HB 245

                                1  HOUSE BILL 245
                                2     57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Rebecca Dow and Alan T. Martinez and Rod Montoya
                                5
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; PROVIDING THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL
                                12   SHALL NOT DENY ENROLLMENT TO A SCHOOL-AGE PERSON ON THE BASIS
                                13   OF RACE, ETHNICITY, SEX, RELIGION, DISABILITY, SOCIOECONOMIC
                                14   STATUS OR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS; LIMITING A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD'S
                                15   ABILITY TO ESTABLISH ENROLLMENT PREFERENCES; REQUIRING LOCAL
                                16   SCHOOL BOARDS TO DETERMINE THE CAPACITY OF EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL
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                                17   BY GRADE LEVEL, POST THE NUMBER OF VACANCIES AT LEAST ONCE
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                                18   EVERY TWELVE WEEKS AND ENROLL APPLICANTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ON
                                19   A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS IF CAPACITY ALLOWS; REQUIRING
                                20   LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE PUBLIC EDUCATION
                                21   DEPARTMENT ON ENROLLMENT DATA FOR EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL AND
                                22   REQUIRING THE DEPARTMENT TO PUBLISH THAT DATA ON THE
                                23   DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE; MAKING CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
                                24
                                25   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
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                                1  SECTION 1.     Section 22-1-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975,
                                2    Chapter 338, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
                                3  "22-1-4.     FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS--EXCEPTIONS--WITHDRAWING AND
                                4    ENROLLING--OPEN ENROLLMENT.--
                                5  A.   Except as provided by Section 24-5-2 NMSA 1978,
                                6    and except as provided in Subsection [H] J of this section, a
                                7    free public school education shall be available to any school-
                                8    age person who is a resident of this state and has not received
                                9    a high school diploma or its equivalent.
                                10  B.   A free public school education in those courses
                                11   already offered to persons pursuant to the provisions of
                                12   Subsection A of this section shall be available to any person
                                13   who is a resident of this state and has received a high school
                                14   diploma or its equivalent if there is available space in such
                                15   courses.
                                16  C.   A person entitled to a free public school
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                                17   education pursuant to the provisions of this section may enroll
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                                18   or re-enroll in a public school at any time and, unless
                                19   required to attend school pursuant to the Attendance for
                                20   Success Act, may withdraw from a public school at any time.      A
                                21   public school shall not deny enrollment to a school-age person
                                22   on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability,
                                23   socioeconomic status or residential address.
                                24  D.   In adopting and promulgating rules concerning
                                25   the enrollment of students transferring from a home school or
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                                1    private school to the public schools, the local school board
                                2    shall provide that the grade level at which the transferring
                                3    student is placed is appropriate to the age of the student or
                                4    to the student's score on a student achievement test
                                5    administered according to the statewide assessment and
                                6    accountability system.
                                7  E.   A local school board shall adopt and promulgate
                                8    rules [governing] allowing enrollment and re-enrollment of any
                                9    student at any public [schools] school, other than a charter
                                10   [schools] school, within the school district.     These rules
                                11   shall include:
                                12  (1)   definition of the school district boundary
                                13   and the boundaries of attendance areas for each public school;
                                14  (2)   for each public school, definition of the
                                15   boundaries of areas outside the school district boundary or
                                16   within the school district but outside the public school's
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                                17   attendance area and within a distance of the public school that
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                                18   would not be served by a school bus route as determined
                                19   pursuant to Section 22-16-4 NMSA 1978 if enrolled, which areas
                                20   shall be designated as "walk zones";
                                21  (3)   priorities for enrollment of students as
                                22   follows:
                                23  (a)   first, students residing within the
                                24   school district, or who will be residing within the school
                                25   district if the student is a child in a military family who
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                                1    will be attending public school in the school district during
                                2    the upcoming school year as provided in Subsection [H] J of
                                3    this section, and within the attendance area of a public school
                                4    and students who had resided in the attendance area prior to a
                                5    parent who is an active duty member of the armed forces of the
                                6    United States or member of the national guard being deployed
                                7    and whose deployment has required the student to relocate
                                8    outside the attendance area for custodial care;
                                9  (b)   second, students who previously
                                10   attended the public school or are the children of a military
                                11   family living in temporary housing and are assigned, awaiting
                                12   placement or pending a move to permanent housing in a different
                                13   attendance area where the students' family seeks enrollment of
                                14   the students in either their current school attendance area or
                                15   the school attendance area of the permanent housing; and
                                16  (c)   third, all other applicants;
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                                17  (4)   establishment of maximum allowable class
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                                18   size if smaller than that permitted by law; and
                                19  (5)   rules pertaining to grounds for denial of
                                20   enrollment or re-enrollment at schools within the school
                                21   district [and the school district's hearing and appeals process
                                22   for such a denial].   Grounds for denial of enrollment or re-
                                23   enrollment shall be limited to:
                                24  (a)   a student's expulsion from any
                                25   school district or private school in this state or any other
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                                1    state during the preceding twelve months; or
                                2  (b)   a student's behavior in another
                                3    school district or private school in this state or any other
                                4    state during the preceding twelve months that is detrimental to
                                5    the welfare or safety of other students or school employees.
