HB0455

HOUSE BILL 455

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Rodolpho "Rudy" S. Martinez and Linda M. Trujillo and

Christine Trujillo and Debra M. Sariñana and

Sheryl Williams Stapleton

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AT-RISK INDEX AND THE BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM UNITS AND PROVIDING PROGRAM UNITS FOR RURAL ISOLATION; PROVIDING FOR SUPPLEMENTAL DISTRIBUTIONS TO NECESSARILY SMALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH MEMBERSHIP FEWER THAN TWO HUNDRED, WHICH IS IN ADDITION TO EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL DISTRIBUTIONS; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.

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

SECTION 1. Section 22-8-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 69, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-14. PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND.--

A. The "public school fund" is created.

B. The public school fund shall be distributed to school districts and state-chartered charter schools in the following parts:

(1) state equalization guarantee distribution;

(2) transportation distribution; and

(3) supplemental distributions:

(a) out-of-state tuition to school districts;

(b) emergency; [and]

(d) necessarily small school districts.

C. The distributions of the public school fund shall be made by the department within limits established by law. The balance remaining in the public school fund at the end of each fiscal year shall revert to the general fund, unless otherwise provided by law."

SECTION 2. Section 22-8-22 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1974, Chapter 8, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-22. BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAM UNITS.--The number of bilingual multicultural education program units is determined by multiplying the full-time-equivalent MEM in programs implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act by the cost differential factor 0.35, effective July 1, 1990; 0.4, effective July 1, 1991; [.425] 0.425, effective July 1, 1992; 0.45, effective July 1, 1993; [and] 0.5, effective July 1, 1994; and 1.0, effective July 1, 2019."

SECTION 3. Section 22-8-23 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 119, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-23. SIZE ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM UNITS.--

A. An approved public school with a MEM of [less] fewer than [400] four hundred, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent MEM but excluding membership in class C and class D programs and excluding full-time-equivalent membership in three- and four-year-old developmentally disabled programs, is eligible for additional program units. Separate schools established to provide special programs, including [but not limited to] vocational and alternative education, shall not be classified as public schools for purposes of generating size adjustment program units. The number of additional program units to which a school district is entitled under this subsection is the sum of elementary-junior high units and senior high units computed in the following manner:

Elementary-Junior High Units

200 - MEM

_________ x 1.0 x MEM = Units

200

where MEM is equal to the membership of an approved elementary or junior high school, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent membership but excluding membership in class C and class D programs and excluding full-time-equivalent membership in three- and four-year-old developmentally disabled programs;

Senior High Units

200 - MEM

_________ x 2.0 x MEM = Units

200

or,

Senior High Units

400 - MEM

_________ x 1.6 x MEM = Units

400

whichever calculation for senior high units is higher, where

MEM is equal to the membership of an approved senior high

school excluding membership in class C and class D programs.

B. A school district with total MEM of [less] fewer than [4,000] four thousand, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent MEM, is eligible for additional program units. The number of additional program units to which a school district is entitled under this subsection is the number of district units computed in the following manner:

District Units

4,000 - MEM

___________ x 0.15 x MEM = Units

4,000

where MEM is equal to the total district membership,

including early childhood education full-time-equivalent membership.

[C. A school district with over 10,000 MEM with a ratio of MEM to senior high schools less than 4,000:1 is eligible for additional program units based on the number of approved regular senior high schools that are not eligible for senior high units under Subsection A of this section. The number of additional program units to which an eligible school district is entitled under this subsection is the number of units computed in the following manner:

4,000 - MEM

___________ x 0.50 = Units

Senior High Schools

where MEM is equal to the total district membership, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent membership, and where senior high schools are equal to the number of approved regular senior high schools in the school district.]

C. A school district with at least one public school that is twenty-five or more driving miles from the school district's administrative offices is eligible for additional size adjustment units through the state equalization guarantee distribution for rural isolation beginning in fiscal year 2020. The number of additional units to which an eligible school district is entitled under this subsection is the number of units computed in the following manner:

MEM in Eligible Public Schools x 0.2 = Units

where MEM is equal to school district membership, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent membership, and where eligible public schools are located twenty-five or more driving miles away from the school district's administrative offices.

D. A school district [as defined in Subsection R of Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978] with a MEM of [less] fewer than [200] two hundred, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent MEM, is eligible for additional program units [provided that] if the department certifies that the school district has implemented practices to reduce scale inefficiencies, including shared service agreements with regional education cooperatives or other school districts for noninstructional functions and distance education. The numbers of additional program units to which a school district is entitled under this subsection is the number of units computed in the following manner:

200 - MEM = Units

where MEM is equal to the total district MEM, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent MEM."

