Existing law establishes the professional development block grant and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion block grant funds to a school district in the same relative statewide proportion that the school district received in the 2003–04 fiscal year for specified staff development programs. A school district may expend these funds for any purpose authorized by those programs. Among the purposes for which these funds may be expended are staff development instructional methods, including teaching strategies, classroom management and other training designed to improve pupil performance, conflict resolution, intolerance and hatred prevention, and academic content in the core curriculum areas.
This bill would authorize
a school district that receives a professional development block grant to offer to each of its teachers 2 hours of staff development in the prevention of youth suicide.