(a) Out of the funds available for that purpose, the superintendent shall allocate funds to participating school districts for the purpose of providing stipends to mentor teachers. The superintendent shall annually make a determination as to the number of certificated classroom teachers employed by each participating school district and may authorize the district to designate as mentors up to 5 percent of the total number of certificated classroom teachers in the district. Teachers designated as mentors shall meet the minimum qualifications established by subdivision (b) of Section 44491.
The superintendent shall increase any fraction resulting from the 5 percent calculation to the next integer, and shall allow districts that have at least five certificated employees to designate one classroom teacher as a mentor teacher.
(b) Each district that has less than five certificated employees shall be eligible for an amount of funding in the mentor teacher program computed by multiplying the number of certificated employees in the district by 5 percent, and multiplying the result by four thousand dollars ($4,000).
(c) Out of the funds available for that purpose, the superintendent shall, in the exercise of his or her discretion, allocate to participating school districts an amount that the superintendent determines to be sufficient to reimburse the necessary costs of participation in the mentor teacher program. For purposes of this subdivision, necessary costs of participation in the mentor teacher program shall include, but not be limited to, the costs of employing a substitute classroom teacher, or other teachers, and costs of administering the program.
If at the end of any fiscal year, an amount of the funds available for purposes of this subdivision remains unallocated, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall utilize the unallocated amount for purposes of subdivision (a) or (b) in the next fiscal year.
(d) Any school district may apply for and receive funds for the purposes of this program.
School districts that operate mentor teacher programs together under cooperative agreements or pursuant to Section 6502 of the Government Code shall not receive entitlements from state funds in amounts above that which each district would have received while operating its own program.
(Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 1452, Sec. 363.)
Reference:
Education Code 44491
Government Code 6502