Amended in Senate May 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 23, 2013

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 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 which local educational agencies, as defined, would be begin delete authorized end delete begin insert required end insert to set aside begin insert a portion of the total end insert funding begin insert received end insert for professional development begin delete and training related to common core standards and school safety end delete begin insert from end insert begin insert state end insert begin insert and federal sources, end insert for classified school employees, as defined, begin delete from funding available for professional development, as specified. end delete begin insert to update their skills and to learn best practices in various areas, including, among others, pupil learning and achievement, campus safety, and special education. end insert 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 begin insert local end insert 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 begin insert , and to provide guidance on approved training programs end insert .

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.

begin delete

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 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.

end delete

begin delete 45393. end delete
begin insert 45392. end insert   

(a) The Classified School Employee Staff Development
and Training Program is hereby established. From funding
available for professional development, local educational agencies
begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert set aside funding for professional development begin delete and
training related to common core standards and school safety end delete 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.

begin insert

(c) A portion of the total funding for staff development from
state or federal funds shall be set aside for professional
development training for classified school employees to update
their skills and to learn best practices for any of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) Pupil learning and achievement, including all of the
following:

end insert begin insert

(A) Training for paraprofessionals to assist teachers and
administrators to improve the academic achievement of pupils.

end insert begin insert

(B) Training to ensure the curriculum frameworks and
instructional materials are aligned to the common core standards.

end insert begin insert

(C) Training in the management and use of state and local pupil
data to improve pupil learning.

end insert begin insert

(D) Training on the best practices in the appropriate
interventions and assistance to at-risk pupils.

end insert begin insert

(2) Pupil and campus safety, including training and staff
development in the latest and best practices for pupil safety and
campus safety.

end insert begin insert

(3) Education technology, including management strategies
and best practices regarding the use of education technology to
improve pupil performance.

end insert begin insert

(4) School facility maintenance and operations, including new
research and best practices in the operation and maintenance of
school facilities, such as green technology and energy efficiency,
that help reduce the use and the cost of energy at schoolsites.

end insert begin insert

(5) Special education, including 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.

end insert begin insert

(6) School transportation and bus safety, including training and
staff development on the best practices and standards for pupil
transportation.

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

(8) Food service, including training and staff development on
new research and findings for food preparation to provide
nutritional meals and food management.

end insert begin insert

(9) Health, counseling, and nursing services, including training
and staff development on the latest and best practices for pupil
health care and counseling needs.

end insert begin insert

(10) Environmental safety, including training and staff
development on pesticides and other possibly toxic substances so
that they may be safely used at schoolsites.

end insert

begin delete 45394. end delete
begin insert 45393. end insert   

(a) As a condition of spending any of the funds set
aside for professional development and training begin delete related to common
core standards and school safety end delete for classified school employees
pursuant to Section begin delete 45393 end delete begin insert 45392 end insert , a local educational agency shall
meet all of the following requirements:

(1) The local educational agency has a begin insert local end insert plan, developed in
conjunction with parents and begin delete teachers, end delete begin insert classified staff, end insert to accelerate
pupils’ progress to academic proficiency. The plan shall include
begin delete both of the following: end delete

begin delete

(A) Measurable metrics to improve pupil performance, close
the academic achievement gap, increase college entrance rates,
and increase career readiness.

end delete

begin delete (B) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete An end delete begin insert an end insert 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.

begin delete

(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).

end delete begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  The local educational agency begin delete demonstrates a pattern of
stability between management and the end delete begin insert consults with the classified end insert
bargaining units.

begin delete

(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).

end delete begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  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 begin delete 45393 end delete begin insert 45392,
with emphasis on paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section
45392 end insert .

begin insert

(c) The Superintendent may provide guidance on approved
training programs.

end insert

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing new
mandates on local educational agencies.