New Mexico § 22-1-2 - Definitions

§ 22-1-2. Definitions

As used in the Public School Code: A. “ academic proficiency ” means mastery of the subject-matter knowledge and skills specified in state academic

content and performance standards for a student's grade level; B. “ charter school ” means a school authorized by a chartering authority to operate as a public school; C. “ commission ” means the public education commission; D. “ department ” means the public education department; E. “ home school ” means the operation by the parent of a school-age person of a home study program

of instruction that provides a basic academic educational program, including reading,

language arts, mathematics, social studies and science; F. “ instructional support provider ” means a person who is employed to support the instructional program of a school

district, including educational assistant, school counselor, social worker, school

nurse, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational

therapist, recreational therapist, marriage and family therapist, interpreter for

the deaf and diagnostician; G. “ licensed school employee ” means teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers; H. “ local school board ” means the policy-setting body of a school district; I. “ local superintendent ” means the chief executive officer of a school district; J. “ parent ” includes a guardian or other person having custody and control of a school-age person; K. “ private school ” means a school, other than a home school, that offers on-site programs of instruction

and that is not under the control, supervision or management of a local school board; L. “ public school ” means that part of a school district that is a single attendance center in which

instruction is offered by one or more teachers and is discernible as a building or

group of buildings generally recognized as either an elementary, middle, junior high

or high school or any combination of those and includes a charter school; M. “ school ” means a supervised program of instruction designed to educate a student in a particular

place, manner and subject area; N. “ school administrator ” means a person licensed to administer in a school district and includes school principals,

central district administrators and charter school head administrators; O. “ school-age person ” means a person who is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September

1 of the school year, who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent

and who has not reached the person's twenty-second birthday on the first day of the

school year and meets other criteria provided in the Public School Finance Act; P. “ school building ” means a public school, an administration building and related school structures

or facilities, including teacher housing, that is owned, acquired or constructed by

the school district as necessary to carry out the functions of the school district; Q. “ school bus private owner ” means a person, other than a school district, the department, the state or any other

political subdivision of the state, that owns a school bus; R. “ school district ” means an area of land established as a political subdivision of the state for the

administration of public schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding

purposes; S. “ school employee ” includes licensed and nonlicensed employees of a school district; T. “ school principal ” means the chief instructional leader and administrative head of a public school; U. “ school year ” means the total number of contract days offered by public schools in a school district

during a period of twelve consecutive months; V. “ secretary ” means the secretary of public education; W. “ state agency ” or “ state institution ” means the New Mexico military institute, New Mexico school for the blind and visually

impaired, New Mexico school for the deaf, New Mexico boys' school, girls' welfare

home, New Mexico youth diagnostic and development center, Sequoyah adolescent treatment

center, Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital, New Mexico behavioral health

institute at Las Vegas and any other state agency responsible for educating resident

children; X. “ state educational institution ” means an institution enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico ; Y. “ substitute teacher ” means a person who holds a certificate to substitute for a teacher in the classroom; Z. “ teacher ” means a person who holds a level one, two or three-A license and whose primary duty

is classroom instruction or the supervision, below the school principal level, of

an instructional program or whose duties include curriculum development, peer intervention,

peer coaching or mentoring or serving as a resource teacher for other teachers; AA. “ certified school instructor ” means a licensed school employee; and BB. “ certified school employee ” or “ certified school personnel ” means a licensed school employee.