PED enacts 180-day school rule

SANTA FE -- The state Public Education Department announced Thursday it will enact a rule requiring 180 instructional days at schools, a plan that has drawn ire from teachers, administrators and lawmakers throughout the state.

The version approved by the agency allows exemptions for schools with four-day weeks, early college high schools, and districts and charter schools with significant growth in reading proficiency rates.

“We’ve had it with being the last and the worst performing state in the union,” Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero said in a news conference Thursday. “We know that this isn’t reflective of who we are, and we’re going to do everything we can to challenge us and change that.”

He added, “This is about doing what’s right for kids, even if it’s hard.”

The new calendar requirement is set to begin in the 2024-25 school year.

Clovis Municipal Schools Superintendent Renee Russ has been speaking publicly about her opposition to the 180-day rule since November.

She wrote in an opinion piece for The Eastern New Mexico News last year that PED’s plan was “a move that raises questions about the department’s power and the potential infringement on our local autonomy.

“Furthermore, the proposed amendment from NMPED not only challenges the efficacy of our current school calendar but also threatens the very essence of local control. Our community has thrived on the ability to tailor our school calendar to the unique needs and values of CMS.”

The Clovis district is currently on a 170-day calendar. Russ said Friday she’s not sure if the new mandates will extend the school year.

“These are questions that I cannot yet answer,” she said. “We are awaiting further guidance and will determine next steps from there. If ultimately forced to move to a 180-day calendar, we will work to create a draft that maintains many of the key aspects of our current calendar.”

She added: “I am not of the opinion that the rule change aligns with current statute nor do I believe that more time is the answer to achieving improved educational outcomes.”

She said superintendents will meet with PED officials on Monday to learn more information.

Portales school Superintendent Johnnie Cain said current rules call for 1,140 hours of instruction during the school year. A 180-day rule likely means the 20-plus “early release” days on Portales’ schedule will all have to be replaced with full days of instruction, Cain said.

Santa Fe Public Schools’ 2024-25 calendar — which initially included 174 school days — was designed with the possibility of the 180-day rule taking effect. That district will revert to a three-day Thanksgiving break and shift a few school closure dates to learning days to meet the requirement, Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez announced in February.

Romero called the final version of the rule “a fair compromise:” It requires 180 instruction days across the board, but offers waivers for districts and schools excelling in reading and language arts.

Schools with reading proficiency rates below 45% must demonstrate at least a 15% growth in proficiency to qualify for the waiver. With the statewide reading proficiency rate hovering around 38%, most New Mexico districts, will fall into that category. Schools and districts with higher language arts proficiency rates may qualify by demonstrating smaller increases.

In her State of the State address in January, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham doubled down on a promise to extend the school year to 180 days across New Mexico.

The governor hinted Wednesday at plans to move forward with the rule when she vetoed line items in the state’s budget bill. She struck a sentence — inserted into the bill in a successful House floor amendment brought by Republican Rep. Gail Armstrong of Magdalena — that would have prohibited the Public Education Department from using state funds to implement or enforce the 180-day rule.

The proposal was also unpopular among educators.

Hundreds of teachers and school administrators showed up at a public hearing on the proposal, decrying the plan as an overreach of the Public Education Department’s powers and asking that the state allow governing boards to create district calendars.

Thousands more sent in written comments, with the overwhelming majority against the rules.

“We believe that [the calendar] is a local decision,” Mary Parr-Sánchez, president of the New Mexico branch of the National Education Association, said in an interview. “There was public outcry, and educators were included in that outcry.”

Romero argued the increase in school days will benefit educators economically because they’ll be paid for more school days.

“It’s a win-win for everybody. It provides additional learning time for students, but for our teachers, it provides additional compensation for them,” Romero said. “This is more money that they can take home every single paycheck.”

Lawmakers, meanwhile, have for months framed the 180-day requirement as contrary to the Legislature’s will — both chambers passed a bill in 2023 increasing school time based on hours, not days — and the principle of local decision-making.

“This rule adoption comes as a surprise in light of the overwhelming pushback from school administrators, teachers and legislators on both sides of the aisle,” Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, said in a statement following Thursday’s announcement.

“Not only does it circumvent the Legislature’s intent regarding instruction time, but it places undue burden on our school districts, especially in rural New Mexico,” Brantley added.

Margaret O’Hara of The Santa Fe New Mexican and Madison Willis of The News contributed to this report.