425      STAFF DEVELOPMENT

 

 

I.          PURPOSE

 

The purpose of this policy is to establish a staff development program and structure to carry out planning and reporting on staff development that supports improved student learning.

  

II.        ADVISORY STAFF DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND SITE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

 

A.        The School Board will establish an Advisory Staff Development Committee to develop a Staff Development Plan, assist Site Professional Development Teams in developing a site plan consistent with the goals of the Staff Development Plan, and evaluate staff development efforts at the site level.

 

1.         The majority of the membership of the Advisory Staff Development Committee shall consist of teachers representing various grade levels, subject areas, and special education. The Committee also may include administrators, non-teaching staff, parents and board members.

 

2.         Members of the Advisory Staff Development Committee shall be approved by the School Board.  The School Board shall approve replacement members of the Advisory Staff Development Committee as soon as possible following the resignation, death, serious illness or removal of a member from the Committee.

 

B.         The School Board will establish the Site Professional Development Teams.

 

1.                  Members of the Site Professional Development Teams will be approved by the School Board. The School Board shall approve replacement members of the Site Professional Development Teams as soon as possible following the resignation, death, serious illness or removal of a member from the Team.

 

2.                  The majority of the Site Professional Development Teams shall be teachers representing various grade levels, subject areas and special education.

 

                        3.         Membership of the Staff Development Committee will consist of 10 teachers (4 PE, 3 HS, 2 MS, 1 ALC) 4 Administrators, 1 Paraprofessional or Non-Teaching Staff, 1 Parent and 1 School Board Representative.

 

III.       DUTIES OF THE ADVISORY STAFF DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

A.        The Advisory Staff Development Committee will develop a Staff Development Plan.  The plan for the next school year shall be presented to the School Board by June 30th of the current school year to be reviewed and subject to approval by the School Board.

 

B.         The Staff Development Plan must contain the following elements:

 

1.         Staff development outcomes which are consistent with the education outcomes as may be determined periodically by the School Board;  Educational outcomes are listed in handbooks and other printed material.

 

2.         The means to achieve the Staff Development outcomes;

 

3.         The procedures for evaluating progress at each school site toward meeting educational outcomes;

 

4.         Ongoing staff development activities that contribute toward continuous improvement in achievement of the following goals:

 

a.         Improve student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas of the curriculum by using best practices methods;

 

b.         Effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk children, children with disabilities, and gifted children, within the regular classroom and other settings;

 

c.         Provide an inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse student population that is consistent with state education diversity rule and the district’s education diversity plan;

 

d.         Improve staff collaboration and develop mentoring and peer coaching programs for teachers new to the school or district;

 

e.         Effectively teach and model violence prevention policy and curriculum that address early intervention alternatives, issues of harassment, and teach nonviolent alternatives for conflict resolution; and

 

f.          Provide teachers and other members of site-based management teams with appropriate management and financial management skills.

 

C.        The Advisory Staff Development Committee will assist Site Professional Development Teams in developing a site plan consistent with the goals and outcomes of the Staff Development Plan.

 

D.        The Advisory Staff Development Committee will evaluate staff development efforts at the site level and will report to the School Board by October 15th of each year, the extent to which staffs at the site have met the outcomes of the Staff Development Plan.

 

E.      The Advisory Staff Development Committee shall assist the School District in preparing any reports required by the Department of Education relating to staff development including, but not limited to, the reports referenced in Section VII. below.

  

IV.       DUTIES OF THE SITE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM

 

A.        Each Site Professional Development Team shall develop a site plan, consistent with the goals of the Staff Development Plan. The School Board May review this as part of the District overall Staff Development Plan.

 

B.         The Site Professional Development Team must demonstrate to the School Board the extent to which staffs at the site have met the outcomes of the Staff Development Plan. The actual reports to the School Board can be made by the Advisory Staff Development Committee to avoid duplication of effort.

 

C.        If the School Board determines that staff development outcomes are not being met, it may withhold a portion of the initial allocation of revenue referenced in Section V. below.

  

V.        STAFF DEVELOPMENT FUNDING

 

A.        Unless the School District is in statutory operating debt or a majority of the School District Board and a majority of its licensed teachers vote to waive the requirement to reserve basic revenue for staff development, the School District will reserve an amount equal to at least two percent of its basic revenue for:  in-service education for violence prevention programs to help students learn how to resolve conflicts within their families and communities in non-violent, effective ways; staff development plans; curriculum development and programs; other in-service education; teachers’ workshops; teacher conferences; the cost of substitute teachers for staff development purposes; pre-service and in-service education for special education professionals and paraprofessionals; and other related costs for staff development efforts.

