Senate Bill No. 590

Introduced by Senator De León

February 22, 2013

An act to add Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 45390) to Chapter 5 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school personnel.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 590, as introduced, De León. School personnel: Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training Program.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district to grant any classified employee a leave of absence not to exceed one year, as provided, for the purpose of permitting study by the employee or for the purpose of retraining the employee to meet changing conditions within the district. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to grant reimbursement of the costs, including tuition fees, to a permanent classified employee who satisfactorily completes approved training to improve his or her job knowledge, ability, or skill.

This bill would establish the Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training Program. Under the Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training Program, local educational agencies, as defined, would be authorized to set aside funding for professional development and training for classified school employees, as defined, from funding available for professional development, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 45390) is
added to Chapter 5 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

 

Article 9.5.  Classified School Employee Staff Development
and Training Program

 

45390.  

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training
Program.

45391.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Classified employees play a vital role in the education of
our pupils and students in our public schools and community
colleges. They do the essential work that keeps our campuses safe,
clean, and well maintained so that our pupils and students can get
to school, focus on learning, and succeed at their highest levels.

(b) Because classified employees are on the front lines working
to ensure the safety and care of pupils and students on our
campuses, they need professional development and training to
update their skills and to learn the best practices for vital education
programs, including campus safety, academic achievement and
curriculum standards, special education, health care, child nutrition,
pupil transportation, environmental safety, and parental
involvement.

(c) Funding for classified employee training comes from state,
federal, and local funds, including all of the following:

(1) Chapter 313 of the Statutes of 1998 created the Instructional
Time and Staff Development Reform Program to provide funding
for staff development for classified school employees, and specified
that school districts would be provided one hundred forty dollars
($140) per day for each participating classified school employee.
This program has been block granted into the professional
development block grant as enacted by Chapter 871 of the Statutes
of 2004.

(2) Under Section 1116(c)(7)(A)(iii) of Title I of the federal
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
6301 et seq.), a local educational agency that has been identified
for school improvement must reserve and use 10 percent of its
allocation under the act for professional development activities.

(3) Other state, federal, or local funding initiatives for
professional development.

45392.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that a portion of the
total funding for staff development from state, federal, or local
funds be set aside for professional development training for
classified school employees to update their skills and learn about
best practices for any of the following:

(a) Pupil learning and achievement: training for
paraprofessionals to assist teachers and administrators to improve
the academic achievement of pupils, training to ensure the
curriculum frameworks and instructional materials aligned to the
state academic standards, training in the management and use of
state and local pupil data to improve pupil learning, and training
on the best practices in the appropriate interventions and assistance
to at-risk pupils.

(b) Pupil and campus safety: training and staff development in
the latest and best practices for pupil safety and campus safety.

(c) Education technology: the management strategies and best
practices regarding the use of educational technology to improve
pupil performance.

(d) School facility maintenance and operations: new research
and best practices in the operations and maintenance of school
facilities, including green technology and energy efficiency that
help reduces the use and the costs of energy at schoolsites.

(e) Special education: training and staff development on the
best practices to meet the needs of special education pupils and to
comply with any new state and federal mandates.

(f) School transportation and bus safety: training and staff
development on the best practices and standards for pupil
transportation.

(g) Parent involvement: training and staff development to
enhance the ability of a school to increase parent involvement at
schoolsites.

(h) Food service: training and staff development in new research
and findings for food preparation to provide nutritional meals and
food management.

(i) Health and nursing standards: training and staff development
on the latest and best practices for pupil health care needs.

(j) Environmental safety: training and staff development on
pesticides and other possibly toxic substances so they may safely
be used on campus.

45393.  

(a) The Classified School Employee Staff Development
and Training Program is hereby established. From funding
available for professional development, local educational agencies
may set aside funding for professional development and training
for classified school employees.

(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(1) “Classified school employee” means a person employed on
a full-time or a part-time basis as a classified school employee at
a community college, a public school, a charter school, or a county
office of education.

(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, a county
office of education, a charter school, or a community college
district.