SB 590, De León. School personnel: professional development for classified school 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 development for any schoolsite staff, 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, pupil and campus safety, and special education.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
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:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Classified school 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 school 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) Teachers and administrators serving pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, play vital roles in supporting a pupil’s ability to achieve academically, and providing professional development training to teachers and administrators is essential to this goal.
(a) If a local educational agency expends funds for professional development for any schoolsite staff, the local educational agency shall consider the needs of its 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) Professional development training for classified school employees to update their skills and to learn best practices may include, but is not limited to, 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.
Nothing in this article prohibits a local educational agency from providing professional development to teachers and administrators.
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