A. A charter school shall hire its own employees. The provisions of the School Personnel Act [Chapter 22, Article 10A NMSA 1978] shall apply to such employees. The head administrator of the charter school shall employ, fix the salaries of, assign, terminate and discharge all employees of the charter school.

B. The head administrator of a charter school shall not initially employ or approve the initial employment in any capacity of a person who is the spouse, father, father-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister or sister-in-law of a member of the governing body or the head administrator. The governing body may waive the nepotism rule for family members of a head administrator.

C. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the continued employment of a person employed on or before July 1, 2008.

History: Laws 1999, ch. 281, § 10; 2006, ch. 94, § 37; 2007, ch. 259, § 1; 2008, ch. 5, § 2; 2009, ch. 195, § 2.

Cross references. — For the Educational Retirement Act, see 22-11 1 NMSA 1978.

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection B, after "daughter-in-law", added "brother, brother-in-law, sister or sister-in-law".

The 2008 amendment, effective February 13, 2008, deleted the authorization of charter schools to authorize the governing board to make employment decisions.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, provided for employment decisions to be made by the head administrator and prohibits the head administrator from initially employing a person who is related to a member of the governing body or the head administrator.

The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, in Subsection A, deleted the qualification "notwithstanding the provisions of Section 22-5-4 NMSA 1978" at the beginning of the first sentence and added the provision regarding employment decisions; deleted former Subsection B, which provided for leave of absence for employees of a school district who are employed by a conversion school; deleted former Subsection C, which provided for longevity credit for employees on leave of absence; deleted former Subsection D, which provided retirement benefits for employees on leave of absence; deleted former Subsection E, which provided that a leave of absence is not a break of service with a school district; deleted former Subsection F, which provided for the return of employees to a school district; deleted former Subsection G, which provided for the effect of discharge or termination by a charter school; added a new Subsection B to prohibit nepotism; and added a new Subsection C to provide for continued employment of persons employed on or before July 1, 2007.