Capitol Update January 19, 2024
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 19, 2024
- LRB 5615 – 1 was circulated this week to fund the continued operations of the Wisconsin Office of School Safety (OSS) through September 2025. This funding extension will allow the OSS to continue its work to proactively assist schools, prevent violence from occurring, mitigate trauma, and respond effectively if a crisis event does occur to promote recovery. Continued funding is needed as the OSS was not funded in the 2023-25 budget. While the legislature will still need to approve ongoing funding for the OSS as part of the 2025-27; LRB 5615-1 does provide a bridge to enable services to continue until deliberations on the state budget begin in 2025.
- LRB 5595-1 requires that if a school provides four-year-old kindergarten, the school board must offer four-year-old kindergarten using a community approach to early education, as defined by DPI by rule, and the school board must contract with each family child care center, group child care center, and head start agency (community-based provider) that holds a license issued by the Department of Children and Families; is in good standing with DCF. Additionally, the bill also requires that the contract between a school board and a community-based provider include a minimum net per pupil amount that is not less than 95 percent of the per pupil revenue limit that applies to four-year-old kindergarten pupils in the school district and several additional provisions related to transportation.
- The Assembly Speaker’s Taskforce on Childhood Obesity and the Taskforce on Truancy released several proposals which will be reviewed and provided in a separate email.
The Senate Education Committee will be holding a public hearing on January 23rd at 10:30 am. The hearing notice includes:
- Senate Bill 429 modifies the school start date mandates. Under the bill beginning in the 2024-25 school year, public schools are prohibited from starting fall classes until the Monday before Labor Day. Additionally, under the bill, if a public school starts fall classes before Labor Day, the public school must be closed on the Friday before Labor Day. Additionally, in the exceptions to the start date prohibition provided under current law, the bill changes September 1 to the Monday before Labor Day.
- Senate Bill 549 requires school districts to allow certain federally recognized organizations time during the school day to promote and recruit members – specifically, the Boy Scouts have testified that they have seen a rapid decline in their membership and are requesting a mandate to have access to our students during the school day. This bill would require that schools grant access to all students, on one day at the beginning of the school year.
- Senate Bill 653 increases the full-time open enrollment program transfer amount to $10,000 for the 2024-25 school year. DPI Fiscal Estimate
- Senate Bill 707 Requires DCF to create a grant program that may award grants of no more than $10,000 each to nonprofit organizations as reimbursement for up to 50 percent of the cost of books that the organizations provide in partnership with a national reading program that has been in existence since at least 2003 and that mails age-appropriate books free of charge to children from birth to age five, regardless of family income. This bill is designed to replicate grant programs.
Additional analysis will be provided on Senate Bill 608, Senate Bill 742, and Senate Bill 917 which are on the agenda. Please reach out with any questions or if you need additional information if you are planning on reaching out to your legislators. Click here if you need the contact information for your legislators.
Thank you,
Dee
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Capitol Update January 3, 2024
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 3, 2024
Happy New Year! Tomorrow the Assembly Education Committee will be holding a Public Hearing on the following items beginning at 9:30:
- AB 450 Relating to: ready-to-use glucagon rescue therapies in schools.
- AB 592 Relating to: allowing representatives of certain federally chartered youth membership organizations to provide information to pupils on public school property.
- AB 638 Relating to: requiring school boards to make textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials available for inspection by school district residents.
- AB 639 Relating to: issuing a license to teach based on equivalency and granting rulemaking authority.
- AB 758 Relating to: an alternative teacher certification program for an initial license to teach.
Summaries on the proposed legislation will be circulated following the hearing.
The following bills have been introduced or have been circulated recently:
- SB 854 Relating to: the supply and use of short-acting bronchodilators on school premises or at a school-sponsored event.
- SB 838 Relating to: reductions to state aid paid to school districts for payments made under parental choice programs and the Special Needs Scholarship Program.
- AB 783 / SB 824 Relating to: requests for restrictions on the availability of library materials, including school library materials.
- SB 817 Relating to: a school district revenue limit adjustment for the cost of unfunded state mandates on school districts.
- AB 782 / SB 758 Relating to: requiring public schools and private schools participating in a parental choice program to employ a full-time librarian and a school district revenue limit adjustment for the cost of employing full-time librarians.
- LRB 4122 Relating to: school safety grants for public and private schools and making an appropriation.
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Capitol Update Dec. 8, 2023
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 8, 2023
This week, Governor Tony Evers took action on 48 bills, below is a description of Act 60 and Act 72:
Financial Literacy
Additionally, Gov. Evers also signed Assembly Bill 109, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 60.
