SENATE BILL 212

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

INTRODUCED BY

Harold Pope

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO MILITARY SERVICE; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978 TO ADD SPACE FORCE TO THE DEFINITIONS OF "ARMED FORCES" AND "UNIFORMED SERVICES" THAT INVOLVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR WHICH MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES ARE ELIGIBLE.

 

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

     SECTION 1. Section 1-1-5.4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2015, Chapter 145, Section 3) is amended to read:

     "1-1-5.4. UNIFORMED-SERVICE VOTER.--As used in the Election Code, "uniformed-service voter" means an individual who is a United States citizen, whose voting residence is in this state, who otherwise satisfies this state's voter eligibility requirements and who is:

          A. a member of the active or reserve components of the army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps or coast guard of the United States who is on active duty and who by reason of that active duty is absent from the state;

          B. a member of the merchant marine, the commissioned corps of the public health service, the astronaut program of the national aeronautics and space administration or the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration of the United States and who by reason of that service is absent from the state;

          C. a member on activated status of the national guard or state militia and who by reason of that active duty is absent from the member's county of residence; or

          D. a spouse or dependent of a member referred to in Subsection A, B or C of this section and who, by reason of active duty or service of the member, is absent from the state; provided the spouse or dependent is an individual recognized as a spouse or dependent by the entity under which the member is serving."

     SECTION 2. Section 11-8B-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2010, Chapter 41, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "11-8B-1. INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN--ENTERED INTO.--The "Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children" is enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:

"INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN

ARTICLE 1

PURPOSE

     It is the purpose of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents by:

          A. facilitating the timely enrollment of children of military families and ensuring that they are not placed at a disadvantage due to difficulty in the transfer of education records from the previous school district or variations in entrance and age requirements;

          B. facilitating the student placement process through which children of military families are not disadvantaged by variations in attendance requirements, scheduling, sequencing, grading, course content or assessment;

          C. facilitating the qualification and eligibility for enrollment, educational programs and participation in extracurricular, academic, athletic and social activities;

          D. facilitating the on-time graduation of children of military families;

          E. providing for the promulgation and enforcement of administrative rules implementing the provisions of that compact;

          F. providing for the uniform collection and sharing of information between and among member states, schools and military families under that compact;

          G. promoting coordination between that compact and other compacts affecting military children; and

          H. promoting flexibility and cooperation between the educational system, parents and the student in order to achieve educational success for the student.

ARTICLE 2

DEFINITIONS

     As used in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children:

          A. "active duty" means full-time duty status in the active uniformed service of the United States, including members of the national guard and reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. [Sections] Chapters 1209 and 1211;

          B. "children of military families" means school-aged children enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade in the household of an active duty member;

          C. "compact commissioner" means the voting representative of each compacting state appointed pursuant to Article 8 of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children;

          D. "deployment" means the period one month prior to the service members' departures from their home stations on military orders through six months after return to their home stations;

          E. "education records" means records, files and data that are directly related to a student and maintained by a school or local education agency, including records encompassing all the material kept in a student's cumulative folder such as general identifying data, records of attendance and of academic work completed, records of achievement and results of evaluative tests, health data, disciplinary status, test protocols and individualized education programs;

          F. "extracurricular activity" means a voluntary activity sponsored by a school or local education agency or an organization sanctioned by a local education agency. "Extracurricular activity" includes preparation for and involvement in public performances, contests, athletic competitions, demonstrations, displays and club activities;

          G. "interstate commission" means the interstate commission on educational opportunity for military children that is created under Article 9 of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children;

          H. "local education agency" means a public authority legally constituted by the state as an administrative agency to provide control of and direction for kindergarten through twelfth grade public educational institutions;

          I. "member state" means a state that has enacted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children;

          J. "military installation" means a base, camp, post, station, yard, center or homeport facility for any ship or other activity under the jurisdiction of the United States department of defense, including any leased facility, that is located within any of the several states, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other United States territory. The term does not include any facility used primarily for civil works, rivers and harbors projects or flood control projects;

