N.M. Stat. § 22-20-1 (2026)

payment grant applications; approval of the public school facilities
authority; compliance with statewide adequacy standards; state
construction and fire standards applicable.
   A. Except as provided in Subsection F of this section, each local school board or
governing body of a charter school shall secure the approval of the director of the public
school facilities authority or the director's designee prior to:

       (1)     the construction or letting of contracts for construction of any school
building or related school structure;

      (2)     entering into a lease-purchase agreement for a building to be used as a
school building or a related school structure; or

       (3)    reopening an existing structure that was not used as a school building
during the previous year.

   B. A written application shall be submitted to the director requesting approval of the
construction, lease-purchase agreement or reopening, and, upon receipt, the director
shall forward a copy of the application to the secretary. The director shall prescribe the
form of the application, which shall include the following:

       (1)    a statement of need;

       (2)    the anticipated number of students affected;

       (3)    the estimated cost;

       (4)    for approval of construction, a description of the proposed construction
project;

         (5)   for approval of a lease-purchase agreement or a reopening of an existing
structure, a description of the structure to be leased or reopened, including its location,
square footage, interior layout and facilities, such as bathrooms, kitchens and handicap
access, a description of the prior use of the structure and a description of how the
facility and supplemental shared facilities and resources will fulfill the functions
necessary to support the educational programs of the school district or charter school;
       (6)     a map of the area showing existing school attendance centers within a
five-mile radius and any obstructions to attending the attendance centers, such as
railroad tracks, rivers and limited-access highways; and

       (7)      other information as may be required by the director.

    C. With respect to an application for the approval of construction, the director or the
director's designee shall give approval to an application if the director or designee
reasonably determines that:

      (1)     the construction will not cause an unnecessary proliferation of school
construction;

       (2)      the construction is needed in the school district or by the charter school;

       (3)      the construction is feasible;

       (4)      the cost of the construction is reasonable;

        (5)    the school district or charter school has submitted a five-year facilities plan
that includes:

             (a) enrollment projections;

             (b) a current preventive maintenance plan;

          (c) the capital needs of charter schools chartered by the school district, if
applicable, or the capital needs of the charter school if it is state-chartered; and

          (d) projections for the facilities needed in order to maintain a full-day
kindergarten program;

       (6)      the construction project:

          (a) is in compliance with the statewide adequacy standards adopted pursuant
to the Public School Capital Outlay Act [Chapter 22, Article 24 NMSA 1978]; and

            (b) is appropriately integrated into the school district or charter school five-
year facilities plan;

      (7)     the school district or charter school is financially able to pay for the
construction; and

      (8)    the secretary has certified that the construction will support the
educational program of the school district or charter school.
    D. With respect to an application for the approval of a lease-purchase agreement or
for the reopening of an existing structure, the director or the director's designee shall
give approval to an application if the director or designee reasonably determines that:

       (1)     the buildings to be reopened or leased for purchase meet the applicable
statewide adequacy standards adopted pursuant to the Public School Capital Outlay Act
or the buildings can be brought into compliance with those standards within a
reasonable time and at a reasonable cost and that money or other resources will be
available to the school district or charter school to bring the buildings up to those
standards; and

       (2)    the buildings to be reopened or leased for purchase have, as measured by
the New Mexico condition index, a condition rating equal to or better than the average
condition for all New Mexico public schools for that year.

   E. Within thirty days after the receipt of an application filed pursuant to this section,
the director or the director's designee shall in writing notify the local school board or
governing body of a charter school making the application and the department of
approval or disapproval of the application.

   F. By rule, the public school capital outlay council may:

       (1)   exempt classes or types of construction from the application and approval
requirements of this section; or

         (2)    exempt classes or types of construction from the requirement of approval
but, if the council determines that information concerning the construction is necessary
for the maintenance of the facilities assessment database, require a description of the
proposed construction project and related information to be submitted to the public
school facilities authority.

   G. A charter school shall not apply for a lease payment grant pursuant to
Subsection I of Section 22-24-4 NMSA 1978 unless the lease-purchase agreement has
been approved pursuant to this section.