As part of his proposed 2023-25 biennial budget, Gov. Evers announced his “Do the Math” initiative to provide districts the resources to start or improve financial literacy curriculum and prepare students for financial success. The governor believes financial literacy is something every Wisconsinite needs to be successful—from household budgeting and understanding consumer financing to insurance decisions and retirement planning—and that a strong financial literacy curriculum will provide a strong foundation for students’ financial futures.
“We have to make sure our kids have the tools and skills to make smart financial and budgeting decisions to prepare for their future, so ensuring our kids have strong financial literacy is essential to setting them up for success as adults,” said Gov. Evers. “I was proud to propose investments to bolster financial literacy in our biennial budget, and it’s why I’m glad to sign this bill today to make sure every student has a strong foundation for their financial futures.”
Assembly Bill 109, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 60:
- Requires, starting with the 2028 graduating class, a pupil to complete at least 0.5 credit of personal financial literacy in order to graduate from a school district.
Senate Bill 267, now Wisconsin Act 72:
- Creates planning and operational grants for schools and nonprofit organizations interested in creating and operating a recovery school for students in recovery from a substance use disorder.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Have a great weekend.
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Capitol Update Dec. 6, 2023
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 6, 2023
This week, the Assembly Education Committee held a public hearing on the five bills below.
AB 640 / SB 608 (Rep. Dittrich/Sen. Knodl) – This bill creates a pathway for paraprofessionals to become licensed. Under the bill DPI must issue a provisional license to teach to an individual who meets certain standards. There was significant discussion on this proposal specifically around the provision of lifetime licenses. At this time, the committee has requested that the authors work with DPI on amendments that address the concerns raised by committee members and stakeholders.
AB 308 / SB 305 (Rep. Allen/Sen. Jacque) – The proposal eliminates the protection from prosecution for employees of libraries and education institutions. Significant concerns were raised about the effect this would have on professionals. Concerns were raised by committee members from the majority and minority parties regarding the criminal prosecution that could be imposed under this bill.
AB 341 / SB 333 (Rep. Spiros/Sen. James) – This legislation has amended by a substitute amendment (ASA 1). The goal of the legislation is to close a loophole between sexual abuse and sexual harassment in state statutes. Given the bipartisan support, it seems likely the bill will continue to move forward. It will need to be reviewed by the Joint Review Committee on Criminal after it moves out of the Education Committee.
AB 644 / SB 605 (Rep. Penterman/Sen. Knodl) – Under this bill, school districts would have the option to exceed the number of seats previously allocated for Open Enrollment for a nonresident student who is the child of a teacher. The authors indicated at the hearing that this could be a tool used for recruitment and retention. There was significant discussion on this proposal including questions about the number of students and districts this could impact and if it would be expanded to include all licensed full-time staff members. This proposal will be monitored for potential amendments.
AB 652 / SB 611 (Rep. Wittke/Sen. Jagler) – Under this proposal if a School District chooses to administer the state assessment (Forward Exam) remotely, they must adhere to the requirements in the bill. Currently, remote proctoring is not available through the state assessment vendor. Based on the questions heard during the public hearing, it seems additional conversations will likely occur between DPI and the bill’s supporters representing our virtual school students. Additional updates will be forthcoming based on those conversations.
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Capitol Update Nov. 28, 2023
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 29, 2023
Good Afternoon,
As you may have noticed the SAA website is under construction. We are working to move to a bifurcated webpage. Soon everyone will be receiving instructions on how to log in as well as a temporary password which you will be prompted to change on your first login. Until we can get everyone signed up, I wanted to provide a legislative update regarding a hearing held today in the Capitol.
Today, the Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families held a Public Hearing on Senate Bill 597. This bill requires school boards to develop and implement a policy under which the custodial parent or guardian of a pupil who is under the age of 16 is notified of each document or material the pupil checks out from a school library as soon as is practicable, but no later than 24 hours after the checkout. The bill also requires a school board to annually notify parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in the school district of whether the school board provides pupils access to the electronic collection of resources known as Badger Link that is maintained by the Division for Libraries and Technology in the Department of Public Instruction.
Below are high-level talking points summarizing the challenges presented by the bill:
- This information can already be made available to parents/guardians upon request under FERPA.
- There are significant technical complexities and costs associated with integrating systems and software upgrades, which would likely be required to comply with the mandate created in SB 597.
- Many School Districts already provide this access to parents through the student’s library account or student information system account, making this new requirement duplicative.
- Given the staffing shortages impacting school districts it would be challenging to assign additional administrative duties to existing staff for what may be a duplication of information already provided to families through student accounts.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions.
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