ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS & EXCUSED ABSENCES

SB0105

SENATE BILL 105

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

INTRODUCED BY

Harold Pope

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; AMENDING THE ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS
ACT; CLARIFYING THAT ABSENCES ALLOWED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AN
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM AND ABSENCES ALLOWED AS
ACCOMMODATIONS UNDER CERTAIN FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS ARE EXCUSED
ABSENCES; REQUIRING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP
AND PUBLISH WRITTEN GUIDANCE ON HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE ATTENDANCE
FOR SUCCESS ACT; MAKING CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

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

SECTION 1.
Section 22-12A-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019,
Chapter 223, Section 2) is amended to read:

"22-12A-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Attendance for
Success Act:

A. "absent"
or "absence"
means not in attendance
for a class or school day for any reason, whether excused or
not; provided that "absent"
or "absence"
does not apply to
participation in interscholastic extracurricular activities;

B. "attendance improvement plan" means a tiered
data-informed system for public schools and school districts to
identify students who are chronically or excessively absent and
to aid public schools in developing whole-school prevention
strategies and targeted interventions. Each of the tiers is
defined as follows:

(1) "whole school prevention" means universal,
whole-school prevention strategies for all students, including
students who have missed less than five percent of classes or
school days for any reason;

(2) "individualized prevention" means targeted
prevention strategies for individual students who are missing
five percent or more but less than ten percent of classes or
school days for any reason;

(3) "early intervention" means interventions
for students who are missing ten percent or more but less than
twenty percent of classes or school days for any reason; and

(4) "intensive support" means interventions
for students who are missing twenty percent or more of classes
or school days for any reason;

C. "attendance team" means a group of school-based
administrators, teachers, staff, other school personnel and
community members who collaborate to implement an attendance
improvement plan;

D. "chronic absence rate" means the percentage of
students, in the aggregate and disaggregated by the subgroups
required for reporting pursuant to the federal Every Student
Succeeds Act, in a public school and a school district who have
been enrolled for at least ten days and who have missed ten
percent or more of school days since the beginning of the
school year;

E. "chronically absent" or "chronic absenteeism"
means that a student has been absent for ten percent or more of
classes or school days for any reason, whether excused or not,
when enrolled for more than ten days;

F. "excessively absent" or "excessive absenteeism"
means a student who is identified as needing intensive support
and has not responded to intervention efforts implemented by
the public school;

G. "excused absence" means absence from a class or
school day
that is allowable pursuant to the Attendance for
Success Act and includes an absence
for a death in the family,
medical [
absence
]
reasons
, religious instruction or tribal
obligations [
or any other allowable excuse pursuant to the
policies of the local school board
];

H. "interscholastic extracurricular activities"
means [
those
] activities sponsored by a public school or an
organization whose principal purpose is the regulation,
direction, administration and supervision of interscholastic
extracurricular activities in public schools;

I. "local school board" includes the governing body
of a charter school;

[
J. "medical absence" or "medically absent" means
that a student is not in attendance for a class or a school day
for a parent- or doctor-authorized medical reason or the
student is a pregnant or parenting student;

K.
]
J.
"school day" means a portion of the school
day that is at least one-half of a student's approved program;

[
L.
]
K.
"school district" includes a charter
school;

[
M.
]
L.
"school principal" includes the head
administrator of a charter school; and

[
N.
]
M.
"unexcused absence" means an absence from a
class or school day for which the student does not have an
allowable excuse pursuant to the Attendance for Success Act [
or
policies of the local school board
]."

SECTION 2.
Section 22-12A-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019,
Chapter 223, Section 4) is amended to read:

"22-12A-4. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE--RESPONSIBILITY--PRIVATE
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICIES.--

A. Except as otherwise provided in the Public
School Code, a school-age person shall attend public school,
private school, home school or a state institution until the
school-age person is at least eighteen years of age unless that
school-age person has graduated from high school, received a
high school equivalency credential or withdrawn from school on
a hardship waiver. A parent may give written, signed
permission for the school-age person to leave school between
the ages of sixteen and eighteen in case of hardship approved
by the local superintendent or private school.

