BILL NUMBER: SB 590 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2013
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 amended, 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,
under which local educational agencies, as defined, would
be authorized to set aside funding for professional development and
training related to common core standards and school safety
for classified school employees, as defined, from funding
available for professional development, as specified. The bill
would require a local educational agency to meet certain requirements
as a condition of spending any of the funds, including, among
others, developing a plan to accelerate pupils' progress to academic
proficiency. The bill would authorize the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to restrict a local educational agency from spending the
funds if the Superintendent determines that the local educational
agency fails to meet the requirements.
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 related
to common core standards and school safety 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 reduce 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 related to
common core standards and school safety 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.
45394. (a) As a condition of spending any of the funds set aside
for professional development and training related to common core
standards and school safety for classified school employees pursuant
to Section 45393, a local educational agency shall meet all of the
following requirements:
(1) The local educational agency has a plan, developed in
conjunction with parents and teachers, to accelerate pupils' progress
to academic proficiency. The plan shall include both of the
following:
(A) Measurable metrics to improve pupil performance, close the
academic achievement gap, increase college entrance rates, and
increase career readiness.
(B) An explanation of the manner in which the objectives of the
professional development and training will be met.
(2) The governing body of the local educational agency, at a
regularly scheduled public meeting, has approved the plan and
developed corresponding policies in support of the plan.
(3) The annual evaluation of the performance of the superintendent
of the local educational agency is linked to the pupil performance
goals specified in paragraph (1).
(4) The local educational agency demonstrates a pattern of
stability between management and the bargaining units.
(5) There is community support for the plan.
(6) The local educational agency has surveyed parents and legal
guardians in the district to gauge support for participation in the
program. At least one-half of the permanent teachers and one-half of
the surveyed parents or legal guardians in the district support
participation in the program, and that support is demonstrated in
writing.
(b) At a minimum, the Superintendent shall consider the quality
and rigor of the manner in which the local educational agency meets
the requirements specified in subdivision (a).
(c) If the Superintendent determines that a local educational
agency fails to meet the requirements specified in subdivision (a),
the Superintendent may restrict the local educational agency from
spending the funds set aside pursuant to Section 45393.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing new
mandates on local educational agencies.