Section 3-328 - School Director Training Programs.(a) Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year and in each school year thereafter, the following shall apply: (1) Each newly elected or appointed school director shall complete, during the first year of the school director's first term, a training program made available by the Department of Education, in consultation with a Statewide organization representing school directors and a Statewide organization representing school business officials, pertaining to the skills and knowledge necessary to serve as a school director. The training program shall consist of a minimum of five (5) hours of instruction, including, at a minimum, information regarding the following: (i) Instruction and academic programs.(i.1) Best practices related to trauma-informed approaches, which shall comprise a minimum of one (1) hour of instruction.(vi) Ethics and open meetings, to include the requirements under 65 Pa.C.S. Pt. II (relating to accountability).(2) Within one (1) year after each reelection or reappointment to the board of school directors, each school director shall complete an advanced training program made available by the Department of Education in consultation with a statewide organization representing school directors and a statewide organization representing school business officials. The advanced training program shall consist of a minimum of three (3) hours of instruction, including information on relevant changes to federal and state public school law and regulations, fiscal management, trauma-informed approaches and other information deemed appropriate by the Department of Education to enable the school director to serve effectively. (3) The training programs required under this subsection shall be made available by the Department of Education at no cost to school districts or school directors. The Department of Education shall approve alternative training programs that fulfill the requirements of this subsection which may be provided by school districts, intermediate units, postsecondary institutions or Statewide education organizations. The department shall post on its publicly accessible Internet website all alternative training programs approved under this paragraph.(4) This subsection shall apply to members of a school reform commission established under section 696, provided that the training programs provided to members of a school reform commission shall include information regarding sections 693 and 696 and other information deemed appropriate to enable a member of a school reform commission to serve effectively.(b) Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, and in each school year thereafter, the following shall apply: (1) Each newly appointed trustee of a charter school entity shall complete, within the trustee ' s first year of service, a training program made available by the Department of Education, in consultation with Statewide organizations representing charter school entities, pertaining to the skills and knowledge necessary to serve as a charter school entity trustee. The training program shall consist of a minimum of five (5) hours of instruction, including, at a minimum, the information listed in subsection (a)(1) and information concerning Article XVII-A.(2) During the fifth year of a trustee's service on the board of trustees and every four (4) years thereafter, each trustee shall complete an advanced training program made available by the Department of Education in consultation with statewide organizations representing charter school entities. The advanced training program shall consist of a minimum of three (3) hours of instruction, including information on relevant changes to federal and state public school law and regulations, including Article XVII-A, fiscal management, trauma-informed approaches and other information deemed appropriate by the Department of Education to enable the trustee to serve effectively. (3) The training programs required under this subsection shall be made available by the Department of Education at no cost to charter school entities or charter school entity trustees. The Department of Education shall approve alternative training programs that fulfill the requirements of this subsection which may be provided by charter school entities, school districts, intermediate units, postsecondary institutions, Statewide organizations representing charter school entities or other Statewide education organizations. The department shall post on its publicly accessible Internet website all alternative training programs approved under this paragraph.(c) The Department of Education or any other entity providing training programs under this section shall examine options for making the training programs available through online or other distance learning media or through regional-based training.(d) As used in this section, " charter school entity " shall mean a charter school, regional charter school or cyber charter school.Amended by P.L. TBD 2019 No. 18, § 2, eff. 8/27/2019.Added by P.L. TBD 2017 No. 55, § 2, eff. 11/6/2017.