    H. A local school board or governing body of a charter school shall not enter into a
contract for the construction of a public school facility, including contracts funded with
insurance proceeds, unless the contract contains provisions requiring the construction
to be in compliance with the statewide adequacy standards adopted pursuant to the
Public School Capital Outlay Act, provided that, for a contract funded in whole or in part
with insurance proceeds:

       (1)     the cost of settlement of any insurance claim shall not be increased by
inclusion of the insurance proceeds in the construction contract; and
       (2)   insurance claims settlements shall continue to be governed by insurance
policies, memoranda of coverage and rules related to them.

    I. Public school facilities shall be constructed pursuant to state standards or codes
promulgated pursuant to the Construction Industries Licensing Act [Chapter 60, Article
13 NMSA 1978] and rules adopted pursuant to Section 59A-52-15 NMSA 1978 for the
prevention and control of fires in public occupancies. Building standards or codes
adopted by a municipality or county do not apply to the construction of public school
facilities, except those structures constructed as a part of an educational program of a
school district or charter school.

   J. The provisions of Subsection I of this section relating to fire protection shall not
be effective until the public regulation commission has adopted the International Fire
Code and all standards related to that code.

   K. As used in this section, "construction" means any project for which the
construction industries division of the regulation and licensing department requires
permitting and for which the estimated total cost exceeds two hundred thousand dollars
($200,000).

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-18-1, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 270; 1988, ch. 64, §
41; 2003, ch. 147, § 2; 2005, ch. 274, § 4; 2006, ch. 94, § 54; 2006, ch. 95, § 1; 2007,
ch. 366, § 1; 2011, ch. 69, § 4.

                                     ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For public works generally, see 13-4-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, required the director of the public school
facilities authority or the director’s designee to approve lease-purchase agreements for
buildings that will be used as school buildings or related school structures and required
the director to prescribe an application form for approval of lease-purchase agreements
and the reopening of existing structures; specified criteria for approval of applications for
lease-purchase agreements and the reopening of existing structures; and prohibited
charter schools from applying for lease payment grants unless the lease-purchase
agreement has been approved.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added Subsection D to provide that the
public school capital outlay council may exempt classes or types of construction from
approval under this section.

The 2006 amendment, effective March 6, 2006, added Paragraph (5) of Subsection B
to provide for a five-year facilities plan; added Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of
Paragraph (5) of Subsection B to provide for the content of a five-year facilities plan;
and in Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (6) (formerly Paragraph (5)) of Subsection B,
changed "master plan" to "five-year facilities plan".
The 2005 amendment, effective April 6, 2005, deleted the requirement in Subsection
A(4) that the application include a description of the structure to be built; added
Subsections B(5)(a) and (b) to provide that the project shall be approved if it is in
compliance with statewide adequacy standards and is appropriately integrated into the
school district master plan; added Subsection D to provide that a construction contract
shall contain provisions requiring the construction to be in compliance with statewide
adequacy standards and that for a contract funded by insurance proceeds, the cost of
settlement of an insurance claim shall not be increased by inclusion of the proceeds in
the contract and the settlement shall be governed by insurance policies, memoranda of
coverage and rules related to them; added Subsection E to provide that public school
facilities shall be constructed pursuant to state standards or codes and rules for the
prevention and control of fires and that municipal or county standards or codes do not
apply the construction of public school facilities except structures constructed as part of
a program of a school district; added Subsection F to provide that the provisions of
Subsection E relating to fire prevention shall not be effective until the public regulation
commission has adopted the International Fire Code and all standards related to that
code; and added Subsection G to define "construction".

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, rewrote this section to the extent that a
detailed comparison is impracticable.

The 1988 amendment, effective May 18, 1988, substituted "the state superintendent"
for "chief" in the catchline and in the second and last sentences in Subsection A;
substituted "state superintendent or his designee" for "chief" in the first sentence in
Subsection A and in Subsections B and C; added the designations (1) to (5) in
Subsection B; and made minor stylistic changes.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Title to buildings when school lands
revert for nonuse for school purposes, 28 A.L.R.2d 564.

Use of public school premises for religious purposes during nonschool time, 79
A.L.R.2d 1148.