HOUSE BILL 218

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Luis M. Terrazas and Gabriel Ramos

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOLS; AMENDING THE ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT; ENHANCING AND EXPANDING ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS TO REDUCE EXCESSIVE ABSENTEEISM; MAKING IT A CRIME FOR A PARENT OF AN EXCESSIVELY ABSENT STUDENT TO CAUSE OR ALLOW THE STUDENT TO CONTINUE TO BE ABSENT FROM SCHOOL AFTER A REPORT IS MADE TO THE JUVENILE PROBATION SERVICES OFFICE; PRESCRIBING PENALTIES; MAKING CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-12A-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019, Chapter 223, Section 12) is amended to read:

     "22-12A-12. EXCESSIVE ABSENTEEISM--ENFORCEMENT.--

          A. Each local school board and each governing body of a charter school or private school shall initiate the enforcement of the provisions of the Attendance for Success Act for excessively absent students.

          B. If [unexcused] absences continue after written notice of excessive absenteeism as provided in Section [11 of the Attendance for Success Act] 22-12A-11 NMSA 1978, the local school board or governing body of a charter school or private school, after consultation with the local superintendent or head administrator of a charter school or private school, shall report the excessively absent student to the juvenile probation services office of the judicial district in which the student resides. [for an investigation as to] Upon receiving a report, the juvenile probation services office shall investigate whether the student [should be considered to be] is a neglected child or a child in a family in need of family services because of excessive absenteeism and [thus] subject to [the provisions of] the Children's Code. The local superintendent or head administrator of a charter school or private school shall provide the record of the [public] school's interventions and the student's and parent's responses to the interventions [shall be provided] to the juvenile probation services office [The local superintendent or head administrator of a charter school or private school shall provide the documentation to the juvenile probation services office] within ten [business] school days of the student being identified as excessively absent.

          C. If the juvenile probation services office determines that the student is a child in a family in need of family services, a caseworker from the [child or family in need of family services program] children, youth and families department shall meet with the family at the [public school in which the student is enrolled] student's school to determine if [there are] other intervention services [that] may be provided. The meeting shall involve the school principal or other school personnel and, unless the parent objects in writing, appropriate community partners that provide services to children and families. The children, youth and families department shall determine if additional interventions, including monitoring, will positively affect the student's behavior. In addition to these interventions or any other disposition, the children's court may order the suspension of an excessively absent student's driving privileges for a specified time not to exceed ninety days for a first finding of excessive absenteeism or for a specified time not to exceed one year for a second or subsequent finding of excessive absenteeism.

          D. It is a violation of the Attendance for Success Act for a parent of an excessively absent student to cause or allow the student to continue to be absent from school after the student is reported to the juvenile probation services office pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B of this section. After consultation with the local superintendent or head administrator of the charter school or private school, the local school board or governing body of the charter school or private school shall refer the parent to the local district attorney for prosecution.

          E. A parent in violation of the Attendance for Success Act as provided in Subsection D of this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor. Upon a first conviction, the parent shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than one hundred dollars ($100) or community service in lieu of the fine. Upon a second or subsequent conviction, the parent shall be subject to a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), imprisonment for a definite term not to exceed six months or both."

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