HB0459

HOUSE BILL 459

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Ray Begaye

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL; REQUIRING LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD APPROVAL OF THE LOCAL SUPERINTENDENT'S EMPLOYMENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF DISTRICTWIDE ADMINISTRATORS; CHANGING THE FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF THE LOCAL SUPERINTENDENT; DEFINING A TERM; PROVIDING FOR THE REVIEW OF PERSONNEL ACTIONS AFFECTING THE SCHOOL BUDGET.

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

SECTION 1. Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Code:

A. "academic proficiency" means mastery of the subject-matter knowledge and skills specified in state academic content and performance standards for a student's grade level;

B. "adequate yearly progress" means the measure adopted by the department based on federal requirements to assess the progress that a public school or school district or the state makes toward improving student achievement;

C. "commission" means the public education commission;

D. "department" means the public education department;

E. "districtwide administrator" means a person who is engaged in districtwide administrative functions for more than one-half of the person's employment time, including deputy, associate or assistant superintendent; program director, manager or coordinator; and department head;

[E.] F. "home school" means the operation by the parent of a school-age person of a home study program of instruction that provides a basic academic educational program, including reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science;

[F.] G. "instructional support provider" means a person who is employed to support the instructional program of a school district, including educational assistant, school counselor, social worker, school nurse, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, marriage and family therapist, interpreter for the deaf and diagnostician;

[G.] H. "licensed school employee" means teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers;

[H.] I. "local school board" means the policy-setting body of a school district;

[I.] J. "local superintendent" means the chief [executive officer] instructional leader of a school district;

[J.] K. "parent" includes a guardian or other person having custody and control of a school-age person;

[K.] L. "private school" means a school, other than a home school, that offers on-site programs of instruction and that is not under the control, supervision or management of a local school board;

[L.] M. "public school" means that part of a school district that is a single attendance center in which instruction is offered by one or more teachers and is discernible as a building or group of buildings generally recognized as either an elementary, middle, junior high or high school or any combination of those and includes a charter school;

[M.] N. "school" means a supervised program of instruction designed to educate a student in a particular place, manner and subject area;

[N.] O. "school administrator" means a person licensed to administer in a school district and includes school principals and central district administrators;

[O.] P. "school-age person" means a person who is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school year and who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent. A maximum age of twenty-one shall be used for a person who is classified as special education membership as defined in Section 22-8-21 NMSA 1978 or as a resident of a state institution;

[P.] Q. "school building" means a public school, an administration building and related school structures or facilities, including teacher housing, that is owned, acquired or constructed by the school district as necessary to carry out the functions of the school district;

[Q.] R. "school bus private owner" means a person, other than a school district, the department, the state or any other political subdivision of the state, that owns a school bus;

[R.] S. "school district" means an area of land established as a political subdivision of the state for the administration of public schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding purposes;

[S.] T. "school employee" includes licensed and nonlicensed employees of a school district;

[T.] U. "school principal" means the chief instructional leader and administrative head of a public school;

[U.] V. "school year" means the total number of contract days offered by public schools in a school district during a period of twelve consecutive months;

[V.] W. "secretary" means the secretary of public education;

[W.] X. "state agency" or "state institution" means the New Mexico military institute, New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, New Mexico school for the deaf, New Mexico boys' school, girls' welfare home, New Mexico youth diagnostic and development center, Sequoyah adolescent treatment center, Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital, New Mexico behavioral health institute at Las Vegas and any other state agency responsible for educating resident children;

[X.] Y. "state educational institution" means an institution enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;

[Y.] Z. "substitute teacher" means a person who holds a certificate to substitute for a teacher in the classroom;

[Z.] AA. "teacher" means a person who holds a level one, two or three-A license and whose primary duty is classroom instruction or the supervision, below the school principal level, of an instructional program or whose duties include curriculum development, peer intervention, peer coaching or mentoring or serving as a resource teacher for other teachers;

[AA.] BB. "certified school instructor" means a teacher or instructional support provider; and

[BB.] CC. "certified school employee" or "certified school personnel" means a licensed school employee."

