underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
HOUSE BILL 556
57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
INTRODUCED BY
Rebecca Dow
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL PERSONNEL; INCLUDING COMMUNITY HEALTH
WORKERS IN THE DEFINITION OF AND LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR
"INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDERS".
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003,
Chapter 153, Section 3, as amended by Laws 2019, Chapter 206,
Section 1 and by Laws 2019, Chapter 207, Section 1) is amended
to read:
"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;
.229352.1 underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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 and
community health worker ;
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;
.229352.1
- 2 - underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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
.229352.1
- 3 - underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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
.229352.1
- 4 - underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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."
SECTION 2. Section 22-10A-17 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003,
Chapter 153, Section 48, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-10A-17. INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDER LICENSES.--
A. The following instructional support providers
shall obtain appropriate licensure from the department:
educational assistants, school counselors, school social
workers, school nurses, speech-language pathologists,
.229352.1
- 5 - underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
psychologists, physical therapists, physical therapy
assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy
assistants, recreational therapists, marriage and family
therapists, interpreters for the deaf, diagnosticians,
attendance coaches, practical nurses, school health assistants,
school business officials, rehabilitation counselors, athletic
coaches, educational alcohol and drug abuse counselors, [and ]
substance abuse associates and community health workers . The
department may provide a professional licensing framework in
which licensees can advance in their careers through the
demonstration of increased competencies and the undertaking of
increased duties.
B. The department shall provide by rule for the
licensure requirements for any instructional support providers.
If an instructional support provider practices a licensed
profession, the provider shall provide evidence satisfactory to
the department that the provider holds a current, unsuspended
license in the profession for which the provider is applying to
provide instructional support services.
C. An instructional support provider licensed by
the department shall also hold a valid professional license or
certificate issued by the instructional support provider's
respective licensing or certifying authority, if applicable,
and shall continuously hold such underlying professional
licensure or certification for as long as the instructional
.229352.1
- 6 - underscored material = new
[bracketed material] = delete
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
support provider holds licensure issued by the department.
D. If the underlying professional license or
certificate for any reason expires, is suspended, is revoked or
is denied, a person seeking or holding an instructional support
provider license shall notify the department in writing within
fourteen calendar days of such suspension, revocation, denial
or expiration.
E. Suspension, revocation, denial or expiration of
an underlying professional license or certificate, or failure
to notify the department of such, shall constitute just cause
for discharge or termination from employment and for
suspension, revocation or denial of an instructional support
provider license."
- 7 -
.229352.1