TITLE 6 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
CHAPTER 12 PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION – HEALTH AND SAFETY
PART 12 ARMED PUBLIC SCHOOL SECURITY PERSONNEL
6.12.12.1 ISSUING AGENCY: Public Education Department, hereinafter the
department.
[6.12.12.1
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.2 SCOPE: This rule applies to school districts, local
school boards, state-chartered charter schools, and governing bodies of charter
schools.
[6.12.12.2
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: This rule is promulgated pursuant to Sections
9-24-8, 22-2-1, 22-2-2, 22-5-18, 22-10A-5, 22-10A-40, 22-10A-41, and 28-2-4
NMSA 1978.
[6.12.12.3
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[6.12.12.4
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: July 28, 2020, unless a later date is cited
at the end of a section.
[6.12.12.5
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective of this rule is to provide parameters
for a local school board or governing body of a charter school to authorize
formerly certified and commissioned law enforcement officers employed by a
school district or charter school as school security personnel to carry a
firearm on school premises or other school property to mitigate loss of life
during an emergency and until local law enforcement arrives.
[6.12.12.6
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Firearm”
means a handgun, as recommended by the department of public safety and authorized
by the public school insurance authority, adopted for use by a local law
enforcement agency in the jurisdiction within which a school district or
charter school is located.
B. “School premises”
means:
(1) the
building and grounds, including playgrounds, playing fields, and parking areas,
and any school bus or vehicle of a public school, whether owned or under
contract by the school district or charter school, in or on which school or
school-related activities are being conducted under the supervision of the
local school board or governing body of a charter school; or
(2) any
other public buildings or grounds, including playing fields and parking areas
that are not public school property, in or on which school-related and
school-sanctioned activities are being performed.
C. “School security personnel”
means formerly certified and commissioned law enforcement officers employed by
a school district or governing body of a charter school and authorized by
department rules and local school board or governing body policy to carry a
firearm on school premises.
[6.12.12.7
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.8 PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT AS SCHOOL SECURITY
PERSONNEL: Persons
prohibited from employment as school security personnel include the following:
A. an individual
who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude
and the criminal conviction relates to the employment as school security
personnel;
B. an individual
who has been convicted of trafficking in controlled substances, criminal sexual
penetration or a related sexual offense, child abuse, or sexual exploitation of
children;
C. an individual
who has been subject to an employment investigation under Subsection H of
Section 22-10A-5 NMSA 1978 that resulted in a finding of ethical misconduct,
including:
(1) inappropriate
touching;
(2) sexual
harassment;
(3) sexual
assault;
(4) sexual
abuse;
(5) discrimination;
or
(6) behavior
intended to induce a child into engaging in illegal, immoral, or other
prohibited behavior.
D. an individual
who has been convicted of battery on a household member or dependent, criminal
damage to property of a household member or dependent, or stalking;
E. an individual
who has been convicted of the negligent or illegal use of a firearm; or
F. an individual
who has received formal discipline for the use of excessive force.
[6.12.12.8
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.9 EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL SECURITY PERSONNEL: Each local school board and governing body of
a charter school shall establish policies and procedures addressing
pre-employment and continuing employment requirements for school security
personnel. Policies and procedures shall
include the following:
A. requirement of proof
that the former law enforcement officer was certified and commissioned for no
less than three years and left law enforcement in good standing;
B. successful
completion of a 16-hour program of training, approved by the department in
collaboration with the New Mexico public school insurance authority, for working
with students with special needs, prior to employment as school security
personnel;
C. successful completion
of a four-hour program of training, approved by the department in collaboration
with the New Mexico public school insurance authority, on cultural competency
and prohibited profiling practices, prior to employment as school security
personnel; and
D. proof of current
firearms training and successful firearms qualification provided by a certified
use-of-force instructor through a local law enforcement agency, or through a
New Mexico law enforcement academy certified firearms instructor approved by a
local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the school district
or charter school is located. Firearms
training shall include the following:
(1) an
initial use-of-force training program of eight hours, prior to employment as
school security personnel, including the following topics:
(a) resistance;
(b) confrontational
dynamics;
(c) deadly
force (when it is justifiable);
(d) communication;
(e) self-control,
fear, and anger management in the use of force;
(f) consequences
of unreasonable force;
(g) vicarious
liability;
(h) legality
of use of force in school setting by school security personnel;
(i) documenting
use of force;
(j) search
and seizure; and
(k) other
topics as recommended by the local law enforcement agency, school district, or
charter school;
(2) an
initial firearms training program of 16 hours prior to employment as school
security personnel;
(3) prior
to employment as school security personnel and annually thereafter, a
qualification shoot requiring qualifying scores that meet or exceed the New
Mexico law enforcement academy standard scores in daytime qualification shoot
and night or low light qualification shoot; and
(4) an
annual firearms manipulation training program of four hours.
E. a background
check indicating the individual has not been convicted of a crime or engaged in
behavior that violates prohibitions against ethical misconduct pursuant to the New
Mexico School Personnel Act, Section 22-10A-5 NMSA 1978, as ethical misconduct;
or Subsection A of 6.12.12.8 NMAC; and
F. any other
conditions required by law, department rule, or school district or charter
school policy.
[6.12.12.9
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.10 LIMITING SCOPE OF WORK OF ARMED SCHOOL SECURITY
PERSONNEL: Each school
board or governing body of a charter school shall adopt policies and procedures
prohibiting armed school security personnel from performing any other job in
the school district or charter school, by title or duty, other than school
security, while carrying a firearm. School
security personnel do not have the power of arrest or detention as do school
resource officers and law enforcement agents.
[6.12.12.10
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.11 ADDITIONAL SCHOOL SECURITY PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS:
A. Prior to school
security personnel being permitted to carry firearms as authorized by
department rule and local school board or governing body policy, school
security personnel shall successfully pass a physical and psychological
evaluation to determine suitability to carry a firearm.
(1) The
physical examination shall:
(a) be
conducted and signed by a licensed medical doctor;
(b) be
completed on the department-approved form; and
(c) indicate
the individual is fit for duty.
(2) The
psychological evaluation shall:
(a) be
conducted and signed by a licensed psychologist;
(b) be
completed on the department-approved form; and
(c) indicate
the individual is fit for duty.
B. The school
district or charter school shall bear the cost of the physical and
psychological evaluations for current and potential school security personnel.
[6.12.12.11
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
6.12.12.12 SCHOOL SECURITY PERSONNEL CONSTRUCTION: Nothing in this rule shall be construed as:
A. Allowing armed
school security personnel to carry firearms on school premises if doing so
would be a violation of state or federal law; or
B. Applying to
school resource officers.
[6.12.12.12
NMAC – N, 7/28/2020]
HISTORY OF 6.12.12 NMAC: [RESERVED]