  

 

1.         The School District will allocate 50 percent of the reserved revenue to each school site in the district on a per teacher basis and will retain such funds for each school site until used.

 

2.         The School District will allocate 25 percent of the reserved revenue to make grants to school sites for best practices methods. These grants may be used by the school sites for:  any purpose authorized by Minn. Stat. § 120B.22, Subd. 2, or § 122A.60; 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 determined by the Site Professional Development Team. Criteria used by the School District in awarding best practice staff development grants to sites include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

a.         Grant application includes objectives which have a clear connection to the building/district Staff Development Plan;

 

b.         Grant application includes provisions for discussion, collaborating, informing, and coaching one another on an ongoing basis;

 

c.        Grant application provides for ongoing assessment of professional practice and student performance; and

 

d.         Grant application specifies best practices to be addressed.

 

3.         The School District may retain 25 percent of the revenue to be used for district-wide staff development efforts.

 

B.         The School District may, in its discretion, expend an additional amount of unreserved revenue for staff development based on its needs.  This additional expenditure does not need to follow the allocation described in Part V.A. above.

 

C.        If the School District operates a career teacher program, it may reserve from its basic revenue an amount equal to five dollars ($5) times the number of resident pupil units to provide staff development for the career teacher program.

 

  

VI.       PROCEDURE FOR USE OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT FUNDS

 

A.        On a yearly* basis, the Advisory Staff Development Committee, with the assistance of the Site Professional Development Teams, shall prepare a projected budget setting forth proposals for allocating staff development funds reserved for each school site.  Such budgets shall include, but not be limited to, projections as to the cost of building site training programs, costs of individual staff seminars, and cost of substitutes.

 

B.         Upon approval of the budget by the School Board, the Advisory Committee shall be responsible for monitoring the use of such funds in accordance with the Staff Development Plan and budget. The requested use of staff development funds must meet or make progress toward the goals and objectives of the Staff Development Plan. All costs/expenditures will be reviewed by the School Board and/or Superintendent for consistency with the Staff Development Plan on a quarterly basis.*

 

C.        Individual requests from staff for leave to attend staff development activities shall be submitted and reviewed according to school district policy, staff procedures, contractual agreement, and the effect on school district operations.  Failure to timely submit such requests may be cause for denial of the request.

 

 

VII.     REPORTING

 

A.        Prior to September 30 of each year, the School District shall prepare a report of the previous fiscal year’s staff development results and expenditures and submit it to the Commissioner of the Department of Education (Commissioner).

 

1.         The report will include expenditures by the School Board for district-level activities and expenditures made by the staff.

 

2.         The report will provide a breakdown of expenditures for:

 

a.         curriculum development and programs;

 

b.         in-service education, workshops, and conferences; and

 

c.         the cost of teachers or substitute teachers for staff development purposes.

 

 

Within each of the foregoing categories, the School District will indicate on the report whether the expenditures were incurred at the district level or the school site level, and whether the school site expenditures were made possible by the grants to school sites that demonstrate exemplary use of allocated staff development revenue.

 

B.         The School District will utilize the reporting form and/or system designated by the Commissioner.

 

 

Legal References:      Minn. Stat. § 120A.41 (Length of School Year; Days of Instruction)

Minn. Stat. § 120A.415 (Extended School Calendar)

Minn. Stat. § 120B.22, Subd. 2 (Violence Prevention Education)

Minn. Stat. § 122A.40, Subds. 7 and 7a (Employment; Contracts; Termination - Additional Staff Development and Salary)

Minn. Stat. § 122A.41, Subds. 4 and 4a (Teacher Tenure Act; Cities of the First Class; Definitions - Additional Staff Development and Salary)

Minn. Stat. § 122A.60 (Staff Development Program)

Minn. Stat. § 122A.61 (Reserved Revenue for Staff Development)

Minn. Stat. § 126C.10, Subd. 2 (General Education Revenue)

 

Cross References:      

 

First Reading:  7/17/07, 8/16/05         

Second Reading:           8/21/07, 9/20/05         

                                                                                                Adopted:          8/21/07, 9/20/05