ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT ENFORCEMENT

HB0218

HOUSE BILL 218

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Luis M. Terrazas
and
Gabriel Ramos

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOLS; AMENDING THE ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT;
ENHANCING AND EXPANDING ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS TO REDUCE
EXCESSIVE ABSENTEEISM; MAKING IT A CRIME FOR A PARENT OF AN
EXCESSIVELY ABSENT STUDENT TO CAUSE OR ALLOW THE STUDENT TO
CONTINUE TO BE ABSENT FROM SCHOOL AFTER A REPORT IS MADE TO THE
JUVENILE PROBATION SERVICES OFFICE; PRESCRIBING PENALTIES;
MAKING CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 22-12A-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019,
Chapter 223, Section 12) is amended to read:

"22-12A-12. EXCESSIVE ABSENTEEISM--ENFORCEMENT.--

A. Each local school board and each governing body
of a charter school or private school shall initiate the
enforcement of the provisions of the Attendance for Success Act
for excessively absent students.

B. If [
unexcused
] absences continue after written
notice of excessive absenteeism as provided in Section [
11 of
the Attendance for Success Act
]
22-12A-11 NMSA 1978
, the local
school board or governing body of a charter school or private
school, after consultation with the local superintendent or
head administrator of a charter school or private school, shall
report the excessively absent student to the
juvenile
probation
services office of the judicial district in which the student
resides. [
for an investigation as to
]
Upon receiving a report,
the juvenile probation services office shall investigate

whether the student [
should be considered to be
]
is
a neglected
child or a child in a family in need of family services because
of excessive absenteeism and [
thus
] subject to [
the provisions
of
] the Children's Code. The
local superintendent or head
administrator of a charter school or private school shall
provide the
record of the [
public
] school's interventions and
the student's and parent's responses to the interventions
[
shall be provided
] to the juvenile probation services office
[
The local superintendent or head administrator of a charter
school or private school shall provide the documentation to the
juvenile probation services office
] within ten [
business
]

school
days of the student being identified as excessively
absent.

C. If the juvenile probation services office
determines that the student is a child in a family in need of
family services, a caseworker from the [
child or family in need
of family services program
]
children, youth and families
department
shall meet with the family at the [
public school in
which the student is enrolled
]
student's school
to determine if
[
there are
] other intervention services [
that
] may be provided.
The meeting shall involve the school principal or other school
personnel and, unless the parent objects in writing,
appropriate community partners that provide services to
children and families. The children, youth and families
department shall determine if additional interventions,
including monitoring, will positively affect the student's
behavior.
In addition to these interventions or any other
disposition, the children's court may order the suspension of
an excessively absent student's driving privileges for a
specified time not to exceed ninety days for a first finding of
excessive absenteeism or for a specified time not to exceed one
year for a second or subsequent finding of excessive
absenteeism.

D. It is a violation of the Attendance for Success
Act for a parent of an excessively absent student to cause or
allow the student to continue to be absent from school after
the student is reported to the juvenile probation services
office pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B of this
section. After consultation with the local superintendent or
head administrator of the charter school or private school, the
local school board or governing body of the charter school or
private school shall refer the parent to the local district
attorney for prosecution.

E. A parent in violation of the Attendance for
Success Act as provided in Subsection D of this section is
guilty of a petty misdemeanor. Upon a first conviction, the
parent shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty
dollars ($50.00) and not more than one hundred dollars ($100)
or community service in lieu of the fine. Upon a second or
subsequent conviction, the parent shall be subject to a fine of
not more than five hundred dollars ($500), imprisonment for a
definite term not to exceed six months or both.
"

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