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.
(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 723, Sec. 1. (SB 590) Effective January 1, 2014.)
(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 for at-promise 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.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 800, Sec. 10. (AB 413) Effective January 1, 2020.)