B. A school-age person subject to the provisions of
the Attendance for Success Act shall attend school for at least
the length of time of the school year that is established in
that school-age person's school district, charter school or
private school. The school district or private school shall
not excuse a school-age person from attending school except as
provided in that act.

C. The parent of a school-age person subject to the
provisions of the Attendance for Success Act is responsible for
the school attendance of that school-age person.

D. Local school boards and private schools shall
enforce the provisions of the Attendance for Success Act for
students enrolled in their respective schools.

E. The department shall develop and publish written
guidance for school districts on how to implement the
Attendance for Success Act, including guidance on allowable
absences provided for in Section 22-12A-9 NMSA 1978.

[
E.
]
F.
A private school in this state shall have
an attendance policy that as closely as practicable follows the
law for public schools. A school-age person attending a
private school and the school-age person's parent shall be
given a copy of the private school's attendance policy each
year."

SECTION 3.
Section 22-12A-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019,
Chapter 223, Section 9) is amended to read:

"22-12A-9.
ALLOWABLE ABSENCES
--MEDICAL [
APPOINTMENTS
]

REASONS
--ILLNESS--
DISABILITY
--SPECIAL SITUATIONS--MAKE-UP
WORK.--

A. A student may be [
excused for parent- or doctor-authorized
]
absent from school for
medical reasons,
including
medical appointments or illness; provided that the student's
absence is authorized by a medical provider or the student's
parent
. [
A public school shall provide time for the student to
make up the school work missed during the absence.

B. A school district shall maintain an attendance
policy that:

(1) provides at least ten days of medical
absences during the school year for a student who provides
documentation of the birth of the student's child and the
public school shall provide time for the student to make up the
school work missed during the absence; and

(2) provides four days of excused absences for
a student who provides appropriate documentation of pregnancy
or that the student is the parent of a child under the age of
thirteen needing care, and the public school shall provide time
for the student to make up the school work missed during the
absence.
]

B. A school district shall allow a student to be
absent from school for four consecutive or nonconsecutive days
if the student is pregnant or parenting a child under the age
of thirteen and provides appropriate documentation of pregnancy
or parenting. In addition to the four consecutive or
nonconsecutive days, a school district shall allow a student to
be absent from school for at least ten consecutive days upon
the birth of the student's child if the student provides
appropriate documentation of the birth.

C. A school district that has an alternative public
school for, among others, pregnant and parenting students and
that allows for off-site attendance through online education
shall not count students as absent as long as the students are
online with the public school or other appropriate virtual
course and complete their class assignments.

D. A student may, subject to the approval of the
school principal, be absent from school to participate in
religious instruction for not more than one class period per
school day [
with
]
if the principal receives
the written consent
of the student's parent [
at a time that is not in
]
and the
religious instruction does not
conflict with the academic
program of the school. [
The public school shall provide time
for the student to make up the school work missed during the
absence.
] The school district or the public school shall not
assume responsibility for the religious instruction of any
student or permit religious instruction to be conducted on
school property.

E. A [
public school student, with the written
consent of the student's parent and
]
student may
, subject to
the approval of the school principal, [
may
] be absent from
school to participate in tribal obligations [
The public school
shall provide time for the student to make up the school work
missed during the absence
]
if the principal receives the
written consent of the student's parent.

F. A student who is a child with a disability,
pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, may be absent from school as provided in the student's
individualized education program. A student may otherwise be
absent from school if the absence is supported by an
accommodation made pursuant to Section 504 of the federal
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 or the Human Rights Act.

G. A student who is absent from school as allowed
pursuant to this section shall be provided time to make up the
school work the student missed during the absence. An absence
allowed pursuant to this section shall not be considered in
determining whether a student is excessively absent for the
purposes of enforcement, as provided in Section 22-12A-12 NMSA
1978.
"

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