1. A. School districts and charter schools shall participate in the authority, unless the school district or charter school is granted a waiver by the board; provided that beginning July 1, 2027, the board shall not grant a waiver for health, disability income or term life insurance.
2. B. In determining whether a waiver should be granted, the board shall establish minimum benefit and financial standards for the desired line of coverage. These minimum benefit and financial standards and the proposed time schedule for responsive offers shall be sent to all school districts and charter schools at the time the request for proposals for the desired line of coverage is issued. Any school district or charter school seeking a waiver of coverage shall match the minimum benefit and financial standards set forth in the request for proposals for the desired line of coverage. School districts and charter schools shall submit documentation of their proposals matching the board's minimum benefit and financial requirements prior to the deadline established by the board. The authority has the power to approve or disapprove a waiver of participation based on the documentation submitted by the school district or charter school regarding the benefit and financial standards established by the board. The board shall grant a waiver to a school district or charter school that requests a waiver and that has met the minimum benefit and financial standards within the time schedule established by the board. Once the board awards the insurance contract, no school district or charter school shall be granted a waiver for the entire term of the contract.
3. C. Prior to July 1, 2027, a school district or charter school granted a waiver of participation for health insurance shall be required to petition for participation in other kinds of group insurance coverage and shall be required to meet the requirements established by the authority prior to participation in other kinds of group insurance coverage. A school district or charter school that has been granted a waiver shall be prohibited from participating in the coverage for which a waiver was granted for the entire term of the authority's insurance contract. Provided, however, that if the authority contracts for a line or lines of coverage for a period of eight years, the board may establish procedures and preconditions for authorizing a school district or charter school that has been granted a waiver to again participate in the coverage after the expiration of the first four years of coverage. A waiver of health, disability income or term life insurance shall not be effective after June 30, 2027.
4. D. Any school district or charter school granted a waiver of participation for workers' compensation shall be required to petition for participation in other risk-related coverages and shall be required to meet the requirements established by the authority prior to participation in other kinds of risk-related coverages. A school district or charter school that has been granted a waiver shall be prohibited from participating in the coverage for which a waiver was granted for the entire term of the authority's insurance contract.
5. E. Educational entities may petition the authority for permission to participate in the insurance coverage provided by the authority. To protect the stability of the fund, the authority shall establish reasonable terms and conditions for participation by educational entities.
6. F. A participating school district or charter school may separately provide for coverage additional to that offered by the authority.
7. G. School districts, charter schools or the authority, as appropriate, may provide for marketing and servicing to be done by licensed insurance agents or brokers who should receive reasonable compensation for their services.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-2-6.9, enacted by Laws 1986, ch. 94, § 9; 1989, ch. 373, § 4; 1999, ch. 281, § 19; 1978 Comp., § 22-2-6.9, recompiled as § 22-29-9, by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72; 2026, ch. 52, § 4.

ANNOTATIONS

The 2026 amendment, effective July 1, 2026, eliminated waivers for school district and charter school participation in public school insurance authority health, disability income and term life plans; in Subsection A, after "wavier by the board" added the remainder of the subsection; and in Subsection C, after the subsection designation, deleted "Any" and added "Prior to July 1, 2027" and after "four years of coverage" added "A waiver of health, disability income or term life insurance shall not be effective after "June 30, 2027".

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2026, ch. 52, § 6 provided:

A. The legislative education study committee, in collaboration with the legislative finance committee, the public school insurance authority, the Albuquerque public school district, the public education department and the health care authority, shall conduct a comprehensive study and produce a final report regarding the sustainability of insurance programs for public school employees.

B. The study required pursuant to this section shall evaluate the anticipated future needs of public school employee insurance programs, including assessing:

(1) the impacts of combining public school employee insurance programs with other existing public group health insurance programs;

(2) the necessary agency actions required to integrate the group health insurance and alternative plans of the public school insurance authority, the health care authority and the Albuquerque public school district by June 30, 2029; and

(3) the necessary legislative action required during the 2027 legislative session to integrate the group health insurance and alternative plans of the public school insurance authority, the health care authority and the Albuquerque public school district by June 30, 2029.

C. The final report required pursuant to this section shall be completed no later than October 1, 2026 and shall be provided to the governor, the legislative finance committee and the public education department.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, added references to charter schools throughout the section, and substituted "workers' compensation" for "workmen's compensation" in the first sentence of Subsection D.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, in Subsection B substituted "proposals" for "proposal" in the second and third sentences; added the third sentence of Subsection C; and in Subsection G substituted all of the present language preceding "may provide" for "Whenever appropriate, the local school districts", and inserted "or brokers".

Duty to defend lawsuit until exclusion proven. — The authority had the duty to defend a federal lawsuit against a school district until it could establish that the claims for discrimination and civil rights violations were factually supported only by acts connected with sexual misconduct, such acts being excluded from the insurance policy. Lopez v. N.M. Pub. Sch. Ins. Auth., 1994-NMSC-017, 117 N.M. 207, 870 P.2d 745.

Higher educational facilities are authorized to participate in the insurance coverage provided by the Public School Insurance Authority Act. — The Tort Claims Act (TCA), 41-4-1 to 41-4-27 NMSA 1978, mandates that the risk management division insure or otherwise cover every risk for which a state agency's immunity has been waived under the TCA, 41-4-20(A)(2) NMSA 1978. The Public School Insurance Authority Act (PSIA Act), 22-29-1 to 22-29-12 NMSA 1978, in contrast, identifies the insurance options available to specific types of governmental entities, including "educational entities" which are defined in the PSIA Act as the higher educational institutions listed in N.M. Const., Art. XII, § 11. The TCA and the PSIA Act, read in harmony, indicate that it was the intent of the legislature to authorize higher educational institutions to purchase liability insurance coverage offered by the PSIA Act. Higher Educational Facilities Authority to Purchase Liability Insurance from the New Mexico Public Insurance Authority (8/17/15), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2015-06.