44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first special session, 1999

RELATING TO EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR OPTIONAL PRESCHOOL AND FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

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] PURPOSE.--The purpose of an optional preschool and family support program is to ensure that participating children receive the support they need both at home and at school so that when they enter first grade they are prepared to learn."

Section 2. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] OPTIONAL PRESCHOOL AND FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM.--

A. The department of education, upon approval of an optional preschool and family support program for participating students from age three through kindergarten, shall distribute money to those school districts that address program elements established by the department of education, including:

(1) initial implementation or expansion of full-day kindergarten;

(2) initial implementation or expansion of half-day programs for students age three through five; and

(3) training for parents.

B. In requesting funding for optional preschool and family support programs, school districts may establish partnerships with local community-based public or private programs. Each funded proposal shall include documentation of a community needs assessment, an explanation of the ways in which the selected program will meet those needs and a family involvement component that is based on family support education principles for each of the program elements."

Section 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] PROGRAM APPROVAL.--

A. An approved preschool and family support program shall serve those students from age three through kindergarten most in need based upon age-appropriate assessments, address cultural diversity and provide family support education.

B. An approved preschool and family support program, in addition to programs already offered pursuant to Section 22-2-8.3 NMSA 1978, may consist of one or more of the following:

(1) pre-kindergarten, which must consist of half-day programs, two and one-half hours per day or four hundred fifty hours per year; and

(2) kindergarten, which must consist of full-day programs, five hours per day or nine hundred hours per year.

C. An approved preschool and family support program shall demonstrate the following components:

(1) age-appropriate developmental activities;

(2) research-based literacy materials appropriate to the age of the students;

(3) effective instructional techniques that incorporate the most recent research in early childhood development;

(4) training for teachers and parents; and

(5) annual pre- and post-program assessments for students that clearly reveal student outcomes.

D. School districts that receive funding for an optional preschool and family support program shall evaluate and document the results of the program in terms of the number of students and families served, the services provided and the gains achieved by the students and their families and report those results to the department of education.

E. Student and family participation in a preschool and family support program shall be voluntary on the part of parents or guardians."

Section 4. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.--

A. By July 1, 1999, the department of education shall develop an approval process for preschool and family support programs and disseminate instructions for that process to all school districts and provide technical assistance in developing proposals. The department shall define approval criteria, establish content standards and benchmarks that ensure students' progress and provide accountability to the public.

B. The department of education shall monitor preschool and family support programs and ensure that they serve the students most in need based upon age-appropriate assessments. If the department determines that a program is not meeting the benchmarks necessary to ensure the progress of students in the program, the department shall notify the school district that failure of the program to meet the benchmarks within sixty days shall result in the cessation of funding for the program. The department of education shall compile the program results submitted by the school districts and make an annual report to the legislative education study committee."

Section 5. Section 22-2-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-2-2. STATE BOARD--DUTIES.--Without limiting those powers granted to the state board pursuant to Section 22-2-1 NMSA 1978, the state board shall perform the following duties:

A. properly and uniformly enforce the provisions of the Public School Code;

B. determine policy for the operation of all public schools and vocational education programs in the state;

C. appoint a state superintendent;

D. purchase and loan instructional material to students pursuant to the Instructional Material Law and adopt rules relating to the use and operation of instructional material depositories in the instructional material distribution process;

E. designate courses of instruction to be taught in all public schools in the state;

F. assess and evaluate all state institutions and those private schools that desire state accreditation;

G. determine the qualifications for and issue a certificate to [any] a person teaching, assisting teachers, supervising an instructional program, counseling, providing special instructional services or administering in public schools, according to law and according to a system of classification adopted and published by the state board;

H. suspend or revoke a certificate held by a certified school instructor or certified school administrator, according to law, for incompetency, immorality or for [any] other good and just cause;

I. make full and complete reports on consolidation of school districts to the legislature;

J. prescribe courses of instruction, requirements for graduation and standards for all public schools, including, from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2002, preschool and family support programs offered by the public schools, for private schools seeking state accreditation and for the educational programs conducted in state institutions other than the New Mexico military institute;

K. adopt rules for the administration of all public schools and bylaws for its own administration;

L. require periodic reports on forms prescribed by it from all public schools and attendance reports from private schools;

M. authorize adult educational programs to be conducted in schools under its jurisdiction and adopt and promulgate rules governing all such adult educational programs;

N. require [any] a school under its jurisdiction that sponsors athletic programs involving sports to mandate that the participating student obtain catastrophic health and accident insurance coverage, such coverage to be offered through the school and issued by an insurance company duly licensed pursuant to the laws of New Mexico;

O. require all accrediting agencies for public schools in the state to act with its approval;

P. accept and receive all grants of money from the federal government or [any other] another agency for public school purposes and disburse the money in the manner and for the purpose specified in the grant;

Q. require prior approval for any educational program in a public school that is to be conducted, sponsored, carried on or caused to be carried on by a private organization or agency;

R. approve or disapprove all rules promulgated by [any] an association or organization attempting to regulate [any] a public school activity and invalidate [any] a rule in conflict with [any rule] rules promulgated by the state board. The state board shall require any association or organization attempting to regulate [any] a public school activity to comply with the provisions of the Open Meetings Act and be subject to the inspection of the Public Records Act. The state board may require performance and financial audits of [any] an association or organization attempting to regulate [any] a public school activity. The state board shall have no power or control over the rules or the bylaws governing the administration of the internal organization of the association or organization;

