee. A student shall have only one

primary enrolling district.

B. A home school student may participate in the

statewide cyber academy by enrolling for one-half or more of

the minimum course requirements approved by the department

for public school students in the school district in which

the student resides; or, if the student is enrolled for less

than one-half of the minimum course requirements, the student

may participate in the statewide cyber academy by paying not

more than thirty-five percent of the current unit value per

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curricular unit.

C. A student enrolled in a nonpublic school may

participate in the statewide cyber academy if the school in

which the student is enrolled enters into a contract with the

school district in which the nonpublic school is located.

D. A student who is detained in or committed to a

juvenile detention facility or a facility for the long-term

care and rehabilitation of delinquent children may

participate in the statewide cyber academy if the facility in

which the student is enrolled enters into a contract with the

school district in which the facility is located."

Section 7. A new section of the Public School Code is

enacted to read:

"EVALUATION OF REGIONAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVE DISTANCE

LEARNING NETWORKS.--A network developed by regional education

cooperatives three, eight and nine shall serve as a regional

host in fiscal year 2008. The statewide cyber academy shall

provide a preliminary report to the governor and the

legislature by January 1, 2008 on the quality and

cost-effectiveness of the provision of distance learning

courses by the regional education cooperatives. At the end

of fiscal year 2008, the statewide cyber academy shall

prepare a final report on the quality and cost-effectiveness

of services provided, including whether the services

increased the rigor of school district and charter school

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curricula, and make recommendations for the expansion to

other regional education cooperatives."

Section 8. Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994,

Chapter 96, Section 7) is amended to read:

"22-15A-7. COUNCIL DUTIES.--The council shall:

A. advise the bureau on implementation of the

provisions of the Technology for Education Act;

B. work with the bureau to conduct periodic

assessments of the need for educational technology in the

public school system to support on-site and distance learning

and make recommendations to the department on how to meet

those needs;

C. promote the collaborative development and

implementation of educational technologies, projects and

practices to enhance on-site and distance learning

instruction capabilities;

D. develop and recommend to the department a

statewide plan to infuse educational technology into the

public school system in support of state and national

education goals, including a statewide cyber academy plan

that states short- and long-range goals for distance

learning; and

E. provide assistance to the bureau in review of

school district technology plans to support on-site and

distance learning."

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Section 9. Section 22-15A-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws

2005, Chapter 222, Section 2) is amended to read:

"22-15A-11. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEFICIENCIES--

CORRECTION.--

A. No later than September 1, 2005, the bureau,

with the advice of the council and the office of the chief

information officer, shall define and develop minimum

educational technology adequacy standards to supplement the

adequacy standards developed by the public school capital

outlay council for school districts to use to identify

outstanding serious deficiencies in educational technology

infrastructure.

B. A school district shall use the standards to

complete a self-assessment of the outstanding educational

technology deficiencies within the school district and

provide cost projections to correct the outstanding

deficiencies.

C. The bureau shall develop a methodology for

prioritizing projects that will correct the deficiencies.

D. After a public hearing and to the extent that

money is available in the educational technology deficiency

correction fund, the bureau shall approve allocations from

the fund on the established priority basis and, working with

the school district and pursuant to the Procurement Code,

enter into contracts to correct the deficiencies.

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E. No allocation shall be made pursuant to this

section unless:

(1) the method for prioritizing projects

developed by the bureau has been reviewed and approved by the

council;

(2) the school district has agreed to

consult and coordinate with the public school facilities

authority before installing any educational technology

infrastructure;

(3) the council has approved the proposed

allocation; and

(4) for the 2009 and subsequent fiscal

years, the initial assessment required in the Technology for

Education Act has been verified by an independent third party

as determined in consultation with the public school capital

outlay council.

F. In entering into contracts to correct

deficiencies pursuant to this section, the bureau shall

include such terms and conditions as necessary to ensure that

the state money is expended in the most prudent manner

possible consistent with the original purpose."

Section 10. A new section of the Technology for

Education Act is enacted to read:

"OBSOLETE COMPUTER REPLACEMENT.--To the extent that

money has been appropriated to replace functionally obsolete

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computers and network devices in public schools, including

charter schools, on a five-year cycle, the bureau shall base

allocations on a ratio of one computer to three students in

each school. Prior to making allocations, the bureau shall

compile and maintain an inventory of computer and network

devices in public schools, including charter schools, and

develop a methodology for prioritizing the replacement of

computers and network devices to ensure that state money is

expended in the most prudent manner possible consistent with

the original purpose."

Section 11. RECOMPILATION.--Section 22-13-27 NMSA 1978

(being Laws 2003, Chapter 162, Section 2) is recompiled into

the Statewide Cyber Academy Act.