SENATE BILL 80

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

INTRODUCED BY

Stephen H. Fischmann

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; PROVIDING THE MINIMUM STUDENT MEMBERSHIP FOR A SCHOOL DISTRICT.

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] SCHOOL DISTRICTS--MINIMUM STUDENT MEMBERSHIP.--After July 1, 2018, and except as provided otherwise in this section, the department shall not allow or approve a budget for a school district of fewer than one thousand students. The commission and the secretary may jointly determine that, because of distance, geographic features or extraordinary cost, a school district does not have any logical choice of another school district with which to consolidate and may order that the school district does not have to consolidate with another school district. In all other cases, if a small school district has not voluntarily found at least one other school district with which to consolidate by July 1, 2017 to meet the minimum student membership requirement of this section, the commission and the secretary shall jointly issue an order consolidating that school district with a neighboring school district. The consolidation order may include the annexation of areas of the school district to another school district if such annexation would be more efficient and cost-effective. Consolidations pursuant to this section shall be an alternate method of consolidation and are not subject to other provisions of Chapter 22, Article 4 NMSA 1978."

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