New Mexico Statutes
Article 8 - Public School Finance
Section 22-8-23.3 - At-risk program units.

A. A school district is eligible for additional program units if it establishes within its department-approved educational plan identified services to assist students to reach their full academic potential. A school district receiving additional at-risk program units shall include a report of specified services implemented to improve the academic success of at-risk students. The report shall identify the ways in which the school district and individual public schools use funding generated through the at-risk index and the intended outcomes. For purposes of this section, "at-risk student" means a student who meets the criteria to be included in the calculation of the three-year average total rate in Subsection B of this section. The number of additional units to which a school district is entitled under this section is computed in the following manner:
At-Risk Index x MEM = Units
where MEM is equal to the total district membership, including early childhood education, full-time-equivalent membership and special education membership and where the at-risk index is calculated in the following manner:
Three-Year Average Total Rate x 0.30 = At-Risk Index.
B. To calculate the three-year average total rate, the department shall compute a three-year average of the school district's percentage of membership used to determine its Title 1 allocation, a three-year average of the percentage of membership classified as English language learners using criteria established by the office for civil rights of the United States department of education and a three-year average of the percentage of student mobility. The department shall then add the three-year average rates. The number obtained from this calculation is the three-year average total rate.
C. The department shall recalculate the at-risk index for each school district every year.
D. For purposes of this section, "services" means research-based or evidence-based social, emotional or academic interventions, such as:
(1) case management, tutoring, reading interventions and after-school programs that are delivered by social workers, counselors, teachers or other professional staff;
(2) culturally relevant professional and curriculum development, including those necessary to support language acquisition, bilingual and multicultural education;
(3) additional compensation strategies for high-need schools;
(4) whole school interventions, including school-based health centers and community schools;
(5) educational programming intended to improve career and college readiness of at-risk students, including dual or concurrent enrollment, career and technical education, guidance counseling services and coordination with post-secondary institutions; and
(6) services to engage and support parents and families in the education of students.
History: 1978 Comp., § 22-8-23.3, enacted by Laws 1997, ch. 40, § 7; 2002, ch. 68, § 1; 2014, ch. 55, § 1; 2018, ch. 55, § 4; 2019, ch. 206, § 15; 2019, ch. 207, § 15; 2020, ch. 23, § 1.
The 2020 amendment, effective July 1, 2020, changed the at-risk index calculation; and in Subsection A, after "Three-Year Average Total Rate x", deleted "0.25" and added "0.30".
The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, made changes to the formula for determining additional at-risk programs units, and defined "services" for purposes of this section; in Subsection A, deleted former Paragraphs A(1) through A(3), and after "Three-Year Average Total Rate x", deleted "0.150" and added "0.25"; in Subsection B, after "civil rights", added "of the United States department of education"; and added Subsection D.
Laws 2019, ch. 206, § 15, and Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 15, both effective June 14, 2019, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 15. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.
Applicability. — Laws 2019, ch. 206, § 29 and Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 29, provided that the provisions of §§ 2 through 19 apply to the program cost calculation in fiscal year 2020 and subsequent fiscal years.
The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, made a phased-in adjustment to the at-risk index; and in Subsection A, added new Paragraphs A(1) through A(3), and after Paragraph A(3), added "Three-year Average Total Rate x 0.150 = At-Risk Index".
The 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, modified the at-risk index; in Subsection A, in the first sentence, after "establishes within its", deleted "state board" and added "department", in the second sentence, after "report of specified services", deleted "in its annual accountability report pursuant to Section 22-1-6 NMSA 1978" and added the remainder of the sentence, and added the third and fourth sentences; in Subsection A, in the formula, after "Total Rate x", changed "0.0915" to "0.106"; and in Subsection C, deleted the former second sentence, which provided that for the years 2002-2003 through 2004-2005, a school district shall not receive less than ninety percent of the at-risk funding generated in fiscal year 2001.
The 2002 amendment, effective May 15, 2002, substituted "Three-Year Average Total Rate x 0.0915" for "Refined At-Risk Cluster x 0.015" in the formula at the end of Subsection A; rewrote Subsection B by deleting provisions relating to refined at-risk clusters and inserting references to calculations based on three-year average rates; and, in Subsection C, substituted "year" for "two years" at the end of the present first sentence and added the second sentence.

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