N.M. Code R. § 6.11.2.7 - DEFINITIONS
A.
"Administrative authority" means the school district
superintendent, the head administrator of a state-chartered charter school, a
principal, or their delegate to act officially in a matter involving school
discipline or the maintenance of order. The term may include school security
officers, but only to the extent of their authority as established under
written local school board policies.
B.
"Child with a disability" or
"student with a disability" means a child who meets all requirements of
34 CFR Sec. 300.8 and:
(1) is age three
through 21 or who will turn age three at any time during the school
year;
(2) has been evaluated in
accordance with 34 CFR Secs. 300.304 through 300.311 and any additional
requirements of these or other department rules and standards as having one or
more of the disabilities specified in 34 CFR Sec. 300.8, including an
intellectual disability; a hearing impairment, including deafness, speech or
language impairment; a visual impairment, including blindness; emotional
disturbance; orthopedic impairment; autism; traumatic brain injury; other
health impairment; a specific learning disability; deaf-blindness; or being
developmentally delayed as defined in Paragraph (4) of Subsection B of
6.31.2.7 NMAC; and
who has not received a high school diploma; and
(3) at the discretion of each local
educational agency and subject to the additional requirements of Paragraph (2)
of Subsection F of
6.31.2.10
NMAC, may include a child age three through nine who is evaluated as being
developmentally delayed and who, because of that condition, needs special
education and related services.
C.
"Criminal acts" means acts
defined as criminal under federal and state law, and any applicable municipal
or county criminal ordinances.
D.
"Delinquent acts" means acts as defined in Subsection A of Section
32A-2-3 NMSA 1978,
the Delinquency Act.
E.
"Detention" means requiring a student to remain in a designated
area in the student's school outside of instructional time, such as before
school, during recess, during lunch, or after school. No detained student shall
be denied an opportunity to eat lunch or reasonable opportunities to go to the
restroom.
F.
"Disciplinarian" means a person or group authorized to impose
consequence(s) after the facts of a case have been determined by a hearing
authority.
G.
"Disruptive
conduct" means willful conduct that is unruly, disruptive, or abusive
and interferes with a school teacher's or school administrator's ability to
communicate with the students in a classroom, with a student's ability to
learn, or with the operation of a school or a school-sponsored
activity.
H.
"Expulsion" means the removal of a student from school either
permanently or for an indefinite time exceeding 10 school days or a locally
established shorter period.
I.
"Hearing authority" means a person or group designated to hear
evidence and determine the facts of a case at a required formal
hearing.
J.
"Immediate
removal" means the removal of a student from school for one school day
or less under emergency conditions and without a prior hearing.
K.
"In-school suspension" means
requiring a student to spend time in a designated area at the same school or in
an environment where the student is allowed to continue with their academic
learning.
L.
"Legal
limits" include the requirements of the federal and state constitutions
and governing statutes, standards, and regulations, and include the fundamental
common-law requirement that rules of student conduct be reasonable exercises of
the schools' authority in pursuance of legitimate educational and related
functions. There are special limitations arising from constitutional guarantees
of protected free speech and expression which shall be balanced against the
schools need to foster an educational atmosphere free from undue disruptions to
appropriate discipline.
M.
"Local school board" includes the governing body of a charter
school.
N.
"Local school
district" or "school district" includes a state-chartered charter
school.
O.
"Long-term
suspension" means the removal of a student from school for a specified
time exceeding either 10 school days or a locally established shorter
period.
P.
"Mechanical
restraint" means the use of any device or material attached or adjacent
to the student's body that restricts freedom of movement or normal access to
any portion of the student's body and that the student cannot easily remove,
but "mechanical restraint" does not include mechanical supports or protective
devices.
Q.
"Parent"
means the natural parent, legal guardian, or other person having custody and
control of a student who is subject to Section
22-12A-1
et seq. NMSA 1978, the Attendance for Success Act, or the student if the
student is not subject to compulsory attendance.
R.
"Physical restraint" means
the use of physical force without the use of any device or material that
restricts the free movement of all or a portion of a student's body, but
"physical restraint" does not include physical escort.
S.
"Public school" means the
campus and any building, facility, vehicle, or other item of property owned,
operated, controlled by or in the possession of a local school district. For
purposes of student discipline, the term also includes any non-school premises
being used for school-sponsored activities.
T.
"Refusal to cooperate with school
personnel" means a student's willful refusal to obey the lawful
instructions or orders of school personnel whose responsibilities include
supervision of students.
U.
"Refusal to identify self" means a person's willful refusal, upon
request from school personnel known or identified as such to the person, to
identify themselves accurately.
V.
"Restraint" when not otherwise modified means mechanical or
physical restraint.
W.
"Review authority" means a person or group authorized by the local
school board to review a disciplinarian's final decision to impose a long-term
suspension or expulsion.
X.
"Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a student alone
in a room from which egress is prevented. "Seclusion" does not mean the use of
a voluntary behavior management technique, including a timeout location, as
part of a student's education plan, individual safety plan, behavioral plan or
individualized education program that involves the student's separation from a
larger group for purposes of calming.
Y.
"Sexual harassment,"
regarding students, means unwelcome or unwanted conduct of a sexual nature
(verbal, non-verbal or physical) when:
(1)
submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of the advancement of a student in school programs or
activities;
(2) submission to or
rejection of such conduct by a student is used as the basis for decisions or
opportunities affecting the student; or
(3) such conduct substantially interferes
with a student's learning or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
learning environment.
Z.
"School personnel" means all members of the staff, faculty, and
administration employed by the local school board. The term includes school
security officers, school bus drivers, and their aides, and also authorized
agents of the schools, such as volunteers or chaperones, whose responsibilities
include supervision of students.
AA.
"Student" means a person who
is enrolled in one or more classes at a public school.
BB.
"Student experiencing
homelessness" means children and youth as defined by Section 725(2) of
the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
CC.
"Superintendent of a school
district" includes the head administrator of a state-chartered charter
school.
DD.
"Temporary
suspension" means the removal of a student from school for a specified
period of 10 or fewer school days after a rudimentary hearing.
EE.
"Weapon," as set forth in
Section
22-5-4.7
NMSA 1978, means:
(1) any firearm that is
designed to, may readily be converted to, or will expel a projectile by the
action of an explosion; and
(2) any
destructive device that is an explosive or incendiary device, bomb, grenade,
rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an
explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter-ounce, mine or similar
device.
Notes
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