Section 53F-7-203 - Paid professional hours for educators(1) As used in this section: (a) "Paid professional hours" means hours outside of an educator's contracted hours.(b) "Qualifying time" means the hours spent engaged in professional learning, including: (i) time spent traveling for the professional learning; and(ii) time engaged in the professional learning.(c) "Qualifying time" does not include time spent:(i) outside of the professional learning environment; or(ii) between the professional learning activities or sessions once the professional learning has ended for the day;(2) Subject to legislative appropriations, the state board shall provide funding to each LEA to provide additional paid professional hours to the following educators in accordance with this section: (a) general education and special education teachers;(c) school administration;(f) school psychologists;(g) speech language pathologists; and(3) The state board shall distribute funds appropriated to the state board under Subsection 53F-9-204(6)(a) to each LEA in proportion to the number of educators described in Subsection (2) within the LEA.(4) An LEA shall use funding under this section to provide paid professional hours that: (a) provide educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to succeed in a well-rounded education and to meet the challenging state academic standards; and(b) may include activities that: (i) improve and increase an educator's: (A) knowledge of the academic subjects the educator teaches;(B) time to plan and prepare daily lessons based on student needs;(C) understanding of how students learn; and(D) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources, including how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials based on the analysis;(ii) are an integral part of broad school-wide and LEA-wide educational improvement plans;(iii) allow personalized plans for each educator to address the educator's specific needs identified in observation or other feedback;(iv) advance educator understanding of:(A) effective and evidence-based instructional strategies; and(B) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of educators;(v) are aligned with, and directly related to, academic goals of the school or LEA;(vi) as determined between an educator and principal, use qualifying time for professional learning that follows a comprehensive evidence-based approach to improving an educator's effectiveness in raising student achievement, including: (E) coursework that is not related to requirements for a degree from an institution of higher education; and(vii) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice; and(c) may include expenses an educator incurs for professional learning, including: (ii) travel related expenses at the allowable rates established by the Division of Finance under Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107;(iii) required materials; and(iv) hourly pay for qualifying time equivalent to the educator's contracted hourly rate in the most recent school year.(5)(a) An educator shall: (i) on or before September 30, create a plan, in consultation with the educator's principal, on how the educator plans to use paid professional hours provided under this section; and(ii) before the end of a given fiscal year, provide a written statement to the educator's principal of how the educator used paid professional hours provided under this section.(b)(i) Subsection (5)(a)(i) does not limit an educator who begins employment after September 30 from receiving paid professional hours under this section.(ii) An LEA may prorate the paid professional hours of an educator who begins employment after September 30 according to the portion of the school year for which the LEA employs the educator.Amended by Chapter 484, 2024 General Session ,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by Chapter 322, 2024 General Session ,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by Chapter 86, 2024 General Session ,§ 2, eff. 5/1/2024.Amended by Chapter 348, 2023 General Session ,§ 1, eff. 5/3/2023.Added by Chapter 386, 2022 General Session ,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2022.