Pupil Medication Bill Passes Both Houses
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 4, 2011
Senate Bill 45 passed both houses of the legislature this week. The bill as amended 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 bill; and the DPI has removed its opposition to the bill.
SB 45 now moves on to the Governor’s desk where we anticipate it will be signed into law.
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“Felons Bill” Passes Both Houses
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 4, 2011
Senate Bill 86 passed both houses of the legislature this week with the SAA’s support. SB 86 permits an educational agency to refuse to employ or to terminate from employment an unpardoned felon, whether or not the circumstances of the felony substantially relate to the circumstances of the particular job.
The SAA has supported this controversial legislation for many years. The SAA’s position has always been, “Protect the children first.” This bill now moves on to the Governor’s desk where we anticipate it will be signed into law.
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SB 196 Passes Both Houses
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 4, 2011
Senate Bill 196 passed both houses this week with no opposition. SB 196 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. SB 196 now moves on to the Governor’s desk where we anticipate it will be signed into law.
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SAA Mandate Relief Bill Moves to the Governor’s Desk
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 4, 2011
Early this morning, the Assembly concurred in the Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 95 after lengthy debate by a margin of 54-38. 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. SB 95 is an omnibus bill 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.
SB 95 has now passed both houses and now moves on to the Governor’s desk where we anticipate it will be signed into law. The SAA will keep the membership informed of any further developments regarding this important bill.
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State Won’t Hit 2008 Job Peak Until 2015
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | October 24, 2011
From WisPolitics . . .
The state Revenue Department on Friday pushed back its expectation for when Wisconsin will recover from the recession, now saying it would not return to its pre-recession peak of 2.9 million jobs until early 2015. Just this spring, the agency projected the state would hit that early 2008 job peak by the first quarter of 2014. If the new projection holds true, there will be 200,000 more people living in the state in 2015 but the same number of jobs as early 2008. See the report and the previous economic outlooks here.
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