Professional Development
Required Training
Professional Development or Continuing Teacher and Leader Education
Certificated employees are responsible for taking sufficient professional development or continuing teacher and leader education in order to maintain their certification. Each school district or BOCES must describe in its professional development plan how it will provide certificated employees with opportunities to complete these requirements.
Sexual Harassment
New York State now requires annual training in sexual harassment prevention for all employees. It must include an explanation of sexual harassment, examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment, information about federal and state laws and remedies available to victims of sexual harassment, information about employees’ rights of redress and all available forums for adjudicating complaints, and information addressing conduct by supervisors and their additional responsibilities.
Child Abuse in an Educational Setting
There must be ongoing training for all current and new teachers, school nurses, school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school administrators, other personnel required to hold a teaching or administrative certificate or license, and Board of Education members. Each school must annually provide to each teacher and all other school officials a written explanation concerning the reporting of pupil drug abuse, child abuse, and child abuse in an educational setting.
Dignity for All Students Act (DASA)
All school employees must receive refresher training each school year. The purposes are to promote a positive school environment that is free from harassment, bullying and discrimination, and to discourage and respond to incidents of harassment, bullying, and discrimination on school property, at school functions, and off school property if they affect the school environment.
Also, each school must have at least one designated Dignity Act Coordinator, who shall receive additional training.
Hazard Communication
This is required by the standards of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which apply to public employees in New York State through the Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau of the N.Y. State Department of Labor. There is also a New York State Right to Know Law. Employers must provide employees who are routinely exposed to toxic substances in the workplace with training at the time of their initial assignment, at least annually, and when a new chemical hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area.
Bloodborne Pathogens
Employees must be provided with training at the time of initial assignment to duties where exposure on the job may take place, and at least annually thereafter.
The above list is intended to help make you aware of the need to make sure that required training is provided. Please contact our firm if you would like any assistance in compliance.
Emergency Management Plan
All staff must be trained on multi-hazard school safety, including the emergency response plan. The training must include violence prevention and mental health. New employees must be trained within 30 days of hire, and there must be annual training before September 15 each year.
School Violence Prevention
Certificated employees are required to complete at least two hours of training in school violence prevention.
Persons Who Evaluate Teachers or Principals
They must be trained administrators or independent trained evaluators.
McKinney-Vento Liaisons for Homeless Children and Youths
These persons must be trained in order to perform their duties under federal and New York State law.
Transportation Employees
All new bus drivers must complete a basic course of instruction in school bus safety practices. School bus monitors and attendants must also complete training before initial assignment and during their first year of employment. School bus drivers, attendants and monitors must take refresher training twice a year. Employees involved with transporting or assisting students with disabilities must receive special instruction regarding the needs of such students.
School bus driver instructors receive initial training and must have an annual refresher.
The U.S. Department of Transportation requires supervisors of bus drivers to receive training of at least an hour on alcohol misuse and an hour on controlled substance use. The training will be used by the supervisors to determine whether reasonable suspicion exists to require a driver to undergo drug or alcohol testing.
Movable Electric Partition Doors
Employees who operate the doors must receive training on safe operation of the doors.
Asbestos Awareness Training
There are requirements under the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, and under the OSHA standards enforced by PESH.
All members of the maintenance and custodial staff who may work in a building that contains asbestos-containing building material must receive asbestos awareness training.
Each employee who is exposed to airborne concentrations of asbestos at or above certain specified limits must receive training at the time of initial assignment and at least annually thereafter.
The employer must also provide employees who perform housekeeping operations in an area which contains asbestos containing material or presumed asbestos containing material with an asbestos awareness training course at least once a year.