Amended in Assembly August 14, 2013

Amended in Assembly July 3, 2013

Amended in Senate May 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 23, 2013

Senate BillNo. 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: professional development for classified employees.

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 require a local educational agency, if it expends funds for professional developmentbegin insert for any schoolsite staffend insert, to consider the needs of its classified school employees, as defined, to update their skills and to learn best practices in various optional areas, including, among others, pupil learning and achievement,begin insert pupil andend insert campus safety, and special education.

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

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

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

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

4 

5Article 9.5.  Professional Development for Classified School
6Employees
7

 

8

45390.  

The Legislature finds and declaresbegin delete bothend deletebegin insert allend insert of the
9following:

10(a) Classified school employees play a vital role in the education
11of our pupils and students in our public schools and community
12colleges. They do the essential work that keeps our campuses safe,
13 clean, and well maintained so that our pupils and students can get
14to school, focus on learning, and succeed at their highest levels.

15(b) Because classified school employees are on the front lines
16working to ensure the safety and care of pupils and students on
17our campuses, they need professional development and training
18to update their skills and to learn the best practices for vital
19education programs, including campus safety, academic
20achievement and curriculum standards, special education, health
21care, child nutrition, pupil transportation, environmental safety,
22and parental involvement.

begin insert

23(c) Teachers and administrators serving pupils in kindergarten
24and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, play vital roles in supporting a
25pupil’s ability to achieve academically, and providing professional
26development training to teachers and administrators is essential
27to this goal.

end insert
28

45391.  

(a)  If a local educational agency expends funds for
29professional developmentbegin insert for any schoolsite staffend insert, the local
30educational agency shall consider the needs of its classified school
31employees.

32(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
33following meanings:

34(1) “Classified school employee” means a person employed on
35a full-time or a part-time basis as a classified school employee at
P3    1a community college, a public school, a charter school, or a county
2office of education.

3(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, a county
4office of education, a charter school, or a community college
5district.

6(c) Professional development training for classified school
7employees to update their skills and to learn best practices may
8include, but is not limited to, any of the following:

9(1) Pupil learning and achievement, including all of the
10following:

11(A) Training for paraprofessionals to assist teachers and
12administrators to improve the academic achievement of pupils.

13(B) Training to ensure the curriculum frameworks and
14instructional materials are aligned to the common core standards.

15(C) Training in the management and use of state and local pupil
16data to improve pupil learning.

17(D) Training on the best practices in the appropriate
18interventions and assistance to at-risk pupils.

19(2) Pupil and campus safety, including training and staff
20development in the latest and best practices for pupil safety and
21campus safety.

22(3) Education technology, including management strategies and
23best practices regarding the use of education technology to improve
24pupil performance.

25(4) School facility maintenance and operations, including new
26research and best practices in the operation and maintenance of
27school facilities, such as green technology and energy efficiency,
28that help reduce the use and the cost of energy at schoolsites.

29(5) Special education, including training and staff development
30on the best practices to meet the needs of special education pupils,
31and to comply with any new state and federal mandates.

32(6) School transportation and bus safety, including training and
33staff development on the best practices and standards for pupil
34transportation.

35(7) Parent involvement, including training and staff development
36to enhance the ability of a school to increase parent involvement
37at schoolsites.

38(8) Food service, including training and staff development on
39new research and findings for food preparation to provide
40nutritional meals and food management.

P4    1(9) Health, counseling, and nursing services, including training
2and staff development on the latest and best practices for pupil
3health care and counseling needs.

4(10) Environmental safety, including training and staff
5development on pesticides and other possibly toxic substances so
6that they may be safely used at schoolsites.

begin insert
7

begin insert45392.end insert  

Nothing in this article prohibits a local educational
8agency from providing professional development to teachers and
9administrators.

end insert


O

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