44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR A STATE TRUANCY OFFICER; PRESCRIBING A PENALTY; AMENDING, REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

Section 1. A new section of the Compulsory School Attendance Law is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] TRUANCY OFFICER--ENFORCEMENT OF ATTENDANCE LAW--PENALTY.--

A. The "state truancy officer" is created in the office of the attorney general.

B. The state truancy officer shall:

(1) initiate the enforcement of the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law for students enrolled in both public and private schools;

(2) collect monthly attendance reports from each school district or each governing authority of a private school;

(3) send written notice to the parents of any student in noncompliance with the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law; and

(4) call a conference between the student; the parent, legal guardian or other person having custody; the principal of the school; and the state truancy officer to discuss the noncompliance with the Compulsory School Attendance Law.

B. If violations of the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law continue after the attendance conference, the state truancy officer shall work with the probation services office of the judicial district where the student resides for an investigation to determine within thirty days whether the student shall be considered a neglected child or a child in need of supervision who is subject to the provisions of the Children's Code.

C. After the state truancy officer and the juvenile probation office of the children's court division or the district judge of the children court's division where the student resides make their findings and a finding is made that the student's nonattendance may have been caused by the parent, legal guardian or other person having custody of the student, the matter shall be referred to the district attorney's office for appropriate investigation and filing of charges pursuant to the Compulsory School Attendance Law.

D. A parent, legal guardian or other person having custody of a student who after receiving written notice and attending the attendance conference knowingly allows a student to continue to violate the Compulsory School Attendance Law is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

E. If violations of the Compulsory School Attendance Law continue after the first conviction, upon the second and subsequent convictions, the parent, legal guardian or other person having custody of the student who knowingly allows the student to continue to violate the Compulsory School Attendance Law is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978."

Section 2. Section 22-12-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 170, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-12-2. COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE--RESPONSIBILITY.--

A. Any qualified student and any person who because of his age is eligible to become a qualified student as defined by the Public School Finance Act until attaining the age of majority shall attend a public school, a private school, a home school or a state institution. A person shall be excused from this requirement if:

(1) the person is specifically exempted by law from the provisions of this section;

(2) the person has graduated from a high school;

(3) the person is at least sixteen years of age and has been excused by the local school board or its authorized representative upon a finding that the person will be employed in a gainful trade or occupation or engaged in an alternative form of education sufficient for the person's educational needs and the parent, guardian or other person having custody and control consents; or

(4) with consent of the parent, guardian or person having custody and control of the person to be excused, the person is excused from the provisions of this section by the superintendent of schools of the school district in which the person is a resident and the person is under eight years of age.

B. A person subject to the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law shall attend school for at least the length of time of the school year that is established in the school district in which the person is a resident.

C. A person subject to the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law shall not have more than three unexcused absences during a grading period.

[C.] D. Any parent, guardian or person having custody and control of a person subject to the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law is responsible for the school attendance of that person.

E. For the purposes of this section, "unexcused absence" means any absences that a school district considers unexcused, including suspension or expulsion."

Section 3. APPROPRIATION.--Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the attorney general for expenditure in fiscal year 2000 to fund three full-time equivalent positions and to pay for administrative costs incurred by the state truancy officer. The three full-time equivalent positions shall be the state truancy officer and two support staff. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2000 shall revert to the general fund.

Section 4. REPEAL.--Section 22-12-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 175, as amended) is repealed.