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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia, M.H.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/29/2008

HB 301

SHORT TITLE Las Cruces High School Drop-out Prevention

SB

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$1,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 304, HB 302

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 301 appropriates $1 million from the general fund to Public Education Department

for the purpose of designing a four-year drop-out prevention pilot to be implemented at Las

Cruces High School.

The pilot project will provide funding for academic improvement strategies that, proven

successful, can be used to lower dropout rates in other school districts throughout the state.

The pilot project will also include an annual evaluation phase that tracks LCHS students and

their academic achievement, identifies students at risk of dropping out and relates specific

strategies used to keep those students in classes and in school and provides other data sufficient

to determine the efficacy of the strategies used.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert

to the general fund.

House Bill 301 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the National Center for School Engagement (National Center for School

Engagement, 2008):

•

Truancy has been identified as one of the early warning signs of students headed for

potential delinquent activity, social isolation or educational failure via suspension,

expulsion or dropping out.

•

Truancy is considered to be one of the top 10 problems facing schools. 80% of dropouts

were chronically truant before dropping out. 90% of youths in detention for delinquent

acts were chronically truant.

•

If the attendance rate continues to decrease, the graduation rate will be affected. Further,

dropout and truancy have been correlated to an increase in juvenile crime.

The underlying issues for dropout and truancy are often associated with social, family and health

barriers that prevent students from achieving.

At the three comprehensive public high schools in Las Cruces (NMSBA, 2006-07):

•

56% of the ninth graders and 50% of the 11

th

graders scored at a level below proficient on

the New Mexico Standards-Based Assessment (NMSBA) in Reading.

•

65% of the ninth graders and 68% of the 11

th

graders scored at a level below proficient on

the New Mexico Standards-Based Assessment (NMSBA) in Math.

•

44% of the students who went on to college in New Mexico needed to take at least one

remedial course.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to HB 302 and HB304. All three bills establish a four-year pilot for dropout prevention

in Las Cruces public schools. HB 301 focuses the pilot on academic improvement strategies; HB

302 focuses the pilot on summer intensive instruction; and HB 304 focuses the pilot on

extracurricular activities.

PA/bb