HB 215 SCHOOL CLASS LOADS
Rep Yanira Gurrola
Actions: [3] not prntd-HRC
Scheduled: Not Scheduled
House Bill 215 (HB 215) relates to Public Schools to amend class and teaching loads. HB 215 requires the Public Education Department PED) to create and maintain an online portal to receive confidential reports of class load violations. HB 215 provides class load waivers. HB 215 gives the PED rule making authority. HB 215 requires school districts to provide notice of case load waivers.
Legislation Overview: House Bill 215 (HB 215) amends class and teaching loads, specifies class load waivers and violations.
SECTION 1 amends Public Schools Section 22-8-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 60, as amended) Operating Budgets in Subsection E to specify that E(1) include the instructional hours in its information on instructional time.
E(2) is added to require that for school districts, the class load/teacher load in each elementary or secondary class at each school site provided for in the operating budget meet the requirements of Section 22-10A-20 NMSA 1978 and the class/teacher load for each of those classes in the prior school year and any class/teacher load waivers granted in the prior school year or requested for the upcoming school year;
SECTION 2 amends Section 22-10A-20 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 3, as amended) to adjust class and teaching loads. Subsection A is deleted and the section is relettered.
A. The maximum class load for elementary school teachers shall not exceed the following: provided that any elementary school teacher with a class load of 15 or more students shall be entitled to the full-time assistance of an educational assistant:
(1) 15 students in kindergarten through grade three;
(2) 18 students in grades four through eight; and
(3) 22 students in grades nine through twelve.
B. The nine-week teaching load per teacher for grades six through eight through shall not exceed 90 students and for grades nine through twelve shall not exceed 110 (previously 160) students, with a maximum class load per Subsection A.
C. Calculating students receiving special eduction services:
- integrated into a regular classroom for any part of the day shall be counted in the calculation for class loads
- not integrated into the regular classroom shall not be counted in the calculation of class loads.
Calculating student class loads shall not include teachers not required to plan, grade or complete other tasks outside of the course meeting time and that meet for less than the equivalent of one class period per week as specified in this subsection.
Only classroom teachers charged with responsibility for the regular classroom instructional program shall be counted in determining class loads.
Subsection is G deleted and Subsections E-H are added.
E. The department shall create and maintain an online portal to allow teachers, other school employees and parents of students to submit confidential reports regarding violations of class load limits. There shall not be reprisals of any kind taken against a school employee by reason of the employee submitting or publicizing a report on the online portal.
F. If exceptional circumstances arise, a school may request a one-time waiver of the class load limits. A school district shall apply for approval and explain with the exceptional circumstances creating a need for the waiver and the school district's plan for coming into compliance with the class load limits. A school may not receive a waiver for more than one class in any year.
If such a waiver is approved, the maximum class load shall not exceed:
- 22 students for kindergarten and first grade,
- 24 students for second and third grades,
- 26 students for fourth through six grades and
- 160 students for seventh through twelfth grades, except for teachers of required English courses in seventh and eighth grades, whose class loads shall not exceed 135, with a maximum of 27 students per class.
G. A teacher who is asked to increase the teacher's class load over the maximum permitted shall be provided with additional support or compensation. The department may promulgate rules to implement the requirements of this subsection.
H. If a waiver is approved, the school district shall notify the parents of all students affected by the waiver in writing as specified in this subsection.
Subsection I is amended to provide that failure to meet class loads shall result in disapproval of the school district’s budget immediately.
SECTION 3 provides a temporary revision for notification of class/teacher loads for 2024-2025.
By May 30, 2024, each school district shall file an addendum to its educational plan submitted as part of its proposed operating budget to include the information required by this act. The PED shall approve or disapprove the addendum submitted by each school district. If a school district is unable to meet the requirements, it shall explain the exceptional circumstances that prevent it from meeting those requirements and provide a detailed plan for compliance.
Relates To: House Bill 215 relates to House Bill 227.
