New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 6 - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Chapter 2 - PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT - COMMISSIONS AND ADVISORY BOARDS
Part 9 - PUBLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION STATE CHARTER SCHOOL PROCEDURES
Section 6.2.9.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Act" means the Charter Schools Act Sections 22-8B-1 through 22-8B-17.1 NMSA 1978, as may be amended.

B. "Annual report notice" means any of the following notices, or combination thereof, issued by the commission that may result from a review of the annual report:

C. "Applicant" means one or more teachers, parents, or community members or a public postsecondary educational institution or nonprofit organization who submits an initial or renewal application to a chartering authority.

D. "Commission" means the public education commission.

E. "Condition" means a requirement imposed by the commission on a state charter school as part of the approval of a new school application or renewal application that is appealable to the secretary, and, if not appealed or not overturned on appeal, becomes a material term of the charter contract.

F. "Corrective action plan" consistent with Subsection F of Section 22-8B-12 NMSA 1978 means a plan proposed by a state charter school and approved by the commission to correct identified uncorrected unsatisfactory performance as contemplated by the intervention ladder.

G. "Days" means, unless otherwise specified in a provision in this rule or applicable statute, business days when the period referenced is 10 days or less, and calendar days when the period referenced is 11 days or more. In computing the number of days, exclude the day of the event that triggers the period, and include the last day of the period. If the last day is a day when the department is closed, the period continues to run until the end of the next business day that the department is not closed. Whenever a person or entity acts under this rule within a prescribed period after service of a notice or paper upon the person or entity, and the notice or paper is served by mail or courier service, three calendar days are added to the prescribed period.

H. "Department" means the New Mexico Public Education Department.

I. "Division" means the charter schools division of the department statutorily required pursuant to Section 22-8B-17 NMSA 1978 to provide staff support to the commission, make recommendations to the commission regarding the approval, denial, or revocation of the charter of a state charter school, review and approve state charter school budget matters, and provide technical support to all charter schools.

J. "Final annual report" means the annual report presented by the division that is accepted by the commission at a public meeting which contains the final findings of the division regarding the performance of the state charter school, recommendation for commission action, and any unresolved response from the state charter school to the division's phase 2 annual report.

K. "Final annual report completed in part" means a final annual report completed as to certain sections only when data necessary to complete other sections are delayed, and which indicates which sections of the annual report are being completed and which are being reserved.

L. "Good standing" means a designation for a state charter school indicating that the state charter school does not have action pending under the intervention ladder or a current annual report notice that identifies uncorrected unsatisfactory performance.

M. "Governing body" means the governing structure of a charter school as set forth in the charter school's charter.

N. "Head administrator" means the duly licensed school administrator who is the director of the charter school and the person with duties similar to those of a superintendent.

O. "High stakes decision" means action of the commission that results in approval of a new charter application, approval of a new charter application with conditions or denial of a new charter school's application, a state charter school's renewal, renewal with conditions, non-renewal, or revocation. High stakes decisions are governed by law, rule, and the charter school contract.

P. "Intervention concern" means unsatisfactory performance or a contract violation that may cause the division to recommend or the commission to begin an action under the intervention ladder.

Q. "Intervention ladder" means procedures adopted by the commission to impose interventions intended to address a state charter school's unsatisfactory performance or non-compliance with the contract.

R. "Notice of possible non-renewal" means a written notice provided by the commission to a state charter school during the final two years of the charter contract term stating that there is sufficient uncorrected unsatisfactory performance, serious unsatisfactory performance, or contract violations by the state charter school to put the state charter school on notice that it may not be renewed for another charter term.

S. "Notice of possible renewal with conditions" means a notice issued by the commission to a state charter school during the final two years of the charter term stating that there is sufficient uncorrected unsatisfactory performance, serious unsatisfactory performance, or contract violations by the state charter school to put the state charter school on notice that it may be renewed for another charter term with a condition placed on the state charter school to correct the unsatisfactory performance in the new charter term.

T. "Notice of uncorrected unsatisfactory performance" means a notice by the commission, issued after acceptance of a final annual report, to a state charter school that unsatisfactory performance by the state charter school has not been corrected by the date set forth in the notice to correct unsatisfactory performance, that unsatisfactory performance is identified as unsatisfactory performance in two consecutive annual reports, or that any specific indicator in the performance framework has been rated as "does not meet" for two or more years during the charter term including the current year assessed.

U. "Notice of unsatisfactory performance" means a notice issued by the commission to a state charter school that the division has identified unsatisfactory performance by the state charter school in the assessment of the performance framework.

V. "Performance framework" means the performance provisions incorporated as a material term to the charter contract between the school and the commission negotiated using a commission-approved framework that:

W. "Phase 1 annual report" means a draft annual report prepared by the division for each state charter school following the annual site visit that begins the documentation process of the state charter school's performance of or compliance with (1) the charter contract terms, including any conditions, (2) the performance framework, and (3) outstanding corrective action plans or as issued by an agency with jurisdiction, if any, and reports or information on previously identified unsatisfactory performance all of which is uploaded to a data platform accessible by the state charter school to be updated as more information is received by the division or provided by the state charter school.

X. "Phase 2 annual report" means the annual report document subsequent to the phase 1 annual report that is finalized by the division from the phase 1 annual report and provided to the state charter school for comment prior to submission to the commission as final report or a final report completed in part.

Y. "Procedure" or "Procedures" means directives, instructions, templates and forms, and timelines adopted by commission that are consistent with the act and the state charter schools' contracts, and which are implemented by the division or commission pursuant to which the commission provides state charter school oversight, including:

Z. "Secretary" means the New Mexico secretary of public education.

AA. "State charter school" means a charter school authorized by the commission to operate as a public school.

AB. "Technical support" means guidance which may be provided by the division relating to its authority under the act.

AC. "Uncorrected unsatisfactory performance" means failure to correct unsatisfactory performance for which a state charter school has been given notice and opportunity to correct as reflected in two or more consecutive final annual reports accepted during the charter contract term.

AD. "Unsatisfactory performance" means a designation by the division in the final annual report or final annual report completed in part that is neither "exceeds" nor "meets" the standard.