0001| AN ACT | 0002| RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; AMENDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE TO PROVIDE | 0003| FOR LANDMARK SCHOOLS. | 0004| | 0005| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: | 0006| Section 1. Section 22-1-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter | 0007| 16, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read: | 0008| "22-1-1. PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE.--Chapter 22 NMSA 1978 may be cited | 0009| as the "Public School Code"." | 0010| Section 2. Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter | 0011| 16, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read: | 0012| "22-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Code: | 0013| A. "state board" means the state board of education; | 0014| B. "state superintendent" means the superintendent of | 0015| public instruction; | 0016| C. "department of education" means the state department of | 0017| public education; | 0018| D. "certified school instructor" means any person holding a | 0019| valid certificate authorizing the person to teach, supervise an | 0020| instructional program, counsel or provide special instructional | 0021| services in the public schools of the state; | 0022| E. "certified school administrator" means any person | 0023| holding a valid certificate authorizing the person to administer in | 0024| the public schools of the state; | 0025| F. "certified school employee" or "certified school | 0001| personnel" means any employee who is either a certified school | 0002| instructor or a certified school administrator or both; | 0003| G. "non-certified school employee" means any employee who | 0004| is not a certified school employee; | 0005| H. "certificate" means a certificate issued by the state | 0006| board authorizing a person to teach, supervise an instructional | 0007| program, counsel, provide special instructional services or administer | 0008| in the public schools of the state; | 0009| I. "chief" or "director" means the state superintendent or | 0010| his designee unless the context clearly indicates otherwise; | 0011| J. "private school" means a school offering on-site | 0012| programs of instruction not under the control, supervision or | 0013| management of a local school board, exclusive of home instruction | 0014| offered by the parent, guardian or one having custody of the student; | 0015| K. "school district" means an area of land established as a | 0016| political subdivision of the state for the administration of public | 0017| schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding | 0018| purposes; | 0019| L. "local school board" means the governing body of a | 0020| school district; | 0021| M. "public school" means that part of a school district | 0022| that is a single attendance center where instruction is offered by a | 0023| certified school instructor or a group of certified school instructors | 0024| and is discernible as a building or group of buildings generally | 0025| recognized as either an elementary, secondary, junior high or high | 0001| school or any combination thereof; | 0002| N. "school year" means the total number of teaching days | 0003| offered by public schools in a school district during a period of | 0004| twelve consecutive months; | 0005| O. "consolidation" means the combination of part or all of | 0006| the geographical area of an existing school district with part or all | 0007| of the geographical area of one or more contiguous existing school | 0008| districts; | 0009| P. "consolidated school district" means a school district | 0010| created by order of the state board by combining part or all of the | 0011| geographical area of an existing school district with part or all of | 0012| the geographical area of one or more contiguous existing school | 0013| districts; | 0014| Q. "state institution" means the New Mexico military | 0015| institute, the New Mexico school for the visually handicapped, the New | 0016| Mexico school for the deaf, the New Mexico boys' school, the New | 0017| Mexico youth diagnostic and development center, the Los Lunas medical | 0018| center, the Fort Stanton hospital, the Las Vegas medical center or the | 0019| Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital; | 0020| R. "state educational institution" means an institution | 0021| enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New | 0022| Mexico; | 0023| S. "forty-day report" means the report of qualified student | 0024| membership of each school district and of those eligible to be | 0025| qualified students but enrolled in a private school or a home school | 0001| for the first forty days of school; | 0002| T. "school" means any supervised program of instruction | 0003| designed to educate a person in a particular place, manner and subject | 0004| area; | 0005| U. "school-age person" means any person who is at least | 0006| five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school | 0007| year and who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent. | 0008| A maximum age of twenty-one shall be used for persons who are | 0009| classified as special education membership as defined in Section | 0010| 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 or as residents of state institutions; | 0011| V. "home school" means the operation by a parent, guardian | 0012| or other person having custody of a school-age person who instructs a | 0013| home study program that provides a basic academic educational program, | 0014| including but not limited to reading, language arts, mathematics, | 0015| social studies and science; | 0016| W. "school building" means a public school, an | 0017| administration building and related school structure or facilities, | 0018| including teacher housing, as may be owned, acquired or constructed by | 0019| the local school board and as necessary to carry out the powers and | 0020| duties of the local school board; and | 0021| X. "landmark school" means a nondenominational and | 0022| nonsectarian school that is authorized, owned and operated by a | 0023| governmental entity wholly located within the state but that is not a | 0024| political subdivision of the state, if the governmental entity has | 0025| been recognized by the state for any other purpose; provided that a | 0001| landmark school shall have been in operation since a time prior to the | 0002| time in which the state was admitted to the union; and provided | 0003| further that the school serves students from widely separated, | 0004| multiple school districts." | 0005| Section 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to | 0006| read: | 0007| "LANDMARK SCHOOLS.-- | 0008| A. A school that meets the definition of a landmark school | 0009| may apply to the state board to be designated as a landmark school. | 0010| B. A landmark school shall provide at a minimum the | 0011| following enrichment programs: | 0012| (1) a leadership development program that will train | 0013| future leaders and assure quality interaction between governments in | 0014| addressing and resolving issues of mutual concern; | 0015| (2) a community-based curriculum program that defines | 0016| issues essential to quality of life and incorporates those issues into | 0017| the school's science, mathematics and technology curricula through | 0018| field-based learning experiences and technology applications; | 0019| (3) a native arts program that teaches both | 0020| traditional and contemporary art and provides for the development of | 0021| talented artists who will continue to make important contributions to | 0022| the art-based culture of New Mexico; and | 0023| (4) a language instructional program that | 0024| incorporates native language as an instructional tool used in the | 0025| classroom and in the student's communities in recognition of the fact | 0001| that native language is essential in community, cultural and other | 0002| traditions. | 0003| C. A landmark school shall agree to serve as a site-based | 0004| research laboratory on issues facing schools and students, including | 0005| efforts to contain and lower dropout rates, and to target at-risk | 0006| student populations for enrichment and other programs that will enable | 0007| them to graduate from high school. | 0008| D. A landmark school shall file accountability and | 0009| school violence and vandalism reports with the department of | 0010| education as required by Sections 22-1-6 and 22-1-7 NMSA 1978." | 0011| |