A local school board shall have the following powers or duties:
A. subject to the regulations of the department, develop educational policies for the school district.
B. employ a superintendent of schools for the school district and fix his salary.
C. review and approve the school budget.
D. acquire, lease and dispose of property.
E. have capacity to sue and be sued.
F. acquire property by eminent domain as pursuant to the procedures provided in the Eminent Domain Code.
G. issue general obligation bonds of the school district.
H. provide for the repair of and maintain all property belonging to the school district.
I. for good cause and upon order of the district court, subpoena witnesses and documents in connection with a hearing concerning any powers or duties of the local school board.
J. except for expenditures for salaries, contract for the expenditure of money according to the provisions of the Procurement Code.
K. adopt rules pertaining to the administration of all powers or duties of the local school board.
L. accept or reject any charitable gift, grant, devise, or bequest. The particular gift, grant, devise, or bequest accepted shall be considered an asset of the district or the public school to which it is given, and
M. offer and, upon compliance with the conditions of such offer, to pay rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction, or other appropriate disciplinary disposition by the courts or juvenile authorities, of offenders in case of theft, defacement, or destruction of local school district property. All such rewards shall be paid from school district funds in accordance with rules promulgated by the department; and
N. give prior approval for any educational program in a public school in the school district that is to be conducted, sponsored, carried on or caused to be carried on by a private organization or agency.

The Public Education Regulation concerning local school board duties are as follows:

6.30.2.10 PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS

A. The local board of education shall:
(1) exercise powers and duties pursuant to the Public School Code and public school regulations, Section 22-1-1 et seq. NMSA 1978, and other applicable regulations;
(2) approve and support the district’s EPSS and each school site-level EPSS action plan;
(3) employ and evaluate the local superintendent;
(4) ensure that each member of the board participates in a planned program of training which will assist in the performance of specified duties. All local school board members must receive a total of five hours of annual training.
(a) For newly elected or appointed local school board members who are in office for less than a year, they shall receive three of the five hours from attending a training course developed by the public education department (“PED”) and sponsored by the New Mexico School Boards Association (“NMSBA”). This course shall be offered no later than three months after a local school board election. The PED will periodically announce the dates of these courses which will cover numerous topics including PED policies and procedures, statutory powers and duties of local boards, legal concepts pertaining to public schools, finance and budget. For the additional two hours of annual training for these new board members, these board members shall attend sessions sponsored by the NMSBA, approved by the PED.
(b) For all existing local school board members, they shall attend five hours of annual training sponsored by the NMSBA, approved by the PED.
(c) In order to be credited with attendance at these courses, each attendee must comply with written attendance procedures established by the PED. Prior to September 1st, the NMSBA shall provide each local superintendent with a list of training hours earned annually by each local school board member.
(5) delegate administrative and supervisory functions to the local superintendent;
(6) refrain from involvement in delegated administrative functions;
(7) review, revise as needed, and submit policies to PED on an annual basis;
(8) award diplomas to students who have successfully completed graduation requirements;
(9) ensure the alignment of district curricula with Content Standards with Benchmarks;
(10) ensure that district funds are appropriately managed and disbursed;
(11) be responsible for oversight of revenue and expenditures within the district budget;
(12) accept responsibility for ensuring the success of each school in the district.