A. The "incentives for school improvement fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund includes appropriations, federal allocations for the purposes of the fund, income from investment of the fund, gifts, grants and donations. Balances in the fund shall not revert to any other fund at the end of any fiscal year. The fund shall be administered by the department, and money in the fund is appropriated to the department to provide supplemental incentive funding for the state improving schools program. No more than three percent of the fund may be retained by the department for administrative purposes. Money in the fund shall be expended on warrants of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of public education or the secretary's authorized representative.

B. The department shall adopt a formula for distributing incentive funding from the fund. The total number of public schools that receive supplemental funding shall not constitute more than fifteen percent of the student membership in the state. Distributions shall be made proportionately to public schools that qualify.

C. Each public school's school council shall determine how the supplemental funding shall be used. The money received by a public school shall not be used for salaries, salary increases or bonuses, but may be used to pay substitute teachers when teachers attend professional development activities.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-2A-9, enacted by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 18; 2015, ch. 58, § 9.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 2003, ch. 153, §§ 10 to 20 was enacted as 22-2A-1 to 22-2A-11 NMSA 1978, but was relocated due to the existing Article 2A.

The 2015 amendment, effective June 19, 2015, removed references to adequate yearly progress and required distributions from the incentives for school improvement fund to be made pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of public education; in Subsection A, after "supplemental incentive funding for", deleted "the adequate yearly progress program and", after "vouchers signed by", deleted "state superintendent" and added "secretary of public education", and after "or", deleted "his" and added "the secretary's"; in Subsection B, deleted "state board" and added "department", and after "incentive funding from the fund.", deleted the next two sentences relating to adequate yearly progress.