A. The individual class load for elementary school teachers shall not exceed twenty students for kindergarten; provided that any teacher in kindergarten with a class load of fifteen to twenty students shall be entitled to the assistance of an educational assistant.

B. The average class load for elementary school teachers at an individual school shall not exceed twenty-two students when averaged among grades one, two and three; provided that any teacher in grade one with a class load of twenty-one or more shall be entitled to the full-time assistance of an educational assistant.

C. The average class load for an elementary school teacher at an individual school shall not exceed twenty-four students when averaged among grades four, five and six.

D. The daily teaching load per teacher for grades seven through twelve shall not exceed one hundred sixty students, except the daily teaching load for teachers of required English courses in grades seven and eight shall not exceed one hundred thirty-five with a maximum of twenty-seven students per class and the daily teaching load for teachers of required English courses in grades nine through twelve shall not exceed one hundred fifty students with a maximum of thirty students per class.

E. Students receiving special education services integrated into a regular classroom for any part of the day shall be counted in the calculation of class load averages. Students receiving special education services not integrated into the regular classroom shall not be counted in the calculation of class load averages. Only classroom teachers charged with responsibility for the regular classroom instructional program shall be counted in determining average class loads. In elementary schools offering only one grade level, average class loads may be calculated by averaging appropriate grade levels between schools in the school district.

F. Class load limits provided for in this section do not apply to band or music classes or athletic electives.

G. The state superintendent [secretary] may waive the individual school class load requirements established in this section. Waivers shall be applied for annually and a waiver shall not be granted for more than two consecutive years. Waivers may only be granted if a school district demonstrates that:

(1) no portable classrooms are available;

(2) no other available sources of funding exist to meet its need for additional classrooms;

(3) the school district is planning alternatives to increase building capacity for implementation within one year; and

(4) the parents of all children affected by the waiver have been notified in writing:

(a) of the statutory class load requirements;

(b) that the school district has made a decision to deviate from these class load requirements; and

(c) of the school district plan to achieve compliance with the class load requirements.

H. If a waiver is granted pursuant to Subsection G of this section to an individual school, the average class load for elementary school teachers at that school shall not exceed twenty students in grade one and shall not exceed twenty-five students when averaged among grades two, three, four, five and six.

I. Each school district shall report to the department the size and composition of classes subsequent to the fortieth day and the December 1 count. Failure to meet class load requirements within two years shall be justification for the disapproval of the school district's budget by the state superintendent [secretary].

J. The department shall report to the legislative education study committee by November 30 of each year regarding each school district's ability to meet class load requirements imposed by law.

K. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection G of this section, the state board [department] may waive the individual class load and teaching load requirements established in this section upon a demonstration of a viable alternative curricular plan and a finding by the state board that the plan is in the best interest of the school district and that, on an annual basis, the plan has been presented to and is supported by the affected teaching staff. The department shall evaluate the impact of each alternative curricular plan annually. Annual reports shall be made to the legislative education study committee.

L. Teachers shall not be required to perform noninstructional duties except in emergency situations as defined by the state board [department]. For purposes of this subsection, "noninstructional duties" means noon hall duty, noon ground duty and noon cafeteria duty.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-2-8.2, enacted by Laws 1986, ch. 33, § 3; 1987, ch. 320, § 1; 1988, ch. 105, § 1; 1990 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 1; 1991, ch. 85, § 1; 1992, ch. 86, § 1; 1993, ch. 226, § 5; 1993, ch. 228, § 1; 1994, ch. 109, § 1; recompiled and amended as § 22-10A-20 by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 51.

Recompilations. — Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 51 recompiled and amended former 22-2-8.2 NMSA 1978 as 22-10A-20 NMSA 1978, effective April, 4, 2003.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2004, ch. 25, § 27, provided that all references to the superintendent of public instruction shall be deemed references to the secretary of public education and all references to the former state board of education or state department of education shall be deemed references to the public education department. See 9-24-15 NMSA 1978.

Cross references. — For student achievement, see 22-2C-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.