SECTION 2. Section 22-5-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 28, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-5-4. LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS--POWERS--DUTIES.--A local school board shall have the following powers or duties:

A. subject to the rules of the department, develop educational policies for the school district;

B. employ a local superintendent for the school district and fix the superintendent's salary;

C. approve or disapprove the local superintendent's recommendation for employment, salary and term of contract for districtwide administrators or may delegate the function to the local superintendent;

[C.] D. review and approve the annual school district budget;

[D.] E. acquire, lease and dispose of property;

[E.] F. have the capacity to sue and be sued;

[F.] G. acquire property by eminent domain pursuant to the procedures provided in the Eminent Domain Code;

[G.] H. issue general obligation bonds of the school district;

[H.] I. provide for the repair of and maintain all property belonging to the school district;

[I.] J. for good cause and upon order of the district court, subpoena witnesses and documents in connection with a hearing concerning any powers or duties of the local school board;

[J.] K. except for expenditures for salaries, contract for the expenditure of money according to the provisions of the Procurement Code;

[K.] L. adopt rules pertaining to the administration of all powers or duties of the local school board;

[L.] M. accept or reject any charitable gift, grant, devise or bequest. The particular gift, grant, devise or bequest accepted shall be considered an asset of the school district or the public school to which it is given;

[M.] N. offer and, upon compliance with the conditions of such offer, pay rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction or other appropriate disciplinary disposition by the courts or juvenile authorities of offenders in case of theft, defacement or destruction of school district property. All such rewards shall be paid from school district funds in accordance with rules promulgated by the department; and

[N. give prior approval for] O. approve any educational program in a public school in the school district that is to be conducted, sponsored, carried on or caused to be carried on by a private organization or agency before the program may be conducted."

SECTION 3. Section 22-5-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 25) is amended to read:

"22-5-14. LOCAL SUPERINTENDENT--POWERS AND DUTIES.--

A. The local superintendent is the chief [executive officer] instructional leader of the school district.

B. The local superintendent shall:

(1) carry out the educational policies and rules of the [state board] department and local school board;

(2) administer and supervise the school district;

(3) except as provided in Subsection C of Section 22-5-4 NMSA 1978, employ, fix the salaries of and assign, terminate or discharge all employees of the school district;

(4) prepare the school district budget based on public schools' recommendations for review and approval by the local school board and the department. The local superintendent shall tell each school principal the approximate amount of money that may be available for [his] the principal's school and provide a school budget template to use in making school budget recommendations; [and]

(5) submit all salary increases and contract extensions for districtwide administrators to the local school board for approval to ensure compliance with the budget and salary schedules; and

[(5)] (6) perform other duties as required by law, the department or the local school board.

C. The local superintendent may apply to the [state board] department for a waiver of certain provisions of the Public School Code relating to length of school day, staffing patterns, subject area or the purchase of instructional materials for the purpose of implementing a collaborative school improvement program for an individual public school."

SECTION 4. Section 22-10A-21 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 113, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-10A-21. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS--DURATION.--

A. All employment contracts between local school boards and [certified] licensed school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and [certified] licensed school [instructors] employees shall be in writing on forms approved by the [state board] department. These forms shall contain and specify the term of service, the salary to be paid, the method of payment, the causes for termination of the contract and other provisions required by the [regulations of the state board] rules of the department.

B. All employment contracts between local school boards and [certified] licensed school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and [certified] licensed school [instructors] employees shall be for a period of one school year except:

(1) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to fill personnel vacancies [which] that occur during the school year;

(2) contracts for the remainder of a school year are permitted to staff programs when the availability of funds for the programs is not known until after the beginning of the school year;

(3) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to staff summer school programs and to staff federally funded programs in which the federally approved programs are specified to be conducted for less than one school year;

(4) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted for [certified] school administrators in public schools who are engaged in administrative functions for more than one-half of their employment time; [and]

(5) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted at the discretion of the local school board for [certified] licensed school [instructors] employees in public schools who have been employed in the school district for three consecutive school years; and

(6) contracts for districtwide administrators shall not extend past the contract term of the superintendent unless otherwise recommended by the local superintendent and approved by the local school board.

C. Persons employed under contracts for periods of less than one school year as provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection B of this section shall be accorded all the duties, rights and privileges of the [Certified] School Personnel Act.

D. In determination of eligibility for unemployment compensation rights and benefits for [certified] licensed school [instructors] employees where those rights and benefits are claimed to arise from the employment relationship between governing authorities of state agencies or local school boards and [certified] licensed school [instructors] employees, that period of a year not covered by a school year shall not be considered an unemployment period.

E. Except as provided in Section [22-10-12] 22-10A-22 NMSA 1978, a person employed by contract pursuant to this section has no legitimate objective expectancy of reemployment, and no contract entered into pursuant to this section shall be construed as an implied promise of continued employment pursuant to a subsequent contract."

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