Support New Mexico School Nurses Association Legislation House Bill 195
We need your voice. Help us support legislation for a state standardized minimum level of pay for level 1, level 2, and level 3 NMPED school nurse licensure and receive an annual stipend for those that have achieved their NCSN certification. This will mirror the pay structure that school teachers, counselors, and school administrators receive and will help us in not being left behind as they receive pay raises in the future. They are currently looking at an increase to Level one $55K, Level 2 $65K, Level 3 $75k. The National Certification Stipend for teachers is currently $9362.51 annually. We need you to email your local state representative and ask them to support
House Bill 195- School Nurse Salary Tiers and MInimums . Here are just three easy steps to find your representative's email address and send the email template below. If you have any questions please email me at
nmsna.legislation@gmail.com Thank you for your support.
Step two: Copy and paste or type in your representative's email address into your email address bar. Under the title of the email copy and paste or type: Support New Mexico School Nurses Association Legislation House Bill 195.
Step three: Copy and paste the message below into the body of the email, changing the (BOLD INFORMATION IN PARENTHESES) to your own information.
Hello Representative (REPRESENTATIVES NAME),
I am (YOUR NAME and TITLE HERE) a licensed, professional school nurse at (DISTRICTS NAME HERE) and a constituent within your district. I am contacting you to make you aware of and request your support for HB 195 SCHOOL NURSE SALARY TIERS & MINIMUMS. This bill supports schools and nurses in New Mexico by amending state statute to provide school nurses the same 3-tiered pay scale and support for professional certification that educators, school counselors, and school administrators enjoy.
In 2024, the New Mexico School Nurses Association (NMSNA) surveyed the number and location of school nurses throughout the state regarding their compensation, the current pay system for nurses within their districts, how many held professional certification (National Certified School Nurse or NSCN), and if their district recognized that certification. Our data in this infographic or data table shows that larger school districts provide a comparable 3-tiered pay scale for School Nurses similar to or exactly the same as teachers, and provide a stipend and varying levels of recognition for professional certification (NCSN). We are looking to standardize this for all districts to provide parity and baseline pay to all New Mexico School Nurses.This data demonstrates the need for HB 195 to place professional school nurses (RN's) on an equitable, standardized level of compensation, mirroring teachers, and regulated by the state of New Mexico.
Our licensed teacher and school counselor colleagues have this regulation in place from previously passed bills SB0001 2022 and HB0181 2023. HB 195 would offer professional school nurses the same 3-tiered teacher pay scale and national certification stipend that educators presently receive. School counselors are included in wording of this bill at the level 3 licensure.
School Nurses play a vital role in increasing student attendance, supporting student mental health, and managing student wellness. By supporting school nurses, we ensure that students are healthy, safe and ready to learn each day. This bill HB 195 will ensure that New Mexico remains competitive in retaining and attracting school nurses that are essential to our school communities.
Thank you for representing and supporting school nurses and students across the state.
Survey data links are below:
Infographic with individual districts: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=19X8R8K8uiRgT4h0jxetuC-ddifMGhTE&usp=sharing
Spreadsheet Data Table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NtfFCGjHKoDYgIKUVnz_QgrTvfcI7uAV5JYUcPp_G9A/edit?usp=sharing