HB 161

                                1  HOUSE BILL 161
                                2      57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Elaine Sena Cortez
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                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE; CHANGING THE PROGRAM UNIT
                                12   CALCULATION FOR K-12 PLUS SCHOOLS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF
                                13   ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS.
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                                15   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
                                16        SECTION 1.    Section 22-8-23.14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2023,
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                                17   Chapter 19, Section 3) is amended to read:
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                                18        "22-8-23.14.    K-12 PLUS PROGRAM UNITS--ADDITIONAL PROGRAM
                                19   UNITS.--
                                20  A.   A public school operating on a five-day calendar
                                21   that provides more than one hundred eighty days of instruction
                                22   and more than one thousand one hundred forty hours of
                                23   instruction, and a public school operating on a four-day
                                24   calendar that provides more than one hundred fifty-five days of
                                25   instruction and more than one thousand one hundred forty hours
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                                1    of instruction, shall be considered a "K-12 plus school".        Each
                                2    school district or charter school with a K-12 plus school shall
                                3    be eligible to receive program units for students in that
                                4    public school.
                                5  B.   The number of K-12 plus program units is
                                6    determined [by multiplying] as follows:
                                7  (1)   for a K-12 plus school providing up to one
                                8    thousand one hundred ninety-five instructional hours, by
                                9    dividing the number of instructional hours provided between one
                                10   thousand one hundred forty and one thousand one hundred ninety-
                                11   five instructional hours by five and one-half, multiplying that
                                12   number by the MEM in department-approved K-12 plus schools and
                                13   multiplying that number by the cost differential factor of
                                14   twelve thousandths and the number of instructional days;
                                15   [provided between;
                                16  (1)   one hundred eighty-one and one hundred
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                                17   ninety instructional days for a public school with a five-day
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                                18   school week; and
                                19  (2)   one hundred fifty-six and one hundred
                                20   sixty-five instructional days for a public school with a four-
                                21   day school week.
                                22  C.   The number of K-12 plus program units is
                                23   determined by multiplying] and
                                24  (2)   for a K-12 plus school that provides more
                                25   than one thousand one hundred ninety-five instructional hours:
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                                1  (a)   for a five-day K-12 plus school, by
                                2    dividing the number of instructional hours provided between one
                                3    thousand one hundred ninety-five and one thousand two hundred
                                4    seventy-seven and one-half by five and one-half, multiplying
                                5    that number by the MEM in department-approved K-12 plus schools
                                6    and multiplying that number by the cost differential factor of
                                7    sixteen thousandths; [and the number of instructional days
                                8    provided between:
                                9  (1)    one hundred ninety-one and two hundred
                                10   five instructional days for a public school with a five-day
                                11   school week; and
                                12  (2)    one hundred sixty-six and one hundred
                                13   seventy-five instructional days for a public school with a
                                14   four-day school week] and
                                15  (b)   for a four-day K-12 plus school, by
                                16   dividing the number of instructional hours provided between one
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                                17   thousand one hundred ninety-five and one thousand two hundred
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                                18   fifty by five and one-half, multiplying that number by the MEM
                                19   in department-approved K-12 plus schools and multiplying that
                                20   number by the cost differential factor of sixteen thousandths.
                                21  [D.] C.      A school district is eligible for the total
                                22   number of program units calculated in this manner for every K-
                                23   12 plus school in that school district.
                                24  [E.] D.      No later than October 15 of each year, a
                                25   school district or charter school that wishes to establish a
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                                1    new K-12 plus school for the next fiscal year shall submit to
                                2    the department the actual number of students participating in
                                3    each of its K-12 plus schools in the current year and an
                                4    estimate of the number of students that the school district or
                                5    charter school expects will participate in each K-12 plus
                                6    school in the next year.
                                7  [F.] E.   No later than November 15 of each year, the
                                8    department shall notify the legislature of the number of
                                9    students participating in K-12 plus schools in the current
                                10   school year and the number of students projected to participate
                                11   in K-12 plus schools in the next school year."
                                12        SECTION 2.   APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act
                                13   apply to the 2026-2027 school year and subsequent school years.
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