N.M. Stat. § 22-5-4.3
School discipline policies; racial sensitivity and anti-
racism training; hotline for reporting racially charged incidents and
racialized aggression involving students or school personnel;
students may self-administer certain medications.
A. Local school boards shall establish student discipline policies and shall file them
with the department. The local school board shall involve parents, school personnel
and students in the development of these policies, and public hearings shall be held
during the formulation of these policies in the high school attendance areas within each
school district or on a district-wide basis for those school districts that have no high
school. No local school board shall allow for the imposition of discipline, discrimination
or disparate treatment against a student based on the student's race, religion or culture
or because of the student's use of protective hairstyles or cultural or religious
headdresses.
B. Each school district discipline policy shall establish rules of conduct governing
areas of student and school activity, detail specific prohibited acts and activities and
enumerate possible disciplinary sanctions, which sanctions may include in-school
suspension, school service, suspension or expulsion. Corporal punishment shall be
prohibited by each local school board and each governing body of a charter school.
C. An individual school within a school district may establish a school discipline
policy, provided that parents, school personnel and students are involved in its
development and a public hearing is held in the school prior to its adoption. If an
individual school adopts a discipline policy in addition to the local school board's school
district discipline policy, it shall submit its policy to the local school board for approval.
D. All school discipline policies shall define and include a specific prohibition against
racialized aggression involving a student or school personnel. Every school district and
every charter school shall provide links to the statewide hotline to report racially charged
incidents or racialized aggression.
E. No school employee who in good faith reports any known or suspected violation
of the school discipline policy or in good faith attempts to enforce the policy shall be
held liable for any civil damages as a result of such report or of the employee's efforts to
enforce any part of the policy.
F. All public school and school district discipline policies shall allow students to
carry and self-administer asthma medication and emergency anaphylaxis medication
that has been legally prescribed to the student by a licensed health care provider under
the following conditions:
(1)
the health care provider has instructed the student in the correct and
responsible use of the medication;
(2)
the student has demonstrated to the health care provider and the school
nurse or other school official the skill level necessary to use the medication and any
device that is necessary to administer the medication as prescribed;
(3)
the health care provider formulates a written treatment plan for managing
asthma or anaphylaxis episodes of the student and for medication use by the student
during school hours or school-sponsored activities, including transit to or from school or
school-sponsored activities; and
(4)
the student's parent has completed and submitted to the school any
written documentation required by the school or the school district, including the
treatment plan required in Paragraph (3) of this subsection and other documents related
to liability.
G. The parent of a student who is allowed to carry and self-administer asthma
medication and emergency anaphylaxis medication may provide the school with backup
medication that shall be kept in a location to which the student has immediate access in
the event of an asthma or anaphylaxis emergency.
H. Authorized school personnel who in good faith provide a person with backup
medication as provided in this section shall not be held liable for civil damages as a
result of providing the medication.
I. Local school boards and governing bodies of charter schools shall not prohibit a
student who is enrolled, or eligible for enrollment, in a federally recognized Indian
nation, tribe or pueblo from wearing tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance along
with or attached to a cap or gown or wearing tribally significant footwear or other items
of apparel under a gown at graduation ceremonies or public school events.
J. As used in this section:
(1)
"cultural or religious headdresses" includes hijabs, head wraps or other
headdresses used as part of a person's personal cultural or religious beliefs;
(2)
"protective hairstyles" includes such hairstyles as braids, locs, twists, tight
coils or curls, cornrows, bantu knots, afros, weaves, wigs or head wraps; and
(3)
"tribal regalia" means a tribe's traditional dress or recognized objects of
religious or cultural significance, including tribal symbols, jewelry, beading and feathers.