Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 22, 2011
On November 23, 2011, Governor Walker signed 2011 Wisconsin Act 81 into law. This new law requires all school employees to report child abuse and neglect or face stiff penalties for failing to do so.
Davis & Kuelthau has graciously allowed the SAA to post its recent client update on the subject for your information.
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Audit of Open Enrollment Offers Five Alternatives
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 16, 2011
The Legislative Audit Bureau released an audit of the Open Enrollment Program with five alternative transfer amount options for the legislature to consider. Currently when a pupil open enrolls into a new district the state transfers the state aid from the district the pupil resides in to the district the pupil attends; the amount being transferred based on the statewide average of all districts’ direct educational costs, including teacher salaries and benefits but not administration and building operations. The five options identified by LAB are available for the legislature should they consider modifying the program’s transfer amount calculations.
- Alt. 1: Increase the transfer amount to include additional district costs directly related to educating pupils (instruction costs for gifted and talented,
administration and building operation costs, transportation and cocurricular activities, and mail distribution and printing costs.) Changing the statewide transfer amount from $196.2 million currently to $217.5 million. - Alt. 2: Increase the transfer amount basing it on the statewide average per pupil shared costs, paid for by equalization aid and property tax revenue.
Changes the statewide transfer amount to $304.1 million. - Alt. 3: Decrease the program’s per pupil transfer by removing costs for instructional staff support services. Changes the statewide transfer to $179.5 million.
- Alt. 4: Transfer an amount equivalent to the receiving district’s per pupil direct educational costs as they are currently defined, reflecting a given
district’s actual costs. Districts with higher educational costs would benefit and districts with lower educational costs would benefit less. Changes the statewide transfer to $203.3 million. - Alt. 5: Transfer an amount equivalent to a receiving district’s per pupil equalization aid. Districts receiving more equalization aid for their pupils would receive a higher per pupil transfer amount, and districts receiving less aid would receive a lower transfer amount. Changes the statewide transfer to $138.5 million.
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Governor Signs SB-95 and SB-196
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 13, 2011
Senate Bill 95 – School Mandate Relief
Governor Walker signed Senate Bill 95 into law as 2011 2011 Wisconsin Act 105 on Wednesday, December 7th. Act 105 is an omnibus measure featuring 10 separate items of mandate relief, clarification and added flexibility relating to the following: granting high school credit for extracurricular sports; services provided by a special education program; transportation aid paid to school districts; the use of moneys received by a school district from the common school fund; using the results of standardized examinations to evaluate, discharge, suspend, or discipline a teacher or for the nonrenewal of a teacher’s contract; the number of teaching days scheduled in the Milwaukee Public Schools; permitting a school district to limit the grades in which to reduce class size under the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education Program; permitting a school board to deny enrollment to a pupil who has been expelled from an out-of-state school or from an independent charter school in this state and permitting an independent charter school to expel a pupil; use of law enforcement records to take disciplinary action against a pupil under a school district’s athletic code; and changing the date by which a school district must certify the amount of its property tax levy.
The SAA has been seeking passage of several of the items in this bill for the past 8 years or more. For those SAA members seeking full distribution of school transportation aid, additional SAGE flexibility, additional flexibility in use of the common school fund aid, the ability to use federal special education aid for contracted special education services, flexibility in granting credit for sports, and a later levy certification date, this day has been a long time coming. The SAA worked closely with the bill’s authors, Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) and Representative Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake), on the bill’s development and passage.
Senate Bill 196 –Collaborative Purchasing With Municipalities
Senate Bill 196 was signed into law by Governor Walker as 2011 Wisconsin Act 106 on Wednesday, December 7th. Act 106 excludes from the calculation of expenditure restraint payments expenditures made pursuant to a purchasing agreement with a school, thereby encouraging purchasing collaboration between municipalities and school districts. SAA members and staff worked with the authors, Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) and Representative Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon), on development of the bill.
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Governor Signs “Immoral Conduct” Bill Into Law
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 29, 2011
In another victory for the SAA, on Wednesday, November 23rd Governor Walker signed Senate Bill 49, relating to revocation for immoral conduct of a license issued by the Department of Public Instruction, into law as 2011 Wisconsin Act 84. Act 84 provides that “immoral conduct” includes the intentional use of an educational agency’s equipment to download, view, solicit, seek, display, or distribute pornographic material. It also requires an administrator, when reporting “immoral conduct” to DPI, to include a complete copy of the licensee’s personnel file and all investigative records.
Act 84 also requires DPI to post the name of the licensee under investigation on the DPI website. Finally, it requires DPI to maintain a record of all investigations it conducts. The SAA worked with the bill authors, Senator Luther Olsen (R- Ripon) and Representative Steve Kestell (R- Elkhart Lake), on development and passage of SB 49.
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Governor Walker Signs Pupil Medication Bill
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 29, 2011
On Wednesday, November 23rd Governor Walker signed Senate Bill 45 into law as 2011 Wisconsin Act 86. Act 86 clears up a number of issues related to language adopted last session in 2009 Wisconsin Act 160 and in rules issued subsequently by the Department of Public Instruction.
School administrators expressed tremendous concern about the confusing and onerous training requirements for school personnel who administer medication to students in Act 160 and its rules. The SAA, WASB and DPI worked with the bill’s authors, Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) and Representative Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake), to clarify these training requirements.
In light of the opposition from the Wisconsin Nurses Association and other groups, it should be noted that the SAA worked with the DPI every step of the way on this legislation; and the DPI removed its opposition to the bill.
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