          K. "non-member state" means a state that has not enacted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children;

          L. "receiving state" means the state to which a child of a military family is sent or brought or caused to be sent or brought;

          M. "rule" means a written statement by the interstate commission promulgated pursuant to Article 12 of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children that is of general applicability, implements, interprets or prescribes a policy or provision of that compact or an organizational, procedural or practice requirement of the interstate commission and includes the amendment, repeal or suspension of an existing rule;

          N. "sending state" means the state from which a child of a military family is sent or brought or caused to be sent or brought;

          O. "state" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other United States territory;

          P. "student" means the child of a military family for whom the local education agency receives public funding and who is formally enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade;

          Q. "transition" means:

                (1) the formal and physical process of transferring from school to school; or

                (2) the period of time in which a student moves from one school in the sending state to another school in the receiving state;

          R. "uniformed services" means the army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps, coast guard and the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and United States public health service; and

          S. "veteran" means a person who served in the uniformed services and who was discharged or released from the uniformed services under conditions other than dishonorable.

ARTICLE 3

APPLICABILITY

          A. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection B of this article, the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children shall apply to the children of:

                (1) active duty members of the uniformed services, including members of the national guard and reserve on active duty orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. [Sections] Chapters 1209 and 1211;

                (2) members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one year after medical discharge or retirement; and

                (3) members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained while on active duty and extending for a period of one year after death.

          B. The provisions of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children shall only apply to local education agencies.

          C. The provisions of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children shall not apply to the children of:

                (1) inactive members of the national guard and military reserves;

                (2) members of the uniformed services now retired, except as provided in Subsection A of this article;

                (3) veterans of the uniformed services, except as provided in Subsection A of this article; and

                (4) other United States department of defense personnel and other federal agency civilian and contract employees not defined as active duty members of the uniformed services.

ARTICLE 4

EDUCATIONAL RECORDS AND ENROLLMENT

          A. In the event that official education records cannot be released to the parents for the purpose of transfer, the custodian of the records in the sending state shall prepare and furnish to the parent a complete set of unofficial education records containing uniform information as determined by the interstate commission. Upon receipt of the unofficial education records by a school in the receiving state, the school shall enroll and appropriately place the student based on the information provided in the unofficial records, pending validation by the official records, as quickly as possible.

          B. Simultaneous with the enrollment and conditional placement of the student, the school in the receiving state shall request the student's official education record from the school in the sending state. Upon receipt of this request, the school in the sending state shall process and furnish the official education records to the school in the receiving state within ten days or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the interstate commission.

          C. Compacting states shall give thirty days from the date of enrollment or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the interstate commission for students to obtain any immunizations required by the receiving state. For a series of immunizations, initial vaccinations must be obtained within thirty days or within such time as is reasonably determined under the rules promulgated by the interstate commission.

          D. Students shall be allowed to continue their enrollment at a grade level in the receiving state commensurate with their grade level, including kindergarten, from a local education agency in the sending state at the time of transition, regardless of age. A student that has satisfactorily completed the prerequisite grade level in the local education agency in the sending state shall be eligible for enrollment in the next highest grade level in the receiving state, regardless of age. A student transferring after the start of the school year in the receiving state shall enter the school in the receiving state on the student's validated level from an accredited school in the sending state.

ARTICLE 5

PLACEMENT AND ATTENDANCE

          A. When a student transfers before or during the school year, the receiving state school shall initially honor placement of the student in educational courses based on the student's enrollment in the sending state school or educational assessments conducted at the school in the sending state if the courses are offered. Course placement includes honors, international baccalaureate, advanced placement, vocational, technical and career pathways courses. Continuing the student's academic program from the previous school and promoting placement in academically and career-challenging courses should be paramount when considering placement. This subsection does not preclude the school in the receiving state from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement and continued enrollment of the student in the courses.

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