A. The department shall:

(1) on or before July 1 of each year, approve and certify to each local school board and governing body of a charter school an operating budget for use by the school district or charter school;

(2) ensure that each program in a school district or charter school's operating budget meets the requirements of law and the department's rules and procedures and that no school district or charter school generates program units for a program not meeting the requirements of law and the department's rules or procedures;

(3) make corrections, revisions and amendments to the operating budgets fixed by the local school boards or governing bodies of charter schools and the secretary to conform the operating budgets to the requirements of law and to the department's rules and procedures; and

(4) ensure that a local school board or governing body of a charter school is prioritizing resources toward proven programs and methods that are linked to improved student achievement.

B. No school district or charter school or officer or employee of a school district or charter school shall make any expenditure or incur any obligation for the expenditure of public funds unless that expenditure or obligation is made in accordance with an operating budget approved by the department. This prohibition does not prohibit the transfer of funds pursuant to the department's rules and procedures.

C. The department shall not approve and certify an operating budget of any school district or charter school that fails to demonstrate that parental involvement in the budget process was solicited.

D. The department shall not approve and certify an operating budget of any school district or charter school that the secretary determines has failed to provide sufficient data and information to determine if the school district or charter school is meeting the requirements of law or the department's rules and procedures.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-6-12, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 66; 1978, ch. 128, § 4; 1988, ch. 64, § 21; 1993, ch. 41, § 2; 1999, ch. 291, § 5; 2006, ch. 94, § 5; 2011, ch. 10, § 5; 2015, ch. 108, § 6; 2019, ch. 206, § 12; 2019, ch. 207, § 12.

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

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, provided additional duties for the public education department related to the approval of school district's or charter school's operating budget; in Subsection A, added a new Paragraph A(2) and redesignated former Paragraphs A(2) and A(3) as Paragraphs A(3) and A(4), respectively, and in Paragraph A(4), after "school board or", deleted "for a charter school the", after "prioritizing resources", deleted "of a public school rated D or F", and after "student achievement", deleted "until the public school earns a grade of C or better for two consecutive years"; and added Subsection D.

Laws 2019, ch. 206, § 12, and Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 12, both effective June 14, 2019, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 12. See Section 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

Applicability. — Laws 2019, ch. 206, § 29 and Laws 2019, ch. 207, § 29, provided that the provisions of §§ 2 through 19 apply to the program cost calculation in fiscal year 2020 and subsequent fiscal years.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, required the public education department to ensure that each governing body of a charter school with a D or F rating is prioritizing resources toward proven programs and methods linked to improved student achievement until the school earns a grade of C or better for two consecutive years, and removed "state-chartered" from each reference to "charter school"; in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A, after "governing body of a", deleted "state-chartered", and after "school district or", deleted "state-chartered"; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A, after "governing bodies of", deleted "state-chartered"; in Paragraph (3) of Subsection A, after "school board or," added "for a charter school, the", and after "governing body of", deleted "a" and added "the"; in Subsection B, after "No school district or", deleted "state-chartered", and after "employee of a school district or", deleted "state-chartered"; in Subsection C, after "any school district or", deleted "state-chartered".

The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, required the department to ensure that public schools that are rated D or F prioritize resources to improve student achievement.

The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection A, added the governing body of a state-chartered charter school; in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection A and in Subsection B, changed "school board" to "school district"; and in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection A and in Subsections B and C, added state-chartered charter school.

The 1999 amendment, effective April 8, 1999, substituted "approval of operating budget" for "temporary; final" in the section heading; substituted "an operating budget" for "a temporary operating budget" in Subsections A(1) and C; deleted "pending approval by the department of a final budget" at the end of Subsection A(1); in Subsection A(2) substituted "operating budgets" for "estimated budgets" and "to the department's rules and procedures" for "to the manual of accounting and budgeting; and"; deleted Subsection A(3) which required that final budgets be approved and certified to local school boards and boards of county commissioners before the first Monday of September of each year; and in Subsection B, deleted "contractual" before "obligation is made" in the first sentence and substituted "pursuant to the department's rules and procedures" for "between line items within series of a budget" in the second sentence.

The 1993 amendment, effective March 17, 1993, added Subsection C.

The 1988 amendment, effective May 18, 1988, substituted "department" for "division" and "state superintendent" for "director" throughout the section and made minor stylistic changes.