Trainings Offered

Trainings Offered

Section 6.80.5 of the New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) requires all charter school governing board members to receive training. Please note that there are differences in training requirements in hours and formats for new and continuing board members, to see these please visit the Charter School Board page.

New and continuing governing board members can complete their training in an asynchronous, self-paced course in a learning environment called Canvas. This training may only be accessed through the Charter Schools Division of the New Mexico Public Education Department. To be signed up please request by emailing charter.schools@ped.nm.gov and including your full name and the name of the school board on which you serve. Continuing Governing Board Members must be signed up for Canvas every year.

Continuing Board Members Training can additionally be done in any of the following ways, or a combination along with the asynchronous training:

1. Synchronous. Live Zoom trainings offered monthly. To select a time and register for trainings please click here.
   For a PDF version of the schedule please see the 2026-2027 Governing Board Training Schedule and the Charter School Training Descriptions for more details about each type of session.
2. Public Charter Schools of New Mexico Trainings.
3. National Charter School’s Conferences.
4. Other approved training providers.

Please note: All trainings offered by CSD are free of charge and open to the public. Notice of cancellation, if necessary, will be given no less than 24 hours in advance of the course.

Training Providers

To become an approved board trainer, review the Charter School Governing Body Training Areas and Recommended Standards and then email an Application to Provide Continuing Governing Board Member Training to charter.schools@ped.nm.gov. The application will be reviewed and scored according to the Governing Board Application-Rubric and Evaluation Tool.

New Application Training

New Application Trainings are designed for teams that have submitted a Notice of Intent in January and intend to submit an application for a new charter school by June. This training will prepare candidates for the application submission process. The are not repeat sessions; each session builds off the prior session. New Application training will be scheduled between January and May, 2025.

Renewal Application Training

Renewal Application Training is intended for schools whose contracts expire at the end of the next school year. The school should begin preparing parts of the renewal packet no later than spring of the prior school year. Completed renewal applications are due by October 1. The trainings are not repeat sessions; each session builds off the prior session. Renewal Application trainings for schools whose contracts end June 30, 2026, will be scheduled February to April, 2026.

Implementation Year Training

Implementation Year Training is to assist schools in their planning year (i.e., their application was approved but the PEC has not yet approved them to commence operations). Participants learn about and work on school policies, procedures, legal requirements, etc. in order to complete all the tasks necessary to open a school. There are three submission deadlines (November, March, and May) and a checklist of items that must be completed by those dates. These trainings, which take place between December and March, are mandatory for all PEC – approved applicant schools.