2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 22 - Public Schools
Article 16 - Transportation of Students
Section 22-16-4 - School bus routes; limitations; exceptions; minimum requirements.

A. Bus routes shall be established by the local school district.

B. Except as provided in Subsections C and E of this section, no school bus route shall be maintained for distances less than:

(1) one mile one way for students in grades kindergarten through six;

(2) one and one-half miles one way for students in grades seven through nine; and

(3) two miles one way for students in grades ten through twelve.

C. In school districts having hazardous walking conditions as determined by the local school board and confirmed by the state transportation director, students of any grade may be transported a lesser distance than that provided in Subsection B of this section. General standards for determining hazardous walking conditions shall be established by the state transportation division of the department with the approval of the department, but the standards shall be flexibly and not rigidly applied by the local school board and the state transportation director to prevent accidents and help ensure student safety.

D. A school district with from one to six students enrolled in the school district whose residence, within the boundaries of the school district, is five or more miles from the student's or students' school or schools shall be able to provide transportation to and from school by means of a school-district-owned, minimum six-passenger, full-size, extended-length, sport utility vehicle driven by a school district employee certified as an activity driver by the district with both the vehicle and driver insured by the public school insurance authority; provided that the local superintendent is able to demonstrate a need. The department shall adopt rules to provide for the safety of students transported in a sport utility vehicle pursuant to this section.

E. Exceptional children whose handicaps require transportation and three- and four-year-old children who meet the department-approved criteria and definition of developmentally disabled may be transported a lesser distance than that provided in Subsection B of this section.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-14-4, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 222; 1975, ch. 342, § 4; 1987, ch. 149, § 3; 1993, ch. 234, § 1; 1995, ch. 208, § 7; 2017, ch. 94, § 1.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, authorized certain school districts to transport certain students to and from school by means of a six-passenger sport utility vehicle; in Subsection B, after "Subsections C and", deleted "D" and added "E"; in Subsection C, after the first occurrence of "department", deleted "of education", and after "approval of the", deleted "state board" and added "department"; added a new Subsection D and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection E; and in Subsection E, after "children who meet the", deleted "state board-approved" and added "department-approved".

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, substituted "established by the local school district" for "approved annually" in Subsection A, deleted "approved or" preceding "maintained" in Subsection B, inserted "of the department of education" in Subsection C, and deleted former Subsections E, F and G relating to bus routes serving less than ten students.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection C, deleted "extremely" preceding "hazardous" near the beginning, added "General" at the beginning of the second sentence and added the language beginning "but the standards" at the end of the second sentence.