As used in the Education Technology Equipment Act:

Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 6-15A-3

  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.

A. “debt” means an obligation payable from ad valorem property tax revenues or the general fund of a school district and that may be secured by the full faith and credit of a school district and a pledge of its taxing powers;

B. “department” means the public education department;

C. “education technology equipment” means tools used in the educational process that constitute learning and administrative resources and may include:

(1)     closed-circuit television systems; educational television and radio broadcasting; cable television, satellite, copper and fiber-optic transmission; computer network connection devices; digital communications equipment (voice, video and data); servers; switches; portable media such as discs and drives to contain data for electronic storage and playback; and purchase or lease of software licenses or other technologies and services, maintenance, equipment and computer infrastructure information, techniques and tools used to implement technology in schools and related facilities;

(2)     improvements, alterations and modifications to, or expansions of, existing buildings, including teacher housing, or personal property necessary or advisable to house or otherwise accommodate any of the tools listed in Paragraph (1) of this subsection; and

(3)     expenditures for technical support and training expenses of school district employees who administer education technology projects funded by a lease-purchase arrangement and may include training by contractors;

D. “eligible charter school” means a locally chartered or state-chartered charter school located within the geographic boundaries of a school district:

(1)     that timely provides the information necessary to identify the lease- purchase education technology equipment needed in the charter school to be included in the local school board resolution for lease-purchase of education technology equipment; and

(2)     for which the proposed lease-purchase of education technology equipment is included in the school district’s approved technology master plan;

E. “lease-purchase arrangement” means a financing arrangement constituting debt of a school district pursuant to which periodic lease payments composed of principal and interest components are to be paid to the holder of the lease-purchase arrangement and pursuant to which the owner of the education technology equipment may retain title to or a security interest in the equipment and may agree to release the security interest or transfer title to the equipment to the school district for nominal consideration after payment of the final periodic lease payment. “Lease-purchase arrangement” also means any debt of the school district incurred for the purpose of acquiring education technology equipment pursuant to the Education Technology Equipment Act whether designated as a general obligation lease, note or other instrument evidencing a debt of the school district;

F. “local school board” means the governing body of a school district; and

G. “school district” means an area of land established as a political subdivision of the state for the administration of public schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding purposes.