SENATE BILL 367

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Harold Pope

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE; IMPROVING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENT ATTENDANCE; PROVIDING WHOLE-SCHOOL INTERVENTIONS; PROVIDING FOR METHODS TO RE-ENGAGE DROPOUTS; CREATING A FUND; MAKING GRANT AWARDS TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND STATE-CHARTERED CHARTER SCHOOLS; PROVIDING FOR MINIMUM AWARDS.

 

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

     SECTION 1. 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] Attendance for Success Act 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] Attendance for Success Act 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.

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

     "22-12A-1. SHORT TITLE.--[Sections 1 through 14 of this act] Chapter 22, Article 12A NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Attendance for Success Act"."

     SECTION 3. Section 22-12A-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019, Chapter 223, Section 6) is amended to read:

     "22-12A-6. PUBLIC SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICIES-- REPORTING.--

          A. A public school shall maintain an attendance policy that:

                (1) establishes an early warning system that includes evidence-based metrics to identify students at risk of chronic absenteeism or excessive absenteeism;

                (2) provides for early identification of chronically absent and excessively absent students;

                (3) employs an attendance improvement plan that focuses on:

                     (a) keeping students in an educational setting;

                     (b) prohibiting out-of-school suspension or expulsion as the punishment for absences;

                     (c) assisting a student's family to remove barriers to the student's regular school attendance [or attendance in another educational setting]; and

                     (d) providing additional educational opportunities to students who are struggling with attendance;

                (4) limits the ability of a student to withdraw to only after all intervention efforts by the public school or the children, youth and families department to keep the student in an educational setting have been exhausted;

                (5) requires that accurate class attendance be taken for every instructional class and school day in a public school or school program;

                (6) provides that a public school shall differentiate between different types of absences;

                (7) requires a public school to document and annually report the following for each chronically or excessively absent student:

                     (a) attempts by the public school to notify a parent that the student was absent from class or the school day;

                     (b) attempts to improve attendance by talking to a student or parent to identify barriers to school attendance, identify solutions to improve the student's attendance behavior, identify and offer school-based opportunities for the student to catch up with coursework and discuss necessary interventions for the student or the student's family; and

                     (c) intervention strategies implemented to support keeping the student in an educational setting, including additional educational opportunities offered to the student;

                (8) requires a student or the parent of a student who intends to claim excused absence because of medical condition, pregnancy or parenting to communicate the student's status to the appropriate school personnel and to provide required documentation; [and]

                (9) encourages and supports compliant data sharing, pursuant to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, between a public school and community-based organizations that provide services to students for the purpose of providing more personalized interventions and specialized supports as part of the public school's attendance improvement plan; and

                (10) requires that a student be withdrawn from membership counts in accordance with the Public School Finance Act when the student:

                     (a) has ten or more consecutive unexcused absences; and

                     (b) has been provided all appropriate progressive interventions in accordance with Section 22-12A-11 NMSA 1978.

          B. Local school boards shall review and approve their public school attendance policies.

          C. School districts shall report absences, chronic absences and excessive absences data to the department at each reporting date and the end of the school year and shall document intervention efforts made to keep students in an educational setting. The department shall compile school district reports as provided in Section [13 of the Attendance for Success Act and require school districts to certify that the information is being reported consistently and correctly] 22-12A-13 NMSA 1978. The department shall share information from state-chartered charter schools with the commission.

          D. A public school shall provide a copy of the public school's attendance policy to all parents of students in that school and publish the policy on the public school's website. The attendance policy shall include:

                (1) the rights and obligations of parents and students pursuant to the Attendance for Success Act;

                (2) the prevention strategies that will be implemented to ensure that students attend classes; and

                (3) details about consequences of failing to adhere to the attendance policy.

          E. A public school shall provide a parent, within five days of the parent's written request, with access to the attendance data of that parent's child, including information about any intervention strategies that have been employed to help the student improve the student's attendance.

          [F. Upon request, school districts shall provide the chronic absence rate from the most current reporting date or end-of-year report, in the aggregate and disaggregated by subgroups, for all its public schools.]"

     SECTION 4. Section 22-12A-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019, Chapter 223, Section 7) is amended to read:

     "22-12A-7. ENFORCEMENT OF ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT-- DISTRICT RESPONSIBILITIES--DIFFERENTIATION--DISTRICT PLAN-- ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.--

          A. School districts shall differentiate public schools based on their chronic absence rates into [no fewer than] the four [categories] tiers of the attendance improvement plan.

          B. School districts shall differentiate student subgroups based on their chronic absence rates into [no fewer than] the four [categories] tiers of the attendance improvement plan.

          C. Using the [differentiation scheme pursuant to Subsections A and B of this section] four tiers of the attendance improvement plan, a school district shall develop an attendance improvement [plans] plan that [include] includes the following elements:

                (1) specific school district supports and resources available to public schools at each level to further the implementation of their attendance improvement plans;

                (2) attendance improvement targets for public schools or subpopulations with prior school year chronic absence rates of ten percent or greater at the end-of-school reporting period, developed in collaboration with each public school; and

                (3) an attendance improvement target for school districts with prior school year chronic absence rates of ten percent or greater at the end-of-year reporting period.

          D. Each school district shall report its attendance improvement plan to the department no later than forty-five days after the beginning of the school year. The department may allow a school district to report its attendance improvement plan as part of the educational plan for student success.

          E. At the end of each school year, each school district shall report to the local school board and to the public on the school district's website, the progress made on its attendance improvement plan, to include:

                (1) a description of the supports and resources provided to public schools at each tier of the attendance improvement plan;

                (2) the extent to which public schools with chronic absence rates greater than ten percent achieved their attendance improvement targets;

                (3) the extent to which the school district achieved its attendance improvement targets;

                (4) barriers and challenges to reducing chronic absence rates, as reported by the public school and school district personnel;

                (5) effective school-based practices, as evidenced by decreased chronic absence rates; and

                (6) recommendations for improvement during the next school year at both the public school and school district level.

          F. Attendance teams may be formed in whole or in part from preexisting groups or teams within a public school or may be formed for the explicit purpose of improving school attendance. School districts shall reserve time for school personnel to collaborate as an attendance team.

          G. School districts shall provide support and guidance to attendance teams on transportation and school scheduling options when these are identified as barriers to school attendance."

     SECTION 5. Section 22-12A-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019, Chapter 223, Section 8) is amended to read:

     "22-12A-8. ENFORCEMENT OF ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT-- ATTENDANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN--PROCEDURES.--

          A. A public school shall initiate the enforcement of the provisions of the Attendance for Success Ac