Start Date Rule (ch. PI 27) Changes
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | March 7, 2024
Good Afternoon,
The legislative session is quickly ending for the remainder of 2024 – but work to provide additional flexibility for school districts has not ended. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently opened the School Start Date rule that governs the issuance of start date waivers. The goal behind this is to provide clearer guidance around the waiver process and provide additional flexibility for school districts when applying for a waiver. I strongly encourage everyone to email comments to adminrules@dpi.wi.gov or submit comments using the online form to express your support of granting schools additional flexibility and more strongly supporting the ability for locally elected boards to make decisions that are in the best interest of their students and the community.
Please remember that you can work with your school leadership teams to generate multiple emails to the above address or link in support of allowing additional flexibility. Emails can be very simply constructed, or you can use the opportunity to highlight specific reasons that your school district would benefit from additional flexibility. Comments in favor of ch. PI 27 changes must be submitted by March 25, 2024. Below are sample talking points you and others can use to craft a short email:
- The proposed rule provides a more flexible process for school boards to follow when seeking to adjust their school calendars to better meet the academic and local needs of their respective districts. Without additional rule changes to ch. PI 27 school boards are incredibly limited by the current criteria by which they may request an exemption to the school start date.
- Locally elected school boards should be granted greater flexibility in determining the start date for their district, so they are best able to meet the needs of their students.
- Many school districts are working together cooperatively to expand academic opportunities for their students by collaborating with other districts, universities, and technical colleges to provide dual or concurrent enrollment. Having the flexibility to determine their start date locally allows for greater expansion of these opportunities through the alignment of calendars.
The rule is specifically amended to allow for an early start date for updated purposes that better represent the needs of our students, families, and schools. Specifically, SECTION 4. PI 27.03 (5) (f) and (6) (am) are created to read:
PI 27.03 (5) (f) A determination by the school board that an earlier commencement date will improve student achievement across content areas or address academic needs, which includes any of the following:
1. Student graduation rates.
2. Reading proficiency, as measured by reading readiness scores, and mathematics proficiency.
3. Student attendance or absenteeism.
4. Coordination between universities, technical colleges, and school districts related to dual or concurrent enrollment.
5. Mental health of students and staff.
6. Recruitment and retention of the educator workforce.
7. Coordination between one or more school districts related to educational programming.
Additional changes include:
(6) (am) If a request is made after the March 1 deadline under sub. (3) (b), and the department determines the request was not made as a direct result of the unforeseen event cited in the request, the department shall determine that an extraordinary reason does not exist.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have – if you wish to view the entire text of the proposed changes please use this link.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Capitol Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 29, 2024
Last week the Assembly adjourned for the remainder of the session after completing a week of floor sessions where the body acted on over 200 bills. The Assembly voted on several bills that would impact our school communities including providing continuing funding for the Office of School Safety, various measures relating to licensing and educator preparation programs, and bills impacting timelines and the fiscal appropriation attached to Act 20 (literacy legislation).
Ultimately, AB 1069/SB 990, ended up being amended to eliminate the requirement to administer the first assessment of the new statewide reading screener in the 2024-25 school year. The Assembly made an additional change regarding training providers. The last-minute, late-night change by the Assembly means the Senate will need to concur on the changes when they meet for the last time in early March before the amended bill can be sent to the Governor for his signature.
