Amended in Assembly July 3, 2013

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: begin delete Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training Program. end delete begin insert professional development for classified employees. end insert

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 begin delete establish the Classified School Employee Staff Development and Training Program under which local educational agencies, as defined, would be required to set aside a portion of the total funding received for professional development from state and federal sources, for end delete begin insert require a local educational agency, if it expends funds for professional development, to consider the needs of its end insert classified school employees, as defined, to update their skills and to learn best practices in various begin insert optional end insert areas, including, among others, pupil learning and achievement, campus safety, and special education. begin delete 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 local 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, and to provide guidance on approved training programs. end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . 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.  begin delete Classified School Employee Staff Development
and Training Program end delete begin insert Professional Development for Classified
School Employees end insert

 

begin delete

45390.  

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

end delete

begin delete 45391. end delete
begin insert 45390. end insert   

The Legislature finds and declares begin delete all end delete begin insert both end insert of the
following:

(a) Classified begin insert school end insert 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 begin insert school end insert 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.

begin delete

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

end delete begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

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

end delete

begin delete 45392. end delete
begin insert 45391. end insert   

(a)  begin delete The Classified School Employee Staff Development
and Training Program is hereby established. From funding
available for professional development, local educational agencies
shall set aside funding for professional development for end delete begin insert If a local
educational agency expends funds for professional development,
the local educational agency shall consider the needs of its end insert
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.

(c)  begin delete A portion of the total funding for staff development from
state or federal funds shall be set aside for professional end delete begin insert Professional end insert
development training for classified school employees to update
their skills and to learn best practices begin delete for end delete begin insert may include, but is not
limited to, end insert any of the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(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.

(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.

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

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

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

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

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

begin delete

45393.  

(a) As a condition of spending any of the funds set
aside for professional development and training for classified
school employees pursuant to Section 45392, a local educational
agency shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1) The local educational agency has a local plan, developed in
conjunction with parents and classified staff, to accelerate pupils’
progress to academic proficiency. The plan shall includean
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 local educational agency consults with the classified
bargaining units.

(b) 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 45392, with
emphasis on paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 45392.

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

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

end delete