A. The local school board may waive only locally imposed school district requirements for locally chartered charter schools.

B. A state-chartered charter school is exempt from school district requirements. A state-chartered charter school is responsible for developing its own written policies and procedures in accordance with this section.

C. The department shall waive requirements or rules and provisions of the Public School Code [Chapter 22 [except Article 5A] NMSA 1978] pertaining to individual class load, teaching load, length of the school day, staffing patterns, subject areas, purchase of instructional material, evaluation standards for school personnel, school principal duties and driver education. The department may waive requirements or rules and provisions of the Public School Code pertaining to graduation requirements. Any waivers granted pursuant to this section shall be for the term of the charter granted but may be suspended or revoked earlier by the department.

D. A charter school shall be a public school accredited by the department and shall be accountable to the chartering authority for purposes of ensuring compliance with applicable laws, rules and charter provisions.

E. A local school board shall not require any employee of the school district to be employed in a charter school.

F. A local school board shall not require any student residing within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a charter school.

G. A student who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the school district in which the student resides.

History: Laws 1999, ch. 281, § 5; 2006, ch. 94, § 32.

Cross references. — For the Public School Capital Outlay Council, see 22-24-6 NMSA 1978.

The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, provided in Subsection A for waiver of requirements for locally chartered charter schools; deleted former Subsection B; added a new Subsection B to provide that a state-chartered charter schools is exempt form school district requirements and is responsible for developing policies and procedures; and in Subsection C (formerly Subsection B), provided that the department shall waive requirements for class load, teaching load, length of school day, staffing, subject areas and instructional material.