HF 3623

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education finance; authorizing school boards to spend staff
development revenue on CPR and automatic external defibrillator training;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 122A.60, subdivision 1a; 122A.61,
subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.60, subdivision 1a, is amended to
read:

Subd. 1a.

Effective staff development activities.

(a) Staff development activities
must:

(1) focus on the school classroom and research-based strategies that improve student
learning;

(2) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional
skills over time;

(3) provide opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work
to increase student achievement;

(4) enhance teacher content knowledge and instructional skills;

(5) align with state and local academic standards;

(6) provide opportunities to build professional relationships, foster collaboration
among principals and staff who provide instruction, and provide opportunities for
teacher-to-teacher mentoring; and

(7) align with the plan of the district or site for an alternative teacher professional
pay system.

Staff development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum training
programs, deleted text begin and deleted text end activities that provide teachers and other members of site-based teams
training to enhance team performance new text begin , and basic first aid, focusing on CPR and the use
of automatic external defibrillators new text end . The school district also may implement other staff
development activities required by law and activities associated with professional teacher
compensation models.

(b) Release time provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school
activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher's knowledge
and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating grades, or organizing
classroom materials, may not be counted as staff development time that is financed with
staff development reserved revenue under section 122A.61.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.61, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Staff development revenue.

A district is required to reserve
an amount equal to at least two percent of the basic revenue under section 126C.10,
subdivision 2, for in-service education for programs under section 120B.22, subdivision
2, for staff development plans, including plans for challenging instructional activities
and experiences under section 122A.60, and for curriculum development and programs,
other in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, the cost of
substitute teachers staff development purposes, preservice and in-service education for
special education professionals and paraprofessionals, and other related costs for staff
development efforts. A district may annually waive the requirement to reserve their basic
revenue under this section if a majority vote of the licensed teachers in the district and
a majority vote of the school board agree to a resolution to waive the requirement. A
district in statutory operating debt is exempt from reserving basic revenue according to
this section. Districts may expend an additional amount of unreserved revenue for staff
development based on their needs. With the exception of amounts reserved for staff
development from revenues allocated directly to school sites new text begin and any amounts spent for
CPR and automatic external defibrillator training new text end , the board must initially allocate 50
percent of the new text begin remaining new text end reserved revenue to each school site in the district on a per
teacher basis, which must be retained by the school site until used. The board may
retain 25 percent to be used for district wide staff development efforts. The remaining
25 percent of the revenue must be used to make grants to school sites for best practices
methods. A grant may be used for any purpose authorized under section 120B.22,
subdivision 2, 122A.60, or for the costs of curriculum development and programs, other
in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, substitute teachers for
staff development purposes, and other staff development efforts, and determined by
the site professional development team. The site professional development team must
demonstrate to the school board the extent to which staff at the site have met the outcomes
of the program. The board may withhold a portion of initial allocation of revenue if the
staff development outcomes are not being met.