1. A. On or before October 15 of each year, each local school board or governing body of a state-chartered charter school shall submit to the department:

   1. (1) an estimate for the succeeding fiscal year of:

      1. (a) the membership of qualified students to be enrolled in the basic program;
      2. (b) the membership of students to be enrolled as distance learning students;
      3. (c) the full-time-equivalent membership of students to be enrolled in approved early childhood education programs; and
      4. (d) the membership of students to be enrolled in approved special education programs;
   2. (2) all other information necessary to calculate program costs; and
   3. (3) any other information related to the financial needs of the school district or state-chartered charter school as may be requested by the department.
2. B. The information submitted pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall be submitted on forms prescribed and furnished by the department and in accordance with the department's rules and procedures.

3. C. The department shall:

   1. (1) review the financial needs of each school district or state-chartered charter school for the succeeding fiscal year;

   2. (2) on or before September 1 of each year, submit to the department of finance and administration, the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee the department's recommendations for:

      1. (a) amendments to the public school finance formula;
      2. (b) appropriations for the succeeding fiscal year to the public school fund; and
      3. (c) appropriations for the succeeding fiscal year for pupil transportation and instructional materials; and
   3. (3) on or before November 30 of each year, submit to the department of finance and administration, the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee any adjustments to the department's recommendations for appropriations related to additional enrollment growth program units pursuant to Section 22-8-23.1 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-6-13.1, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 128, § 5; 1980, ch. 151, § 48; 1988, ch. 64, § 23; 1993, ch. 226, § 20; 1999, ch. 291, § 7; 2006, ch. 94, § 7; 2025, ch. 72, § 1; 2026, ch. 8, § 2.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For transfer of powers and duties of former state board, see 9-24-15 NMSA 1978.

The 2026 amendment, effective July 1, 2026, required school districts and charter schools to report membership estimates of students to be enrolled as distance learning students, and made certain technical amendments; in Subsection A, in the introductory clause, after the subsection designation, added "On or before October 15 of each year" and after "shall submit" deleted "annually, on or before October 15" and added a new Subparagraph A(1)(b) and redesignated the succeeding subparagraphs accordingly.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2026, ch. 8, § 13 effective February 25, 2026, provided:

A. For the purposes of the Public School Finance Act [Chapter 22, Article 8 NMSA 1978] in fiscal year 2026, a school district with MEM over eight thousand whose MEM on the first reporting date of fiscal year 2026 is at least ten percent lower than the school district's MEM on the first reporting date of fiscal year 2025 shall calculate the total number of program units to which the school district is entitled by averaging the school district's MEM on the first reporting date of fiscal year 2025 and the school district's MEM on the first reporting date of fiscal year 2026.

B. For the purposes of the Public School Finance Act in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, a school district is not eligible for enrollment growth program units pursuant to Section 22-8-23.1 NMSA 1978 for students enrolled in a full-time distance learning program.

C. For fiscal year 2027, a school district or charter school shall not reorganize to create a school district, school or school program that has a majority of students enrolled in a full-time distance learning program.

D. The legislative education study committee, in collaboration with the legislative finance committee and the public education department, shall conduct a comprehensive study on virtual instruction in the state. The study shall evaluate the status of full-time distance learning programs or similar programs and assess the outcomes of students enrolled in the programs, with particular focus on those students who are in kindergarten through fifth grade, the cost of operating the programs and potential legislative action regarding full-time distance learning programs. On or before November 1, 2026, the legislative education study committee shall submit a final report on the comprehensive study to the governor, the public education department and the legislative finance committee.

E. As used in this section, "full-time distance learning program" means a public school instructional program in which students receive virtual instruction and are not required to attend school at a school building.

The 2025 amendment, effective June 20, 2025, changed the date by which the public education department must submit its recommendations for amendments to the public school finance formula and for certain appropriations for the succeeding fiscal year, required the public education department to submit these recommendations to the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee in addition to the department of finance and administration, and required the public education department to submit annually to the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee any adjustments to the recommendations of the department for appropriations related to additional enrollment growth program units; and in Subsection C, Paragraph C(2), in the introductory clause, after "on or before" changed "November 30" to "September 1" and after "department of finance and administration" added "the legislative finance committee and the legislative education study committee", and added Paragraph C(3).

The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added governing body of a state-chartered charter school in Subsection A and added state-chartered charter school in Paragraph (3) of Subsection A and Paragraph (1) of Subsection C.

The 1999 amendment, effective April 8, 1999, added "Membership projections and" to the beginning of the section heading, and substituted "department's rules and procedures" for "manual of accounting and budgeting published by the department" at the end of Subsection B.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, deleted "average daily" preceding "membership" in subparagraphs (a) to (c) of Paragraph (1) of Subsection A; deleted former Subsection B, pertaining to the budget request of the state board for pupil transportation and textbooks; redesignated former Subsections C and D as Subsections B and C; added Subparagraph (c) of Paragraph (2) of Subsection C; and made a minor stylistic change.

The 1988 amendment, effective May 18, 1988, substituted "department" for "division" throughout the section; substituted "department" for "director of the public school finance division" in Subsection D; and in Subsection D(2), substituted "November 30" for "November 15" and "state board" for "public school finance division".

Effect of actual costs exceeding program costs. — A charter school has no right to additional funding if capital expenditures or any other expenditure becomes so great that its actual costs far exceed its "program costs". Taos Mun. Schs. Charter Sch. v. Davis, 2004-NMCA-129, 136 N.M. 543, 102 P.3d 102, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-010, 136 N.M. 542, 101 P.3d 808.

This section does not govern the deadline for the public education department's special appropriations requests. — This section governs funding allocated to local school districts and charter schools rather than funding for the New Mexico public education department (PED) itself, and therefore the PED's special appropriation requests, which are not amendments to the public school finance formula, appropriations for the succeeding fiscal year to the public school fund, or appropriations for pupil transportation and instructional materials, but rather fund performance-based programs administered by the public education department itself, are not governed by 22-8-12.1(C)(2) NMSA 1978, but are governed by the deadlines set forth in 6-3A-7 NMSA 1978. 2024 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 24-15.