Staff Development

The Board of Education recognizes that classified staff does essential work that supports a healthy school environment and the educational program. Classified staff shall have opportunities to participate in staff development activities in order to improve job skills, learn best practices, retrain as appropriate in order to meet changing conditions in the district, and/or enhance personal growth. The Superintendent or designee shall involve classified staff, site and district administrators, and others, as appropriate, in the development of the district's staff development program. They shall ensure that the district's staff development program is aligned with district goals, school improvement objectives, the local control and accountability plan, and other district and school plans. Staff development may address general workplace skills and/or skills and knowledge specific to the duties of each classified position, including, but not limited to, the following topics: (Education Code 45391) - Student learning and achievement - How paraprofessionals can assist teachers and administrators to improve the academic achievement of students - Alignment of curriculum and instructional materials with Common Core State Standards - The management and use of state and local student data to improve student learning - Best practices in appropriate interventions and assistance to at-risk students - Student and campus safety - Education technology, including management strategies and best practices regarding the use of education technology to improve student performance - School facility maintenance and operations, including best practices in the operation and maintenance of school facilities, such as green technology and energy efficiency, that help reduce the use and cost of energy at school sites - Special education, including best practices to meet the needs of special education students and to comply with any new state and federal mandates - School transportation and bus safety - Parent involvement, including ways to increase parent involvement at school sites - Food service, including food preparation to provide nutritional meals, food safety, and food management - Health, counseling, and nursing services - Environmental safety, including pesticides and other possibly toxic substances so that they may be safely used at school sites For classroom instructional aides or other classified staff involved in direct instruction of students, staff development activities may also include academic content of the core curriculum, teaching strategies, classroom management, or other training designed to improve student performance, conflict resolution, and relationships among students. Such professional learning opportunities shall be evaluated based on criteria specified in Education Code 44277 and BP 4131 - Staff Development. The district's staff evaluation process may be used to recommend additional individualized staff development for individual employees. The Superintendent or designee shall provide a means for continual evaluation of the benefit of staff development activities to staff and the district and shall regularly report to the Board regarding the effectiveness of the staff development program.