                                6  F.   A student's parent who is aggrieved by a public
                                7    school's denial of enrollment to the student may appeal the
                                8    denial to the secretary.       If a transfer application has not
                                9    been acted upon by a local school board within thirty days of
                                10   receiving the application, the transfer shall be deemed
                                11   approved for enrollment.       The department shall promulgate rules
                                12   for the process to appeal a denial; provided that:
                                13  (1)    only a school's lack of capacity or the
                                14   grounds for denial set forth in Paragraph (5) of Subsection E
                                15   of this section may support a denial of enrollment; and
                                16  (2)    the secretary's decision on an appeal
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                                17   shall be made within a reasonable time, shall be in writing and
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                                18   shall be a final decision on the matter.
                                19  [F.] G.     In adopting and promulgating rules
                                20   governing enrollment and re-enrollment at public schools other
                                21   than charter schools within the school district, a local school
                                22   board may establish additional enrollment preferences for rules
                                23   admitting students [in accordance with the second and third
                                24   priorities of enrollment set forth in Subparagraphs (b) and (c)
                                25   of Paragraph (3) of Subsection E of this section].       The
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                                1    additional enrollment preferences may include:
                                2  [(1)    after-school child care for students;
                                3  (2)    child care for siblings of students
                                4    attending the public school;
                                5  (3)] (1)    children of employees employed at the
                                6    public school; and
                                7  [(4)    extreme hardship;
                                8  (5)    location of a student's previous school;
                                9  (6)] (2)    siblings of students already
                                10   attending the public school [and
                                11  (7)    student safety].
                                12  [G.] H.     As long as the maximum allowable class size
                                13   established by law or by rule of a local school board,
                                14   whichever is lower, is not met or exceeded in a public school,
                                15   [by enrollment of first- and second-priority persons] the
                                16   public school shall enroll other persons applying [in the
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                                17   priorities stated in the school district rules adopted pursuant
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                                18   to Subsections E and F of this section] on a first-come, first-
                                19   served basis.    If the maximum would be exceeded by enrollment
                                20   of [an applicant in the second and third priorities] all
                                21   applicants, the public school shall establish a waiting list.
                                22   As classroom space becomes available, persons highest on the
                                23   waiting list [within the highest priority on the list] shall be
                                24   notified and given the opportunity to enroll.
                                25  I.   A local school board shall determine the
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                                1    capacity of each public school in the local school board's
                                2    district by grade level; provided that this requirement shall
                                3    not apply to specialized programs.        A public school shall post
                                4    the number of vacancies for each grade level on the school's
                                5    website at least once every twelve weeks.       If a public school
                                6    has capacity, the school shall enroll students throughout the
                                7    school year.
                                8  [H.] J.     Every school district and charter school
                                9    shall allow military families that will be relocating to a
                                10   military installation in New Mexico pursuant to an official
                                11   military order to enroll their children in public school prior
                                12   to their actual physical presence in the school district.  A
                                13   parent may submit the student's name for any lottery-selected
                                14   charter school, magnet school or other public school program
                                15   for which the student qualifies.      The school district or
                                16   charter school shall accept electronic applications for
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                                17   enrollment, including enrollment in a specific school or
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                                18   program with the school district or charter school.       The school
                                19   district or charter school shall provide the applicant with
                                20   materials regarding academic courses, electives, sports and
                                21   other relevant information regarding the public school in which
                                22   the student wants to be enrolled.        The public school shall
                                23   preregister the student in anticipation of the student's
                                24   enrollment.    A student's parent:
                                25  (1)    shall provide proof of residence in the
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                                1    school district within forty-five days after the published
                                2    arrival date provided on official military documentation; and
                                3  (2)   may use any of the following addresses
                                4    related to the family's military move:
                                5  (a)   a temporary on-base billeting
                                6    facility;
                                7  (b)   off-base military housing; or
                                8  (c)   a purchased or leased residence.
                                9  K.   A local school board shall report annually to
                                10   the department on the enrollment data for each public school in
                                11   the local school board's district, including transfer
                                12   applications, acceptances, denials, the reason for each denial
                                13   and the number of resident students who transferred to a school
                                14   outside of the student's attendance area.     The department shall
                                15   publish the data from these reports annually on the
                                16   department's website."
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