F. The legislature finds further that the public school governance structure needs to change to provide accountability from the bottom up instead of from the top down. Each school principal, with the help of school councils made up of parents and teachers, must be the instructional leader in the public school, motivating and holding accountable both teachers and students. Each local superintendent must function as the school district's chief executive officer and have responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the school district, including personnel and student disciplinary decisions.
New Mexico School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Authority to Develop and Establish Codes of Conduct
New Mexico School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Authority to Develop and Establish Codes of Conduct
Category: Codes of Conduct
Subcategory: Authority to Develop and Establish Codes of Conduct
State: New Mexico
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LAWS
22-1-1.2. Legislative findings and purpose.
22-5-4.3. School discipline policies; students may self-administer certain medications.
A. Local school boards shall establish student discipline policies and shall file them with the department. The local school board shall involve parents, school personnel and students in the development of these policies, and public hearings shall be held during the formulation of these policies in the high school attendance areas within each school district or on a district-wide basis for those school districts that have no high school.
B. Each school district discipline policy shall establish rules of conduct governing areas of student and school activity, detail specific prohibited acts and activities and enumerate possible disciplinary sanctions, which sanctions may include in-school suspension, school service, suspension or expulsion. Corporal punishment shall be prohibited by each local school board and each governing body of a charter school.
22-10A-18. School principals; duties.
In addition to other duties prescribed by law, a school principal shall:
A. under the general supervision of the local superintendent, assume administrative responsibility and overall instructional leadership for the public school to which he is assigned, including the discipline of students and the planning, operation, supervision and evaluation of the educational program of the school.
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 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 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 [20 U.S.C. __ 1232g], 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.
22-35-3. Bullying prevention policies; adoption and enforcement.
A. By January 1, 2020, each local school board shall adopt and enforce policies to:
(1) prevent bullying:
(a) on its property, including electronic communication on or with the use of its property;
(b) at sponsored functions; and
(c) on its to-and-from-school transportation or any school-sponsored transportation; and
(2) prohibit electronic communication directed at a student, that is published with the intent that it be seen by or disclosed to that student and that substantially interferes with the student's ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities or privileges provided by the public school.
REGULATIONS
6.11.2.8. General provisions.
D. Local school board authority: Local school boards have the authority and responsibility to ensure that suitable rules of student conduct and appropriate disciplinary processes are established within their school districts. Within legal limits as defined in Subsection L. of 6.11.2.7 NMAC, and subject to the minimums prescribed in this rule, local school boards have discretion to develop such rules, policies, and procedures as they deem appropriate to local conditions, including policies which afford students more protection than the minimums established here. Local school boards and administrative authorities which deem it appropriate may provide for student, community or appropriate state and local agency participation in the formulation and enforcement of school rules.
6.11.2.9. Rules of conduct for New Mexico public schools.
The acts specified in Subsection A of 6.11.2.9 NMAC are prohibited in all public schools in New Mexico. Within legal limits as defined in Subsection L of 6.11.2.7 NMAC, local school boards have discretion to develop rules of conduct governing all others area of student and school activity.
6.12.4.8. Requirements.
Each local school board or governing body shall establish a tobacco, alcohol and drug free school policy:
A. The policy shall provide specific rules of conduct prohibiting the use, possession and distribution of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and nicotine liquid containers, alcoholic beverages, mood-altering substances and illicit drugs in school buildings, on school premises and by students at school-sponsored activities away from school grounds.
B. Each school district and state-chartered charter school shall detail the prohibited acts and activities under the policy, and shall establish adequate provisions for its enforcement, including the enumeration of possible sanctions or disciplinary action, consistent with applicable statutory and case law.
C. The policy shall provide that no school employee who in good faith reports any known or suspected use, possession or distribution of alcoholic beverages, mood-altering substances or illicit drugs shall be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such report or efforts to enforce the policy.
D. Each school district and state-chartered charter school shall develop and implement a procedure for effectively communicating the policy to students, their parents and families, school personnel, visitors on school premises, and to local residents, groups, businesses and organizations served by the school.
E. Each school district and state-chartered charter school shall post conspicuous notices on all school premises prohibiting the use, possession and distribution of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and nicotine liquid containers, alcoholic beverages, mood-altering substances and illicit drugs, in school buildings, on school premises and by students at school-sponsored activities away from school grounds.
6.12.7.8. Bullying Prevention Policies–adoption and enforcement.
A. By January 1, 2020, each local school board or governing body shall adopt and enforce policies to:
(1) prevent bullying and cyberbullying:
(a) on its property, including electronic communication on or with the use of its property;
(b) at school or district-sponsored events; and
(c) on any school-sponsored transportation; and
(2) prohibit electronic communication directed at a student that is published with the intent that it be seen by or disclosed to that student and that substantially interferes with the student's ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by the public school.