SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL 305
53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; SPECIFYING THE PROGRAM UNITS THAT APPLY TO VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CALCULATING PROGRAM COST.
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 by Laws 2015, Chapter 58, Section 2 and by Laws 2015, Chapter 108, Section 1) 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. "charter school" means a school authorized by a chartering authority to operate as a public school;
C. "commission" means the public education commission;
D. "department" means the public education department;
E. "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. "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. "licensed school employee" means teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers;
H. "local school board" means the policy-setting body of a school district;
I. "local superintendent" means the chief executive officer of a school district;
J. "parent" includes a guardian or other person having custody and control of a school-age person;
K. "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. "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. "school" means a supervised program of instruction designed to educate a student in a particular place, manner and subject area;
N. "school administrator" means a person licensed to administer in a school district and includes school principals, central district administrators and charter school head administrators;
O. "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. "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. "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. "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. "school employee" includes licensed and nonlicensed employees of a school district;
T. "school principal" means the chief instructional leader and administrative head of a public school;
U. "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. "secretary" means the secretary of public education;
W. "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. "state educational institution" means an institution enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;
Y. "substitute teacher" means a person who holds a certificate to substitute for a teacher in the classroom;
Z. "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. "virtual charter school" means a charter school in which instruction and curriculum are delivered predominantly via internet-based methods by teachers licensed in New Mexico;
[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 22-8-18 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1974, Chapter 8, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-8-18. PROGRAM COST CALCULATION--LOCAL RESPONSIBILITY.--
A. The total program units for the purpose of computing the program cost shall be calculated by multiplying the sum of the program units itemized as Paragraphs (1) through (6) in this subsection by the instructional staff training and experience index and adding the program units itemized as Paragraphs (7) through (14) in this subsection. The itemized program units are as follows:
(1) early childhood education;
(2) basic education;
(3) special education, adjusted by subtracting the units derived from membership in class D special education programs in private, nonsectarian, nonprofit training centers;
(4) bilingual multicultural education;
(5) fine arts education;
(6) elementary physical education;
(7) size adjustment;
(8) at-risk program;
(9) enrollment growth or new district adjustment;
(10) special education units derived from membership in class D special education programs in private, nonsectarian, nonprofit training centers;
(11) national board for professional teaching standards certification;
(12) home school student program unit;
(13) home school student activities; and
(14) charter school student activities.
B. The total program cost calculated as prescribed in Subsection A of this section includes the cost of early childhood, special, bilingual multicultural, fine arts and vocational education and other remedial or enrichment programs. It is the responsibility of the local school board or, for a charter school, the governing body of the charter school to determine its priorities in terms of the needs of the community served by that board. Except as otherwise provided in this section, funds generated under the Public School Finance Act are discretionary to local school boards and governing bodies of charter schools; provided that the special program needs as enumerated in this section are met; and provided further that if a public school has been rated D or F for two consecutive years, the department shall ensure that the local school board or, for a charter school, the governing body of the charter school is prioritizing resources for the public school toward proven programs and methods linked to improved student achievement until the public school earns a C or better for two consecutive years.
C. For a virtual charter school, the total program units for the purpose of computing the program cost shall be calculated only by adding the program units itemized as Paragraphs (1) through (3) and (11) of Subsection A of this section and not by multiplying the instructional staff training and experience index."
- 8 -