Staff Professional Development

Central R-III School district will: 

•Establish a Professional Development Committee (PDC) in each district that is charged with four responsibilities:

- Work with beginning and experienced teachers to identify instructional concerns and remedies 

- Serve as a confidential consultant upon a teacher's request 

- Assess faculty needs and develop learning opportunities for staff 

- Present to the proper authority, faculty suggestions, ideas and recommendations pertaining to classroom instruction 

•Provide a plan of professional development, with assistance from the PDC,for a teacher's first two years of teaching. (Mentoring guidelines and teacher evaluation should guide the development of this plan.)

•Ensure that the PDC is elected by the teachers currently employed by the district.

•Allocate 1 percent of the state funds received through the school foundation program, exclusive of categorical add-ons, to the PDC for the professional development of certified staff.

•Ensure that 75 percent of the 1 percent is spent in the fiscal year in which the 1 percent is received.

•Establish a collaborative process in which the PDC, in consultation with the administration and with local school board approval, determines expenditures for professional development funds

•Ensure that professional development funds under this section are spent for the purpose of meeting the objectives of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) of the district as developed by the board.

•Understand that the penalty for noncompliance with the requirements is loss of state aid during the next school year.