Below is a list of bills that have passed both houses and are awaiting the Governor’s signature and a list of bills that will need the Senate to sign off on them before they can be sent to the Governor at the end of the legislative session:
Awaiting action by the Governor:
SB-313 Fail to Stop for Bus (James, Jesse) Increased penalties for failing to stop for a school bus. Passed, (Voice Vote)
SB-742 Teacher Certification (Knodl, Daniel) An alternative teacher certification program for an initial license to teach. Passed, (Voice Vote)
Awaiting Action from the Senate:
AB-210 Wearing Tribal Regalia (Joint Legislative Council) Pupils wearing traditional tribal regalia at a graduation ceremony or school-sponsored event. Passed, (Voice Vote)
AB-214 Teaching License (Joint Legislative Council) A lifetime license that authorizes an individual to teach an American Indian language in an American Indian language program and modifying rules promulgated by the Department of Public Instruction. Passed, (Voice Vote)
AB-542 Firearm Detection Software (Callahan, Calvin) Grants to schools to acquire proactive firearm detection software and making an appropriation. Passed, (Voice Vote)
AB-779 Apprenticeship Awards (Oldenburg, Loren) Apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship completion awards, career and technical education incentive grants and completion awards, technical preparation programs in school districts and technical colleges, creating an individual income tax credit for completing an apprenticeship program, rejection criteria for part-time open enrollment applications, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, and providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures. Passed, 62-35
AB-968 Threat Detection Grants (Callahan, Calvin) Appropriating money for grants to schools to acquire proactive threat detection equipment and software and making an appropriation. Passed, 90-7
SB-990 Literacy Training (Stroebel, Duey) Mandatory early literacy professional development. Assembly Amendment 1 Added, Passed as Amended, (Voice Vote) Must return to Senate for concurrence on Amendment.
AB-1050 Office of School Safety (Novak, Todd) Position authorizations in the Office of School Safety and making an appropriation. Passed, 95-2
2024 Election Update Cycle:
As you know, the Governor recently signed legislation implanting new legislative maps for our state. A new legislative/school districts map will be distributed as soon as it is available so members can be aware of who their new legislator(s) may be. Below is an excerpt from The Wheeler Report with the most up to date information on the 2024 Fall Election:
From The Wheeler Report: “The following individuals have publicly announced they will either not seek re-election, or are running for a different office:
- SD-16: Melissa Agard – Running for Dane County Executive
- AD-09: Marisabel Cabrera – Running for Circuit Court Judge
- AD-11: Dora Drake – Running for SD-4
- AD-12: Lakeshia Myers – Running for SD-4
- AD-18: Evan Goyke – Running for Milwaukee County Attorney
- AD-44: Sue Conley – Not seeking re-election
- AD-46: Melissa Ratcliff – Running for Senate
- AD-47: Jimmy Anderson – Running for Senate
- AD-71: Katrina Shankland – Running for Congress
- AD-81: Dave Considine – Not seeking re-election
- AD-90: Kristina Shelton – Not seeking re-election
Please note, this list does not include any individuals who may have been paired in a district under the new maps. This list only contains those individuals who have publicly stated they are not seeking re-election, or who have announced they are running for a different office. Filings of Non-Candidacy are due to the Wisconsin Elections Commission by 5 pm on May 24, 2024.”
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Legislative Action Alert – AB 1069
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 19, 2024
Good Afternoon,
This week the Assembly will likely be wrapping up their work for the 2023-25 legislative session. It is very important that AB 1069, as amended, make it to the floor this week. The amendment added to the bill removes the requirement for school districts to administer the first reading screener of the 2024-25 school year. I encourage everyone to contact their legislators and ask that this bill be scheduled for a floor vote on 2/22 in the Assembly.
As you know, the screener will not be chosen until July 1st at the earliest, which leaves very little time to properly implement the assessment, train staff, and make any necessary technology upgrades. As amended to AB 1069 that would remove the first screening date (as specified in 118.016(3)(a)1.) for the 2024-25 school year to allow schools time to prepare for the change required by 2023 Act 20. Moving to a universal screener will provide great benefits to Wisconsin learners. It will also require a change for many of our districts. Currently, districts are allowed to select their early literacy screeners and are only required to administer the screener once a year. The department anticipates meeting its legal deadline to select the universal screener by July 1, 2024.
Given contract timing, training on the reading screener would not be able to occur until August. Schools will also be working to implement science-based early literacy instruction and new reading intervention systems and structures at the same time. DPI wants to ensure that the first administration of the screener is successful. Successful administration requires educators and schools to have adequate time for training. We believe that giving districts additional time to train staff on the use of the screener and on how to use the screener to create personal reading plans will amount to better service and support for our learners. That is the goal we all share.