The 2003 amendment, effective April, 4, 2003, substituted "educational" for "instructional" following "assistance of an" near the end of Subsection A; and near the end of Subsection B; deleted "Effective with the 1994-1995 school year" at the beginning of Subsection C; inserted present Subsection F and redesignated the subsequent paragraphs accordingly; substituted "G" for "F" following "Subsection" near the beginning of present Subsection H; and substituted "Teachers" for "Effective with the 1987-88 school year, certified school instructors" at the beginning of present Subsection L.

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, substituted the last sentence in Subsection K for the former last two sentences, which read: "For purposes of this subsection, "noninstructional duties" means noon hall duty, cafeteria duty, ground duty and bus duty. It is the intent of the legislature to maintain the provision of this subsection; provided, however, that for the 1993-94 school year, "noninstructional duties" shall mean only noon hall duty, noon ground duty and noon cafeteria duty"; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, deleted "and grade one" following "kindergarten" in two places and "twenty-two students for grade two; twenty-four students for grade three; and twenty-five students for grades four through six" in Subsection A; added the provisions of current Subsections B, C, E and G to I; deleted former Subsections C to F, pertaining to the dates for phasing in the provisions of Subsection A, the effective date of the provisions of former Subsection B and the authority of the state superintendent to waive class load requirements in certain cases; redesignated former Subsections B, G, H and I as Subsections E, F, J and K; rewrote Subsection F; added "Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection F of this section" at the beginning of Subsection J; substituted "1993-94" for "1992-93" in the third sentence of Subsection K; and made minor stylistic changes.

The 1992 amendment, effective May 20, 1992, substituted "four hundred" for "400" in Subsection F and "1993-94 school year" for "1992-93 school year" several times throughout the section.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, in Subsection C, deleted "and instructional assistant entitlement" following "class load" in Paragraph (2), added present Paragraph (3), redesignated former Paragraphs (3) to (7) as Paragraphs (4) to (8) and substituted "1993-94" for "1992-93" in Paragraph (4), "1994-95" for "1993-94" in Paragraph (5), "1995-96" for "1994-95" in Paragraph (6), "1996-97" for "1995-96" in Paragraph (7), and "1997-98" for "1996-97" in Paragraph (8); substituted "1992-93" for "1991-92" in Paragraph (2) of Subsection D; and substituted "1991-92" for "1990-91" in Subsection I.

The 1990 (1st S.S.) amendment, effective July 1, 1990, in Subsection C, updated the school year dates, made changes in the grade level references, and added Paragraphs (5) to (7); rewrote Subsection D; in Subsection F, substituted "with a membership of four hundred or less" for "with an ADM of four hundred or less"; in Subsection G, deleted "for a period not to exceed two years" following "in Subsection A of this section" near the beginning; substituted present Subsection H for the former subsection which read "The state superintendent may waive the individual class load requirements established in Subsection B of this section for a period not to exceed two years upon a demonstration of necessary alternative curricular planning or a temporary shortage of classroom facilities"; and, in Subsection I, substituted "for the 1990-91 school year" for "for the 1987-88 school year and the 1988-89 school year" in the last sentence.

The 1988 amendment, effective May 18, 1988, substituted "instructional assistant" for "aide" in Subsections A, C(1), D(1), D(2), and D(4); substituted "twenty-two" for "twenty-three" in Subsection D(2); added present Subsection D(3) and redesignated former Subsection D(3) as present Subsection D(4); substituted "grades three through six" for "grades two through six" in Subsection 4; added present Subsection H and redesignated former Subsection H as present Subsection I; and inserted "and the 1988-89 school year" in present Subsection I.

Amendments to section made in General Appropriations Act were not proper. — Amendments to this section made in the General Appropriations Act of 1989 were not proper, where the 1989 appropriations measure changed the effective dates for various actions under the statute and enlarged the authority of the state superintendent to waive class load requirements. The amendments constituted general legislation which, though necessary or desirable, could not constitutionally be included in an appropriations bill. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 89-26.