PRINTER'S NO. 548
No. 500 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY RHOADES, M. WHITE, KUKOVICH, D. WHITE, COSTA AND
WOZNIAK, MARCH 17, 2003
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, MARCH 17, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," providing for required training and
6 instruction for certain school directors.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
10 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
11 section to read:
12 Section 328. Required Training and Instruction for Certain
13 School Directors.--(a) School directors of school districts of
14 the first class A, second, third and fourth classes elected at
15 the municipal election in 2003 and thereafter shall complete a
16 course of training and instruction in the duties of their
17 offices and pass an examination prior to assuming office.
18 (b) The Department of Education shall prescribe and approve
19 the subject matter and the examination for the course of
1 training and instruction required by this section. The
2 department shall administer the course of training and
3 instruction and conduct the examination. The Secretary of
4 Education shall appoint an advisory committee to provide
5 recommendations regarding the subject matter and examination for
6 the course of training and instruction. Such advisory committee
7 shall include eleven (11) members representing school board
8 members, superintendents, principals, business managers,
9 teachers and curriculum specialists.
10 (c) The course of training and instruction shall not exceed
11 four (4) weeks in duration and shall consist of a minimum of
12 forty (40) hours of class instruction in school budgeting
13 procedures, the administration of school finances, collective
14 bargaining, the academic standards required by 22 Pa. Code Ch. 4
15 (relating to academic standards and assessment), the
16 requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law
17 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425), methods of assessment and
18 accountability and other subjects the Department of Education
19 may require.
20 (d) Any interested person may apply to the Department of
21 Education to be enrolled in the course of instruction and take
22 the examination. Any such interested person who successfully
23 completes the course and passes the examination shall be issued
24 a certificate as provided for in subsection (e). An interested
25 person who has been issued a certificate and who is elected as a
26 school director of a school district of the first class A,
27 second, third or fourth class within five years of the issuance
28 of the certificate shall be deemed to be in compliance with this
29 section.
30 (e) Upon the successful completion of the course of training
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1 and instruction and examination, the Department of Education
2 shall issue to a person elected as a school director of a school
3 district of the first class A, second, third or fourth class a
4 certificate certifying that the person is qualified to perform
5 the duties of a school director.
6 (f) In the event that any school director of a school
7 district of the first class A, second, third or fourth class
8 fails to earn the certificate provided for by subsection (e)
9 within nine months after election to office, the school director
10 shall resign from office and such vacancy shall be filled as
11 otherwise provided in this article. In the event that a school
12 director fails to resign from office as required by this
13 subsection, the school district in which the school director was
14 elected shall be ineligible to receive one-ninth of the basic
15 education funding allocation to which it would otherwise be
16 entitled pursuant to section 2502.41 or other provision of this
17 act.
18 (g) The Department of Education shall provide the training
19 and instruction required by this section free of charge to any
20 elected school director. The Department of Education may charge
21 an interested person requesting training and instruction under
22 subsection (d) a fee not to exceed the cost of providing such
23 training.
24 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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