If you need assistance in locating contact information for your legislators, please use this link.
Topics: CapitolReports, Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Capitol Update February 5, 2024
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 5, 2024
Tomorrow, February 6th the Senate Education Committee will be holding a public hearing. The Senate Education hearing notice is linked here.
The items to be heard include SB 973 which attempts to address a challenge some early child care providers face – negotiating a contract with local districts – by legislating a funding scheme and removing several requirements of school districts. Further this bill mandates that districts must contract with every child care provider.
Most critically, this bill does not increase state spending, meaning the result of this proposal is a redistribution of resources across the state, as well as a property tax increase to support private 4K businesses. There is no in-depth fiscal analysis available to project the redistributive effects this bill will have on school district finances.
There are many unanswered questions created by this proposal surrounding special education obligations, transportations, and potential impacts to the Wisconsin Shares Program.
This bill circumvents many requirements of recent efforts to advance early reading by exempting educators from licensing and the requirement to pass the FORT test or the training specifically required by Act 20z. Furthermore, if a district elects to use high-quality instructional materials, this proposal allows the community child care providers to select a different set of materials. The bill also does not address how early interventions would be handled for a learner identified by the 4K screener provided to all public school students.
If you need to verify who your legislator is or obtain their contact information – please click here. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or receive feedback from your legislators.
Topics: CapitolReports, Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Capitol Update January 31, 2024
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 31, 2024
Tomorrow the Assembly Education Committee will be holding a public hearing. One of the proposals scheduled is Assembly Bill 1017 – this legislation provides the statutory language needed to release the funds associated with Act 20 to DPI. While there is currently no provision included in the bill to extend the implementation timeline of Act 20 – communication to legislators expressing this need would be helpful as Education Stakeholder Organizations, including SAA, are still working hard to have a trailer bill introduced to make the timeline more manageable and increase the likelihood for successful implementation of the new statewide reading screener. I have attached the letter SAA, WiRSA, SWSA and WASB sent to Dr. Jill Underly and other key legislators detailing concerns with the timeline and urging them to consider providing an extended implementation timeline. I strongly encourage everyone to contact their legislators urging them to consider extending the implantation timeline, additional talking points are provided below to assist in drafting any correspondence.
- Act 20 states that all school districts must utilize the statewide literacy screener beginning with the 2024-25 school year. DPI is projecting an August announcement date for the statewide screener which does not provide school districts the opportunity to break their contracts with their current providers for the 2024-25 school year. This reality will not only result in a duplication of efforts as districts will potentially have two screening tools for 2024-25, but it is also a significant waste of time, money, and human resources as it doesn’t provide the time or the ability to shift those resources to other key initiatives in the district.
- To expect school districts across the state to set up and integrate a new screening tool within their existing technology, ensure that it works efficiently and effectively, provide training and professional learning for their administrators and professional educators, as well as successfully launch a new school year is completely unrealistic.
- The request for trailer legislation is simple. Require that districts, during the 2024-25 school year, to begin to transition away from their current screener to the statewide required screener, with the expectation of full implementation of the statewide screener to begin the 2025-26 school year. This is a timeline that positions school districts to implement the requirements of 2023 Act 20 purposefully and confidently.
- Without this trailer bill, school districts across the state will be scrambling to comply with the unrealistic timelines currently outlined, which will result in surface-level implementation, wasting precious resources of time, talent, and budget money, and limit the opportunities for critically important training and professional learning around evidence-based literacy instruction.
If you need to verify who your legislator is or obtain their contact information – please click here. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or receive feedback from your legislators.
The full hearing notice can be viewed here. As a reminder, we are nearing the end of the session – legislation will begin to move forward at a quicker pace given the limited number of floor session days remaining.
Topics: CapitolReports, Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »