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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 1028
January 29, 2024 - Introduced by Representatives BINSFELD, DRAKE, CONLEY,
DONOVAN, JOERS, KRUG, MELOTIK, MURSAU, NEDWESKI, O'CONNOR, PALMERI,
SCHMIDT, SINICKI, SNYDER, STUBBS and SUBECK. Referred to Committee on
Education.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to create 115.448 of the statutes; relating to: a truancy reduction grant
program.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to establish and
implement a grant program under which DPI must awards grants to eligible school
districts for the purpose of reducing truancy. Under the bill, to be eligible for a grant,
a school district must have 1) a habitual truancy rate that ranks in the highest 10
percent of school districts in the state, 2) a plan for reducing truancy, and 3)
scheduled hours of normal school days that are consistent across the week. DPI may
award grants under the program to a school district for two sequential school years.
However, a school district must demonstrate that it has reduced truancy by at least
25 percent in the first school year to receive the grant in the second school year.
Under the bill, the amount of the grant for the first school year is two-thirds of the
costs associated with a full-time position dedicated to attendance and truancy, and
in the second year, the amount is one-third of the costs associated with that position.
The bill requires grant recipients to submit their habitual truancy rates to DPI each
year and requires DPI to compile that information and submit a report to the
legislature. Finally, under the bill, the truancy reduction grant program sunsets at
the end of the 2025-26 school year.
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ASSEMBLY BILL 1028
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 115.448 of the statutes is created to read:
115.448 Truancy reduction; grants. (1) GRANT PROGRAM. The department
shall establish and implement a grant program to award grants to school districts
for the purpose of reducing truancy in school districts. A recipient of a grant under
this section may use the grant only for the costs of a full-time position dedicated to
addressing attendance and truancy in the school district.
(2) ELIGIBILITY. A school district is eligible for a grant under this section if all
of the following apply:
(a) The school district's habitual truancy rate was among the highest 10 percent
of all school districts in this state in the previous school year.
(b) The school district has a plan to reduce truancy and has shared that plan
with school district employees and parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in the
school district.
(c) The scheduled hours of a normal school day in each grade in the school
district are the same for all normal school days of the week in that grade.
(3) GRANT TERM AND AMOUNT. (a) Except as provided in par. (b), the department
shall provide a grant under this section to a school district for two consecutive school
years without requiring the school district to submit a new application each school
year. Except as provided in par. (c), the department shall award a grant under this
section in an amount that is equal to the following:
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SECTION 1
ASSEMBLY BILL 1028
1. In the first school year the school district receives the grant, two-thirds of
the school district's costs associated with the position described in sub. (1).
2. In the 2nd school year the school district receives the grant, one-third of the
school district's costs associated with the position described in sub. (1).
(b) The department may not provide a grant under this section to a school
district for the 2nd school year unless the school district demonstrates to the
department that the school district reduced truancy in the school district by at least
25 percent during the first school year in which the school district received the grant.
(c) If the amount appropriated for grants under this section in any fiscal year
is insufficient to pay the full amount under par. (a) 1. and 2., the department shall
prorate the payments among the eligible school districts.
(4) REPORTING. Each school district that receives a grant under this section
shall report the school district's habitual truancy rate to the department. The
department shall compile the information it receives under this subsection and
submit a report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s.
13.172 (3).
(5) SUNSET. This section does not apply after June 30, 2026.
(END)
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