S. review decisions made by the governing board or officials of [any] a organization or association regulating [any] a public school activity, and [any] a decision of the state board shall be final in respect thereto;

T. accept or reject [any] a charitable gift, grant, devise or bequest. The particular gift, grant, devise or bequest accepted shall be considered an asset of the state;

U. establish and maintain regional centers, at its discretion, for conducting cooperative services between public schools and school districts within and among those regions and to facilitate regulation and evaluation of school programs;

V. assess and evaluate for accreditation purposes at least one-third of all public schools each year through visits by department of education personnel to investigate the adequacy of pupil gain in standard required subject matter, adequacy of pupil activities, functional feasibility of public school and school district organization, adequacy of staff preparation and other matters bearing upon the education of the students;

W. provide for management and other necessary personnel to operate [any] a public school or school district that has failed to meet requirements of law, state board standards or state board rules; provided that the operation of the public school or school district shall not include [any] a consolidation or reorganization without the approval of the local board of that school district. Until such time as requirements of law, standards or rules have been met and compliance is assured, the powers and duties of the local school board shall be suspended;

X. establish and implement a plan that provides for technical assistance to local school boards through workshops and other in-service training methods; provided, however, that no plan shall require mandatory attendance by [any] a member of a local school board;

Y. submit a plan applying for funds available [under] pursuant to Public Law 94-142 and disburse these funds in the manner and for the purposes specified in the plan;

Z. enforce requirements for home schools. Upon finding that a home school is not in compliance with law, the state board has authority to order that a student attend a public school or a private school; and

AA. develop a systemic framework for professional development that provides training to ensure quality teachers and principals and that improves and enhances student achievement. The state board shall work with public school educators, the commission on higher education and institutions of higher education to establish the framework. The framework shall include:

(1) the criteria for school districts to apply for professional development funds, including an evaluation component that will be used by the department of education in approving local school district professional development plans; and

(2) guidelines for developing extensive professional development activities for school districts, including teaching strategies, curriculum materials, distance learning networks and web sites to ensure that the state board's rules pertaining to content standards and benchmarks are used by New Mexico teachers."

Section 6. Section 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 128, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Finance Act:

A. "ADM" or "MEM" means membership;

B. "membership" means the total enrollment of qualified students on the current roll of a class or school on a specified day. The current roll is established by the addition of original entries and reentries minus withdrawals. Withdrawals of students, in addition to students formally withdrawn from the public school, include students absent from the public school for as many as ten consecutive school days;

C. "basic program ADM" or "basic program MEM" means the MEM of qualified students but excludes the full-time-equivalent MEM in early childhood education and three- and four-year-old students receiving special education services;

D. "cost differential factor" is the numerical expression of the ratio of the cost of a particular segment of the school program to the cost of the basic program in grades four through six;

E. "department" or "division" means the state

department of public education;

F. "early childhood education ADM" or "early childhood education MEM" means the full-time-equivalent MEM of students attending approved early childhood education programs;

G. "full-time-equivalent ADM" or "full-time- equivalent MEM" is that membership calculated by applying to the MEM in an approved public school program the ratio of the number of hours per school day devoted to the program to six hours or the number of hours per school week devoted to the program to thirty hours;

H. "operating budget" means the annual financial plan required to be submitted by a local school board;

I. "program cost" is the product of the total number of program units to which a school district is entitled multiplied by the dollar value per program unit established by the legislature;

J. "program element" is that component of a public school system to which a cost differential factor is applied to determine the number of program units to which a school district is entitled, including but not limited to MEM, full-time-equivalent MEM, teacher, classroom or public school;

K. "program unit" is the product of the program element multiplied by the applicable cost differential factor;

L. "public money" or "public funds" means all money from public or private sources received by a local school board or officer or employee of a local school board for public use;

M. "qualified student" means a public school student who:

(1) has not graduated from high school;

(2) is regularly enrolled in one-half or more of the minimum course requirements approved by the state board for public school students; and

(3) is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school year; or

(4) is at least three years of age at any time during the school year and is either receiving special education services pursuant to regulation of the state board or, from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2002, is enrolled in an approved preschool and family support program; or

(5) has not reached his twenty-second birthday on the first day of the school year and is receiving special education services pursuant to regulation of the state board; and

N. "state superintendent" means the superintendent of public instruction or his designee."

Section 7. Section 22-8-19 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1974, Chapter 8, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-19. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAM UNITS.--

A. The number of early childhood education program units is determined by multiplying the early childhood education MEM by the cost differential factor 1.44. No early childhood education student shall be counted for more than 0.5 early childhood education MEM.

B. For the purpose of calculating early childhood education program units, developmentally disabled three- and four-year-old students shall be counted in early childhood education membership. No developmentally disabled three- or four-year-old student shall be counted for more than 0.5 early childhood education MEM.

C. Effective from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2001, the number of optional preschool and family support program units is determined by multiplying the number of students in programs for three- and four-year-old developmentally disabled students and the number of students in kindergarten by the district's at-risk index multiplied by 0.865.

D. Effective from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, the number of optional preschool and family support program units is determined by multiplying the membership of approved preschool and family support programs by the district's at-risk index."

Section 8. APPROPRIATION.--Four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000)is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2000 for the purpose of funding additional program units in preschool and family support education at the program unit value established by the superintendent of public instruction. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2000 shall not revert to the general fund.

Section 9. DELAYED REPEAL.--Sections 1 through 4 of this act are repealed effective July 1, 2002.

Section 10. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.