Connor, the committee's rules staff, briefed members on a proposed revision to New Mexico Administrative Code 6.29.1 to align PED rules with 2024 legislation on graduation requirements and board/charter governance training.

He explained that the 2024 legislature eliminated the statutory demonstrations of competency as a graduation requirement and that the rule change would remove the duplication in rule language. "With the passage of the graduation requirements bill in the 2024 session, those demonstrations of competency were eliminated," Connor said, and the proposed rule would make diploma eligibility depend on course-completion pathways rather than a final competency demonstration.

Connor said the department is proposing to streamline programs of study so most students follow a standard program and those students determined by their IEP team to have significant cognitive disabilities can follow the ability program. He emphasized the rule does not change IEP authority; staff clarified that the revision "affirm[s] that the IEP team is the person responsible for determining" graduation-pathway placement.

A second key change is rule-language aligning the statewide assessment system with practice by recognizing screening and diagnostic assessments in earlier grades; Connor noted the rule-language change to k–12 was intended to reflect tests already administered (for example, Istation for K–2). Committee members asked how screening tools would be used and whether early-grade tools would be treated uniformly across districts; staff said the rule aligns language with practice and does not create a new testing requirement.

Public comment on the proposed rule has been extended to January 10, 2025. Connor said the department will return with any substantive changes after the comment period and stand ready to answer follow-up questions from committee members about assessment comparability and IEP implementation.