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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR HEC

DATE TYPED 3/15/05

HB 84/HECS

SHORT TITLE Public School Code Clean-up

SB

ANALYST Segura/Baca

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$0.1 Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

Conflicts with HB125 and SB368

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

The House Education Substitute for House Bill 84 (HB84/HECS) clarifies, corrects and recon-

ciles sections of the Public School Code to comply with the Education Reform Act of 2003.

The bill contains an emergency clause and becomes effective upon being signed by the Gover-

nor.

Significant Issues

HB 84/HECS clarifies Section 22-1-2 DEFINITIONS by clarifying the cross-reference to special

education membership in Subsection O, amending the reference to the “New Mexico School for

the Visually Handicapped” to the “New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired” in

Subsection V and amending the definition of “teacher” in Subsection Z to include persons whose

duties include curriculum development, peer intervention, peer coaching or mentoring or serving

as a resource teacher for other teachers.

House Bill 84/HECS -- Page 2

According to the PED, the House Education Committee Substitute for House Bill 84 also makes

the following changes:

Section 2: Amends Section 22-2C-3 ACADEMIC CONTENT AND PERFORMANCE

STANDARDS – [STATE BOARD] DEPARTMENT AND DUTIES to amend subsec-

tion A by requiring that the department adopt academic content and performance stan-

dards for grades three through 12 instead of the current grades one through 12.

Section 3: Amends Section 22-2C-4 STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT AND

ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM – INDICATORS – REQUIRED TESTS –

ALTERNATIVE TESTS – LIMITS ON ALTERNATIVES TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE

READING TEST to remove diagnostic and standards-based reading tests on reading

from the academic assessment program for adequate yearly progress for grades K-2.

Section 4: Amends Section 22-5-4 LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS - POWERS - DUTIES

to clarify that the local school board fixes the local superintendent’s salary and reviews

and approves the annual school district budget.

[Section 5: Adds a new Section 22-10A-21.1 DEFINITIONS – STATE AGENCY

COVERAGE to provide that certain references in the School Personnel Act include state

agencies and provides that licensed school employees in state agencies are subject to the

School Personnel Act.]

[Section 6: Amends Section 22-10A-22 NOTICE OF REEMPLOYMENT –

TERMINATION to provide that the school principal recommends to the local superin-

tendent the reemployment or termination of each licensed school employee under the

principal’s supervision and clarifies references throughout the section.]

[Section 7: Clarifies references to licensed school employees in Section 22-10A-23

REEMPLOYMENT – ACCEPTANCE-REJECTION-BINDING CONTRACT.]

[Section 8: Amends Section 22-10A-24 TERMINATION DECISIONS – LOCAL

SCHOOL BOARD – GOVERNING AUTHORITY OF A STATE AGENCY –

PROCEDURES to provide that the school principal may recommend the termination of a

school employee under the principal’s supervision who worked for the school district or

state agency for less than three years for any reason the principal deems sufficient and

that based on the recommendation the local superintendent may terminate the employee

and clarifies that the local superintendent is the decision-making authority in the termina-

tion process.]

[Section 9: Amends Section 22-10A-25 APPEALS – INDEPENDENT ARBITRATOR-

QUALIFICATIONS - PROCEDURE-BINDING DECISION to clarify references to the

local superintendent and local school district.]

[Section 10: Amends Section 22-10A-26 EXCEPTED FROM PROVISIONS to clarify

statutory cross-references and clarify terminology.]

[Section 11: Amends Section 22-10A-27 DISCHARGE HEARING – PROCEDURES to

House Bill 84/HECS -- Page 3

clarify that the local superintendent may discharge a school employee upon service of no-

tice by the school principal.]

[Section 12: Amends Section 22-10A-28 APPEALS – INDEPENDENT ARBITRATOR

QUALIFICATIONS – PROCEDURE – BINDING DECISION to clarify that the local

superintendent is the discharge authority.]

[Section 13: Amends Section 22-10A-29 COMPENSATION PAYMENTS TO

DISCHARGED PERSONNEL to clarify terms.]

[Section 14: Amends Section 22-10A-30 SUPERVISION AND CORRECTION

PROCEDURES to clarify that the Public Education Department prescribe by rule proce-

dures to be followed by a school district or state agency in supervising and correcting un-

satisfactory work performance of school employees. This is a significant departure from

current law by requiring a school district to follow yet-to-be-adopted rules applicable to

non certified school employees. In essence, it adds a bureaucratic layer to the termina-

tion/discharge process as it now for the first time applies to non certified staff. Without

this change, only certified school employees are covered by this section. The bill does

not change the applicability of this section to school administrators facing termina-

tion/discharge, and failure to comply with this section could be grounds for a wrongful

termination/civil rights violation lawsuit.]

Section 10: Amends subsection B of Section 22-13-1 SUBJECT AREAS – MINIMUM

INSTRUCTIONAL AREAS REQUIRED – ACCREDITATION to apply required daily

instruction areas to kindergarten through third grade classes. Subsection C is amended to

include the requirement that all first, second and third grade classes provide instruction

that meets content and performance standards in physical education and in health educa-

tion. Subsection D is amended to add health education to the required instructional areas

in fourth through eighth grades. In ninth through 12th grades, instruction that meets aca-

demic content and performance standards must be provided in health education.

Section 16: Amends Section 22-13-1.1 GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS to clarify

references and include the requirement that health education be offered as an elective for

students in ninth grade and above.

Changes are made throughout the amended sections to reflect governance changes as a result of

the amendment to Article XII, Section 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico. In addition, techni-

cal corrections are made throughout the amended sections.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

HB 84/HECS will support the Public Education Department’s (PED) performance with regard to

the implementation of education reform initiatives.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The Office of Education Accountability notes that:

expanding the definition of teachers to include persons whose duties include curriculum

House Bill 84/HECS -- Page 4

development, peer intervention, peer coaching or mentoring or serving as a resource for

other teachers will have an impact on the cost of implementing the three-tiered licensure

system. The current estimates for the cost of the three-tiered system are based the posi-

tion categories and position description codes in ADS for the 40th-day data in the 2004-

2005 school year. These estimates use the more limited definition of teacher currently in

statute. The two position categories included for the current definition of teacher are

“Teacher” (21,593.99 FTE) and “Library/Media Specialist” (291.38 FTE). Expanding

the definition of teacher as outlined in Enacting HB 84/HECS will mean including some

of the licensed teachers who are currently being classified in ADS as “Resource and Test-

ing Coordinators” (768.83 FTE). A recent PED survey of the districts identified ap-

proximately 340 teachers classified as resource teachers who would be added to the costs

of the three-tiered system. Different districts place teachers whose duties would fall un-

der the expanded definition in wide range of position categories and descriptions on the

ADS system. Because these figures are estimates, it is difficult to calculate a projected

cost of these additional teachers.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The PED will have to develop the instruction areas and performance standards for all first, sec-

ond and third grade classes so that instruction in these grades meets the adopted PED adopted

content and performance standards. In addition, the PED will have to develop academic and per-

formance standards for health education in grades nine through twelve.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

HB84/HECs conflicts with House Bill 125, NATIVE AME5RICAN TERMINATION

REQUIRMENT and with SB368, SCHOOL BOARD APPROVAL FOR PRSONNEL

DECISIONS.

RMS/sb