New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 6 - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION › Chapter 11 - PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION - STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES › Part 2 - RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS › Section 6.11.2.12 - PROCEDURE FOR DETENTIONS, SUSPENSIONS, AND EXPULSIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
The authority of the state and of local school boards to
				  prescribe and enforce standards of conduct for public school students must be
				  exercised consistently with constitutional safeguards of individual student
				  rights. The right to a public education is not absolute; it may be taken away,
				  temporarily or permanently, for violations of school rules. The right to a
				  public education is a property right which may only be denied where school
				  authorities have adhered to the minimum procedural safeguards required to
				  afford the student due process of law. This section prescribes minimum
				  requirements for detention, in-school suspension, and temporary, long-term or
				  permanent removal of students from public schools. Local school boards may
				  adopt procedures which afford students more protection than this rule requires.
				  The procedures in this section apply only to disciplinary detentions,
				  suspensions, and expulsions. They do not apply to disenrollment of students who
				  fail to meet immunization, age, residence, or other requirements for valid
				  enrollment, nor to the removal from school membership reports of students who
				  have been absent from school for 10 consecutive school days in accordance with
				  Subsection B of Section
				  22-8-2
				  NMSA 1978. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting school
				  boards or administrative authorities from involving other school staff,
				  students, and members of the community in the enforcement of rules of student
				  conduct to the extent they believe is appropriate.
A. Post-suspension placement of students. Any
				student suspended from school shall be delivered directly by a school official
				to the student's parent(s) or an adult designated by the parent(s) or kept on
				school grounds until the usual end of the school day.
B. Students with disabilities. This section
				does not apply to long-term suspension or expulsion of students with
				disabilities pursuant to the IDEA or Section 504. The procedures for long-term
				suspension or expulsion of students with disabilities are set forth in Section
				6.11.2.11
				NMAC. School personnel under this section may remove a student with a
				disability who violates a rule of student conduct from the student's current
				placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting, another
				setting, or suspension, for no more than 10 consecutive school days to the
				extent those alternatives are applied to students without disabilities, and for
				additional removals of no more than 10 consecutive school days in the same
				school year for separate incidents of misconduct as long as those removals do
				not constitute a change of placement under Subsection G of
				6.11.2.11
				NMAC.
C. Immediate removal.
				Students whose presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an
				ongoing threat of interfering with the educational process may be immediately
				removed from school, subject to the following rules:
(1) A rudimentary hearing, as required for
				temporary suspensions, shall follow as soon as possible;
(2) Students shall be reinstated after no
				more than one school day unless within that time a temporary suspension is also
				imposed after the required rudimentary hearing. In such circumstances, a single
				hearing will support both the immediate removal and a temporary suspension
				imposed in connection with the same incident(s); and
(3) The school shall exert reasonable efforts
				to inform the student's parent of the charges against the student and the
				action taken as soon as practicable. If the school has not communicated with
				the parent by telephone or in person by the end of the school day following the
				immediate removal, the school shall on that day mail a written notice with the
				required information to the parent's address of record.