2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 22 - Public Schools
Article 10A - School Personnel Act
Section 22-10A-21 - Licensed school employees; employment contracts; duration.
A. All employment contracts between superintendents and licensed school employees shall be in writing on forms approved by the department. These forms shall contain and specify the term of service, the salary to be paid, the method of payment, the causes for discharge during the term of the contract and other provisions required by the rules of the department.
B. All employment contracts between superintendents and licensed school employees shall be for a period of one school year except:
(1) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to fill personnel vacancies that occur during the school year;
(2) contracts for the remainder of a school year are permitted to staff programs when the availability of funds for the programs is not known until after the beginning of the school year;
(3) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to staff summer school programs and to staff federally funded programs in which the federally approved programs are specified to be conducted for less than one school year;
(4) contracts not to exceed three years are allowed at the discretion of the governing authority for superintendents; and
(5) contracts not to exceed three years are allowed at the discretion of the governing authority for licensed school employees in public schools who have been employed for three consecutive school years.
C. Persons employed under contracts for periods of less than one school year as provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection B of this section shall be accorded all the duties, rights and privileges of the School Personnel Act.
D. In determination of eligibility for unemployment compensation rights and benefits for licensed school employees where those rights and benefits are claimed to arise from the employment relationship between governing authorities and licensed school employees, that period of a year not covered by a school year shall not be considered an unemployment period.
E. Except as provided in Section 22-10A-22 NMSA 1978, a licensed school employee employed by contract pursuant to this section has no legitimate objective expectancy of reemployment, and no contract entered into pursuant to this section shall be construed as an implied promise of continued employment pursuant to a subsequent contract.
History: 1953 Comp., § 77-8-8, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 113; 1975, ch. 306, § 7; 1986, ch. 33, § 19; 1999, ch. 214, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 22-10-11, recompiled as § 22-10A-21 by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72; 2019, ch. 238, § 4.
ANNOTATIONSRecompilations. — Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 72 recompiled former 22-10-11 NMSA 1978, as 22-10A-21 NMSA 1978, effective April 4, 2003.
The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, revised the required content of licensed school employee contracts, clarified certain terms and provisions related to licensed school employee contracts, and made technical amendments; in the section heading, added "Licensed school employees"; in Subsection A, after "licensed school", deleted "personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors" and added "employees", after "causes for", deleted "termination of" and added "discharge during the term of", and after "required by the", deleted "regulations of the board" and added "rules of the department"; in Subsection B, in the introductory clause, after "licensed school", deleted "personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors" and added "employees", in Paragraph B(4), after "three years are", deleted "permitted for certified school administrators in public schools who are engaged in administrative functions for more than one-half of their employment time" and added "allowed at the discretion of the governing authority for superintendents", and in Subsection E, changed "Section 22-10-12" to "Section 22-10A-22".
The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "three years" for "two years" in Paragraph B(4).
Covenant of good faith and fair dealing. — Where a school teacher alleged that school administrators breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by acting in bad faith in evaluating her job performance for the purpose of driving the teacher from her job, and the teacher was not demoted, did not suffer a reduction in pay or loss of employment benefits, and was not disqualified for Level III licensure or denied a Level III license, the teacher's claim failed as a matter of law. Henning v. Rounds, 2007-NMCA-139, 142 N.M. 803, 171 P.3d 317.
Statutory claims beyond contract term. — Subsection E of Section 22-10A-22 NMSA 1978 did not preclude former assistant superintendent of a school district from pursuing damage claims under Title VII, Americans With Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and New Mexico Human Rights Act beyond the term of the assistant superintendent's written contract. Keller v. Board of Educ. of City of Albuquerque, 182 F. Supp.2d 1148 (D.N.M. 2001).
Contracts governed by ordinary rules of contract law. — Contracts for employment made by a school district and its employees are governed by the ordinary rules of contract law, except where expressly restricted by statute. Board of Educ. v. Jennings, 1982-NMCA-135, 98 N.M. 602, 651 P.2d 1037.
Subsection A is directory only. — Because Subsection A does not prescribe the result that will follow if a contract is not on a form approved by the state board, it is directory only. Board of Educ. v. Jennings, 1982-NMCA-135, 98 N.M. 602, 651 P.2d 1037.
Words "for any other good and just cause" in employment contract did not allow the state board of education to revoke a teacher's certificate for any reason that was not related to the purposes of the Certified School Personnel Act. N.M. State Bd. of Educ. v. Stoudt, 1977-NMSC-099, 91 N.M. 183, 571 P.2d 1186.
Extension of two-year contract. — A two-year contract between a local school board and a certified school administrator may not be extended for an additional year, in light of this section, which states that a school administrator's contract may not exceed two years (now three years). 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 88-55.
