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

RELATING TO EDUCATION; ENACTING THE COMPETITIVE SCHOOLS ACT TO PERMIT PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS TO ATTEND ANY PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE STATE; REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

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

Section 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 12 of this act may be cited as the "Competitive Schools Act".

Section 2. [NEW MATERIAL] LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--

A. The legislature finds that:

(1) every family in New Mexico should have the option to take advantage of the best educational opportunities available for their school-age children;

(2) providing families in New Mexico with a choice between schools leads to competition that benefits students and improves the quality of public schools; and

(3) students should be allowed to improve their learning potential through educational opportunities that are best suited to their individual needs and interests.

B. The purpose of the Competitive Schools Act is to improve educational achievement and to enhance the opportunity for parental and student choice in education by providing additional options to students residing in the state to enroll in public schools without regard to student residence.

Section 3. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Competitive Schools Act:

A. "certificate" means a written instrument issued by the state department of public education to a parent of a child that can be used to enroll the child in a school district outside of the district or attendance zone in which the child resides;

B. "department" means the state department of public education;

C. "parent" means the natural or adoptive parent of a dependent child or the guardian or legal custodian of a dependent child;

D. "program" means the elementary and secondary school enrollment options program authorized pursuant to the Competitive Schools Act; and

E. "school" means a school that is operated by a public school district and that provides elementary or secondary education in accordance with state law.

Section 4. [NEW MATERIAL] ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.--The department shall establish a program to enable students residing in the state to attend schools without restriction to the school district or the attendance zone within a school district in which they reside.

Section 5. [NEW MATERIAL] APPLICATION PROCEDURES.--

A. A parent who wishes his child to attend a school in a school district outside of the district in which the child resides shall submit an application to the nonresident school district. A parent who wishes his child to attend a school within a school district in which the child resides, but which is located outside the established attendance zone for the child, shall submit an application to the resident school district.

B. The parent shall submit the application for enrollment for a particular school year within a time limit set and on a form provided by the department.

C. If the application is for attendance outside of the resident school district, upon agreement of the school district in which the child resides and the school district to which application is made, the deadline in Subsection B of this section may be waived.

Section 6. [NEW MATERIAL] DESEGREGATION PLAN.--A school district that has a desegregation plan approved by the department, a court or by the United States office of civil rights of the federal department of education may, in accordance with rules of the department, limit the number of students who transfer into or out of the district, pursuant to the Competitive Schools Act, if necessary to ensure compliance with the plan.

Section 7. [NEW MATERIAL] BASIS FOR DECISION.--

A. A school district shall adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications pursuant to the Competitive Schools Act. Standards may include consideration of the capacity of a school program, class, grade level or school building. Subject to Subsection B of this section, standards may not include consideration of a student's previous academic achievement, physical condition, sex, national origin, race or proficiency in the English language except when necessary to comply with the provisions of Section 5 of the Competitive Schools Act.

B. In considering an application, a school

district may apply its usual requirements for admission to a magnet school or a school program designed to serve the gifted and talented.

Section 8. [NEW MATERIAL] PROCEDURES.--

A. Within sixty days of receiving an application pursuant to Section 5 of the Competitive Schools Act, a school district shall notify, in writing, the applicant parent and the school district in which the student resides, if different from the district to which the application is made, whether the application has been accepted or rejected. If an application is rejected, the school district shall state in the notification the reason for its rejection.

B. If an application is accepted, then the department shall issue the applicant a certificate to be presented to the school within ten days after receipt by the applicant. The certificate shall verify that the application was accepted and that the student is enrolled in the school of his choice.

Section 9. [NEW MATERIAL] TRANSPORTATION.--In cases in which a student is attending a school not within his resident school district:

A. the parent shall provide transportation for the student to the transportation boundary of the attendance zone of the school that the student is attending; and

B. the nonresident school district shall provide transportation for the student from the transportation boundary of the attendance zone of the school that the student is attending.

Section 10. [NEW MATERIAL] GRADUATION.--A school district serving a nonresident student under the Competitive Schools Act shall accept credits toward graduation that were awarded to that student by another school district and shall graduate a nonresident student if the student meets the nonresident school district's own graduation requirements.

Section 11. [NEW MATERIAL] INFORMATION.--In order to enable a parent to make an informed decision about enrollment options pursuant to the Competitive Schools Act, each school district shall make available information about the district, its schools, various programs, policies and procedures. The department shall promulgate rules specifying the information that a district must make available, including objective data on individual school achievement levels and, in the case of secondary schools, dropout and graduation rates.

Section 12. [NEW MATERIAL] STATE AID.--The department shall reallocate state education aid between a resident school district and a nonresident school district, as follows:

A. state aid that is allocated on a per-student basis shall be allocated to the school district in which the school is located that a student actually attends; and

B. for state aid not allocated on a per-student basis, the department shall review the average effects of a single student's transfer on the costs which that aid is meant to defray for both the resident and the nonresident school district, and, after the review, the department shall promulgate a formula that results in an equitable allocation to both districts.

Section 13. Section 22-1-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 338, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-1-4. FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS--EXCEPTIONS--WITHDRAWING AND ENROLLING--OPEN ENROLLMENT.--

A. Except as provided by Section 24-5-2 NMSA 1978, a free public school education shall be available to any school-age person who is a resident of this state and has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent.

B. A free public school education in those courses already offered to persons pursuant to provisions of Subsection A of this section shall be available to any person who is a resident of this state and has received a high school diploma or its equivalent if there is available space in such courses.

C. Any person entitled to a free public school education pursuant to provisions of this section may enroll or re-enroll in a public school at any time and, unless required to attend school pursuant to the Compulsory School Attendance Law, may withdraw from a public school at any time.

D. In adopting and promulgating [regulations] rules concerning the enrollment of students transferring from a home school or private school to the public schools, the local school board shall provide that the grade level at which the transferring student is placed is appropriate to the age of the student or to the student's score on a student achievement test administered according to the statewide and local school district testing programs as determined by the state superintendent or both.

E. Subject to the provisions of a program as defined in the Competitive Schools Act, a local school board shall adopt and promulgate [regulations] rules governing enrollment and re-enrollment at schools within the district. These [regulations] rules shall include:

(1) definition of the district boundary and the boundaries of attendance areas for each school;

[(2) for each school, definition of the boundaries of areas outside the district boundary or within the district but outside the school's attendance area, and within a distance of the school that would not be served by a school bus route as determined pursuant to Section 22-16-4 NMSA 1978 if enrolled, which areas shall be designated as "walk zones";

(3)] (2) priorities for enrollment of students as follows:

(a) first, persons residing within the district and within the attendance area of a school;

(b) second, persons who previously attended the school; and

(c) third, all other applicants; and

[(4)] (3) establishment of maximum allowable class size if smaller than that permitted by law and ratification and description of the maximum class size in the charter of all charter schools within the district.

F. As long as the maximum allowable class size established by law, by [regulation] rule of a local school board or in the charter of a charter school, whichever is lower, is not met or exceeded in a school by enrollment of first-priority persons, the school shall enroll other persons applying in the priorities stated in the district [regulations] rules adopted pursuant to Subsection E of this section. If the maximum would be exceeded by enrollment of an applicant in the second or third priority, the school shall establish a waiting list. As classroom space becomes available, persons highest on the waiting list within the highest priority on the list shall be notified and given the opportunity to enroll."

Section 14. SEVERABILITY.--If any part or application of this act is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.

Section 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 1999.

Section 16. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.