Section 37-17-8 - Comprehensive in-service staff development plans; exemption of certain school districts(1) The State Board of Education, through the Commission on School Accreditation, shall establish criteria for comprehensive in-service staff development plans. These criteria shall: (a) include, but not be limited to, formula and guidelines for allocating available state funds for in-service training to local school districts;(b) require that a portion of the plans be devoted exclusively for the purpose of providing staff development training for beginning teachers within that local school district and for no other purpose; and(c) require that a portion of the school district's in-service training for administrators and teachers be dedicated to the application and utilization of various disciplinary techniques. The board shall each year make recommendations to the Legislature concerning the amount of funds which shall be appropriated for this purpose.(2) School districts shall not be required to submit staff development plans to the Commission on School Accreditation for approval. However, any school district accredited at the lowest performance levels, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall include, as a part of any required corrective action plan, provisions to address staff development in accordance with State Board of Education requirements. All school districts, unless specifically exempt from this section, must maintain on file staff development plans as required under this section. The plan shall have been prepared by a district committee appointed by the district superintendent and consisting of teachers, administrators, school board members, and lay people, and it shall have been approved by the district superintendent.(3) In order to insure that teachers are not overburdened with paperwork and written reports, local school districts and the State Board of Education shall take such steps as may be necessary to further the reduction of paperwork requirements on teachers.(4) Districts meeting the highest levels of accreditation standards, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall be exempted from the mandatory provisions of this section relating to staff development plans.Laws, 1982, Ex Sess, ch. 17, § 13; Laws, 1992, ch. 519, § 6; Laws, 1998, ch. 544, § 9; Laws, 2006, ch. 417, § 8; reenacted without change, Laws, 2009, ch. 345, § 22; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2009, ch. 445, § 6, eff. 7/1/2009.