HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 18

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Dennis J. Roch

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE CREATE A WORK GROUP TO STUDY THE PROCESS OF FUNDING AND DISTRIBUTING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

     WHEREAS, the legislature recognizes school districts encounter unforeseen financial challenges and provides emergency supplemental funds to address these challenges; and

     WHEREAS, recent budget cuts have disproportionately affected small rural districts and persistent underfunding has put some districts in unsustainable financial situations; and

     WHEREAS, there has been significant variation in the financial status and budgeting practices of districts receiving emergency supplemental funding; and

     WHEREAS, some districts require additional funds to address true emergencies, while other districts use additional funds to sustain existing services; and

     WHEREAS, some districts have applied for and received emergency supplemental funds each year for the past ten years, some districts have occasionally applied for and received emergency supplemental funds and some districts have not applied for these funds; and

     WHEREAS, the rationale and criteria used by the public education department to award the funds have been unclear or inconsistent; and

     WHEREAS, the legislature determines there is a need to study the process of distributing emergency supplemental funds to school districts;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee be requested to appoint a work group to study the emergency supplemental process, and its membership should include:

          A. at least two members from the house and two members from the senate who serve on the legislative education study committee;

          B. one superintendent from a school district that has received supplemental funds in six or more of the last ten years;

          C. one superintendent from a school district that has received supplemental funds between three and six times in the last ten years;

          D. one superintendent from a school district that has not received supplemental funds in the last ten years;

          E. one school business manager from a district with an enrollment of fewer than two hundred students;

          F. one school business manager from a district with an enrollment between two hundred students and thirty thousand students;

          G. one school business manager from a district with an enrollment greater than thirty thousand; and

          H. one representative from the public education department's school budget and finance analysis bureau; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the work group study the process of funding, awarding and distributing emergency supplemental funds to school districts and provide a report to the legislative education study committee by November 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study include an examination of the following:

          A. criteria used to qualify for funds and the minimum information that should be included in the application to the department;

          B. whether and under what circumstances charter schools should be eligible to apply for emergency supplemental funds;

          C. the financial status of districts that have received emergency supplemental funds and the status of those district’s financial audits;

          D. what, if any, cost-saving measures have districts implemented before receiving emergency supplemental funds;

          E. the need for emergency supplemental funds to assist districts in dealing with challenges stemming from economies of scale;

          F. the extent to which emergency supplemental funds should be restricted to certain uses or expenditures;

          G. whether requiring local school boards to approve applications for emergency supplemental funds would improve the process;

          H. the extent to which cash balances should be limited for recipients of emergency supplemental funds;

          I. whether different qualifying criteria for emergency funds, as opposed to supplemental funds, would be appropriate; and

          J. whether approval by the state board of finance or other entity should be required; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the work group shall also make recommendations:

          A. about what criteria the department should use to evaluate applications for emergency supplemental funds;

          B. about the types of information the department should be reporting to the legislature regarding emergency supplemental funds;

          C. for changes needed to the law or rules to improve the process; and

          D. to ensure that the process in awarding funding is transparent and logical and well-supported with a documented demonstration of need; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the legislative education study committee, the director of the legislative finance committee and the secretary of public education.

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