SECTION 4. Section 22-8-23.3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 40, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-23.3. AT-RISK PROGRAM UNITS.--

A. A school district is eligible for additional program units if it establishes within its department-approved educational plan identified services to assist students to reach their full academic potential. A school district receiving additional at-risk program units shall include a report of specified services implemented to improve the academic success of at-risk students. The report shall identify the ways in which the school district and individual public schools use funding generated through the at-risk index and the intended outcomes and shall be performed in furtherance of and in conjunction with the department's duty to supervise public schools. For purposes of this section, "at-risk student" means a student who meets the criteria to be included in the calculation of the three-year average total rate in Subsection B of this section. The number of additional units to which a school district is entitled under this section is computed in the following manner:

At-Risk Index x MEM = Units

where MEM is equal to the total district membership, including early childhood education full-time-equivalent membership and special education membership and where the at-risk index is calculated in the following manner:

[(1) for fiscal year 2019,

Three-Year Average Total Rate x 0.130 = At-Risk Index;

(2) for fiscal year 2020,

Three-Year Average Total Rate x 0.140 = At-Risk Index; and

(3)] for fiscal year [2021] 2020 and subsequent fiscal years,

Three-Year Average Total Rate x [0.150] 0.366 = At-Risk Index.

B. To calculate the three-year average total rate, the department shall compute a three-year average of the school district's percentage of membership [used to determine its Title I allocation] that qualifies for or otherwise meets the family income requirements for free or reduced-fee lunch pursuant to the United States department of agriculture's national school lunch program, a three-year average of the percentage of membership classified as English language learners using criteria established by the [federal] office [of] for civil rights of the United States department of education and a three-year average of the percentage of student mobility. The department shall then add the three-year average rates. The number obtained from this calculation is the three-year average total rate.

C. The department shall recalculate the at-risk index for each school district every year."

SECTION 5. Section 22-8-30 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1974, Chapter 8, Section 17, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-8-30. SUPPLEMENTAL DISTRIBUTIONS.--

A. The department shall make supplemental distributions only for the following purposes:

(1) to pay the out-of-state tuition of students subject to the Compulsory School Attendance Law who are attending school out-of-state because school facilities are not reasonably available in the school district of their residence;

(2) to make emergency distributions to school districts or state-chartered charter schools in financial need, but no money shall be distributed to any school district or state-chartered charter school having cash and invested reserves, or other resources or any combination thereof, equaling five percent or more of the school district's or state-chartered charter school's operational budget;

(3) to make program enrichment distributions in the amount of actual program expense to school districts and state-chartered charter schools for the purpose of providing specific programs to meet particular educational requirements that cannot otherwise be financed;

(4) a special vocational education distribution to area vocational schools or state-supported schools with department-approved vocational programs to reimburse those schools for the cost of vocational education programs for those students subject to the Compulsory School Attendance Law who are enrolled in such programs; [and]

(5) to make emergency capital outlay distributions to school districts or state-chartered charter schools that have experienced an unexpected capital outlay emergency demanding immediate attention; and

(6) to make distributions to necessarily small school districts with MEM fewer than two hundred and whose state equalization guarantee distribution is not sufficient without supplementation.

B. The department shall account for all supplemental distributions and shall make full reports to the governor, legislative education study committee and legislative finance committee of payments made as authorized in Subsection A of this section.

C. The department may divert any unused or unneeded balances in any of the distributions made under the supplementary distribution authority to make any other distribution made pursuant to the same authority."

SECTION 6. TEMPORARY PROVISION--PROTECTION FROM PROGRAM COST REDUCTIONS.--

A. Using funds appropriated by the legislature for fiscal years 2021 through 2023, the public education department shall supplement a school district's or charter school's calculated program cost in each of those fiscal years:

(1) if, for the fiscal year, the school district's or charter school's calculated program cost is less than its final program cost in the previous fiscal year, not considering any supplement the school district or charter school receives under this subsection; and

(2) as follows:

(a) for fiscal year 2021, in an amount equal to one hundred percent of the reduction attributable to the implementation of this act or the difference between the calculated program cost and the final program cost in the previous fiscal year, whichever is less;

(b) for fiscal year 2022, in an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the reduction attributable to the implementation of this act or the difference between the calculated program cost and the final program cost in the previous fiscal year, whichever is less; and

(c) for fiscal year 2023, in an amount equal to fifty percent of the reduction attributable to the implementation of this act or the difference between the calculated program cost and the final program cost in the previous fiscal year, whichever is less; but

(3) if, in a fiscal year, the appropriation for the purpose of implementing this subsection is insufficient to supplement school districts and charter schools in accordance with Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, then in an amount equal to the school district's or charter school's prorated share of the total appropriation.

B. On or before February 1, 2021 through February 1, 2023, the public education department shall submit a report to the legislative education study committee and the legislative finance committee that states regarding the current fiscal year:

(1) the sum needed to supplement school districts and charter schools in accordance with this section;

(2) a list of the school districts and charter schools eligible to receive a supplement in accordance with this section; and

(3) the supplement amount of each of those school districts and charter schools.

SECTION 7. APPROPRIATION.--

A. Four hundred fifty-two million five hundred two thousand one hundred seventy dollars ($452,502,170) is appropriated from the general fund to the state equalization guarantee distribution for expenditure in fiscal year 2020 to offset the rise in costs from the increases in the at-risk index and bilingual multicultural education and rural isolation program units affected by this act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2020 shall revert to the general fund.

B. Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the supplemental distributions of the public school fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2020 to provide a supplemental distribution to necessarily small school districts. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2020 shall revert to the general fund.