SENATE BILL 418

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

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald Ortiz y Pino

AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE TO PROVIDE FOR DEFINITION OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY RISKS AND PROCEDURES.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-5-4.3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-5-4.3. SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES--STUDENTS MAY SELF-ADMINISTER CERTAIN MEDICATIONS.--

          A. Local school boards shall establish student discipline policies and shall file them with the department. The local school board shall involve parents, school personnel and students in the development of these policies, and public hearings shall be held during the formulation of these policies in the high school attendance areas within each school district or on a district-wide basis for those school districts that have no high school.

          B. Each school district discipline policy shall establish rules of conduct governing areas of student and school activity, detail specific prohibited acts and activities and enumerate possible disciplinary sanctions, which sanctions may include corporal punishment, in-school suspension, school service, suspension or expulsion.

          C. Each school district discipline policy shall:

                (1) define acts that pose a substantial threat to school safety justifying arrest; and

                (2) define petty acts of misconduct that should be treated as disciplinary infractions.

          D. School districts shall develop policies that offer alternatives to long-term suspension, expulsion or referral to law enforcement agencies, except where those alternatives would pose a substantial threat to school safety.

          E. A school discipline policy shall not require the reporting of petty acts of misconduct and misdemeanors to law enforcement agencies, including:

                (1) disorderly conduct;

                (2) interference with the educational process;

                (3) simple assault or battery;

                (4) theft of less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250);

                (5) trespassing; and

                (6) vandalism of property that results in less than five hundred dollars ($500) in damages.

          F. Each school discipline policy shall require that any disciplinary action taken against a student who violates a school discipline policy be based on the individual student and the particular circumstances of the student's acts or omissions.

          G. Each year, a school district shall submit a report to the department that includes:

                (1) the number of arrests, citations and referrals to the children, youth and families department that law enforcement officers, security guards, school resource officers and other school employees have made for any alleged delinquent act on school property;

                (2) the offenses for which students were arrested, cited or referred to the children, youth and families department for an alleged delinquent act on school property; and

                (3) for students arrested, cited or referred to the children, youth and families department for an alleged delinquent act, statistics categorized by offense regarding the student's:

                     (a) age;

                     (b) race;

                     (c) gender; and

                     (d) if applicable, special education eligibility category.

          H. A local school board shall enter into an agreement with its local county sheriff's office and local police department that shall:

                (1) specify guidelines for determining which acts are not petty acts of misconduct or misdemeanors that will be considered to pose a substantial threat to students, staff or school safety, whether committed by a student or an adult;

                (2) specify the procedures for reporting acts that are not petty acts of misconduct or misdemeanors to law enforcement agencies;

                (3) specify any role for school resource officers in reporting incidents;

                (4) specify circumstances in which school officials may handle incidents without filing a report with a law enforcement agency;

                (5) require, at a minimum, that school resource officers complete basic police academy training and specific training on interviewing children and the requirements of the Children's Code; and

                (6) be reported to the department and made available to the public.

          [C.] I. An individual school within a school district may establish a school discipline policy, provided that parents, school personnel and students are involved in its development and a public hearing is held in the school prior to its adoption and make the adoption of the discipline policy public knowledge to parents and students by providing them with the policy in writing and at public assemblies for students and parents at the beginning of the school year. If an individual school adopts a discipline policy in addition to the local school board's school district discipline policy, it shall submit its policy to the local school board for approval and the policy shall be circulated to parents and students in the same manner as district-wide policies.

          [D.] J. No school employee who in good faith reports any known or suspected violation of the school discipline policy or in good faith attempts to enforce the policy shall be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such report or of the employee's efforts to enforce any part of the policy.

          [E.] K. All public school and school district discipline policies shall allow students to carry and self-administer asthma medication and emergency anaphylaxis medication that has been legally prescribed to the student by a licensed health care provider under the following conditions:

                (1) the health care provider has instructed the student in the correct and responsible use of the medication;

                (2) the student has demonstrated to the health care provider and the school nurse or other school official the skill level necessary to use the medication and any device that is necessary to administer the medication as prescribed;

                (3) the health care provider formulates a written treatment plan for managing asthma or anaphylaxis episodes of the student and for medication use by the student during school hours or school-sponsored activities, including transit to or from school or school-sponsored activities; and

                (4) the student's parent has completed and submitted to the school any written documentation required by the school or the school district, including the treatment plan required in Paragraph (3) of this subsection and other documents related to liability.

          [F.] L. The parent of a student who is allowed to carry and self-administer asthma medication and emergency anaphylaxis medication may provide the school with backup medication that shall be kept in a location to which the student has immediate access in the event of an asthma or anaphylaxis emergency.

          [G.] M. Authorized school personnel who in good faith provide a person with backup medication as provided in this section shall not be held liable for civil damages as a result of providing the medication."