BILL NUMBER: SB 1378 CHAPTERED 07/18/08 CHAPTER 143 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 18, 2008 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 18, 2008 PASSED THE SENATE MAY 8, 2008 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2008 INTRODUCED BY Senator Dutton (Principal coauthors: Senators Romero, Torlakson, and Wyland) FEBRUARY 21, 2008 An act to add Section 41533 to the Education Code, relating to teachers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1378, Dutton. Teachers: professional development. Existing law establishes the professional development block grant and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion block grant funds to a school district in the same relative statewide proportion that the school district received in the 2003-04 fiscal year for specified staff development programs. A school district may expend these funds for any purpose authorized by those programs. Among the purposes for which these funds may be expended are staff development instructional methods, including teaching strategies, classroom management and other training designed to improve pupil performance, conflict resolution, intolerance and hatred prevention, and academic content in the core curriculum areas. This bill would authorize a school district that receives a professional development block grant to offer to each of its teachers 2 hours of staff development in the prevention of youth suicide. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Jason Flatt Act of 2008. SEC. 2. Section 41533 is added to the Education Code, to read: 41533. A school district that receives a grant pursuant to this article may expend a portion of those funds to provide to each of its teachers two hours of training in the prevention of youth suicide. The training provided pursuant to this section shall not exceed two hours, and may occur during a regularly scheduled inservice training day.