Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB644 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 644
5	5	November 8, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives P ENTERMAN, MELOTIK,
6	6	BRANDTJEN, DITTRICH, DONOVAN, GOEBEN, S. JOHNSON, KITCHENS, MICHALSKI,
7	7	MURPHY, O'CONNOR, RETTINGER and ROZAR, cosponsored by Senator KNODL.
8	8	Referred to Committee on Education.
9	9	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
10	10	AN ACT to amend 118.51 (3) (intro.), 118.51 (3) (a) 1d., 118.51 (3m) (a), 118.51 (8),
11	11	118.51 (9), 118.51 (15) (a) and 118.51 (15) (c) 2. and 4.; and to create 118.51 (3p)
12	12	and 118.51 (5) (a) 7. of the statutes; relating to: applications for full-time open
13	13	enrollment.
14	14	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
15	15	Under the full-time open enrollment program (OEP), a pupil may attend a
16	16	public school in a school district other than the pupil's resident school district
17	17	(nonresident school district). Under current law, the standard OEP application
18	18	procedure requires a pupil's parent to apply to a nonresident school district during
19	19	the spring semester immediately preceding the school year in which the pupil wishes
20	20	to attend the nonresident school district. Current law also provides an alternative
21	21	application procedure that allows a pupil's parent to apply to a nonresident school
22	22	district at any time during the school year, if certain circumstances apply, such as the
23	23	pupil moved into this state, the pupil has been the victim of repeated bullying or
24	24	harassment, or the pupil's parent, the resident school board, and the nonresident
25	25	school board agree that attending school in the nonresident school district is in the
26	26	best interests of the pupil.
27	27	This bill creates an alternative OEP application procedure for pupils who have
28	28	a parent who is employed as a teacher in the nonresident school district to which the
29	29	application is made. The application procedure created in the bill is available at any
30	30	time during the school year and, if a pupil is accepted under the procedure, the pupil
31	31	may immediately begin attending public school in the nonresident school district.
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37	37	ASSEMBLY BILL 644
38	38	However, under the bill, if the pupil's parent is no longer employed by the
39	39	nonresident school board as a teacher or an administrator, the nonresident school
40	40	board may require the pupil to reapply using the standard or existing alternative
41	41	OEP application procedure.
42	42	Current law limits the criteria that a nonresident school district may use to
43	43	accept or reject applications under the OEP. One of the criteria that a nonresident
44	44	school district may use is the availability of space in the schools, programs, classes,
45	45	or grades in the nonresident school district. Current law requires each school board
46	46	to determine the availability of regular and special education spaces it has for
47	47	nonresident pupils to attend school under the OEP at the school board's regular
48	48	January meeting in the preceding school year. Under the application procedure
49	49	created in the bill, a nonresident school board may accept a pupil's application even
50	50	if the result is that the nonresident school board exceeds the number of spaces it
51	51	determined were available for nonresident pupils in a school, program, class, or
52	52	grade in the nonresident school district. In other words, the space limitations
53	53	determined by the nonresident school board do not apply to these applications. The
54	54	bill also adds whether a pupil's parent is employed as a teacher by the nonresident
55	55	school district to the criteria that a nonresident school district may use to accept or
56	56	reject OEP applications.
57	57	Finally, current law limits the number of nonresident school boards to which
58	58	a pupil may apply to attend a public school in a nonresident school district under the
59	59	OEP. Specifically, under current law, OEP applications for a pupil may be submitted
60	60	to no more than three nonresident school boards in any school year. However,
61	61	applications submitted to a nonresident school board for a pupil to attend a virtual
62	62	charter school under the OEP does not count towards this limitation. Under the bill,
63	63	applications submitted under the new application procedure also do not count
64	64	towards this limitation and may be submitted even if applications for the pupil have
65	65	already been submitted to nonresident school boards in that school year.
66	66	For further information see the local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
67	67	an appendix to this bill.
68	68	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
69	69	enact as follows:
70	70	SECTION 1. 118.51 (3) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
71	71	118.51 (3) APPLICATION PROCEDURES. (intro.) Except as provided under sub.
72	72	subs. (3m) and (3p), the following procedures govern pupil applications to attend a
73	73	public school in a nonresident school district under this section:
74	74	SECTION 2. 118.51 (3) (a) 1d. of the statutes is amended to read:
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82	82	SECTION 2
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84	84	118.51 (3) (a) 1d. For purposes of determining whether applications have been
85	85	submitted to more than 3 nonresident school boards, the department may not count
86	86	an application submitted to a nonresident school board for a pupil to attend a virtual
87	87	charter school or an application under sub. (3p).
88	88	SECTION 3. 118.51 (3m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
89	89	118.51 (3m) (a) Notwithstanding sub. (3), the parent of a pupil who wishes to
90	90	attend a public school in a nonresident school district under this section may, in lieu
91	91	of applying under sub. (3), submit an application under this subsection, on a form
92	92	provided by the department under sub. (15) (a), to the school board of the nonresident
93	93	school district that the pupil wants to attend if the pupil satisfies at least one of the
94	94	criteria under par. (b). Applications may be submitted to no more than 3 nonresident
95	95	school boards in any school year. For purposes of determining whether applications
96	96	have been submitted to more than 3 nonresident school boards, the department may
97	97	not count an application submitted to a nonresident school board for a pupil to attend
98	98	a virtual charter school or an application under sub. (3p).
99	99	SECTION 4. 118.51 (3p) of the statutes is created to read:
100	100	118.51 (3p) ALTERNATIVE APPLICATION; PARENT'S EMPLOYMENT STATUS. (a) If a
101	101	pupil's parent is employed as a teacher in a nonresident school district and the pupil
102	102	wishes to attend a public school in the nonresident school district under this section,
103	103	the pupil's parent may, in lieu of applying under sub. (3), submit an application under
104	104	this subsection, on a form provided by the department under sub. (15) (a), to the
105	105	school board of the nonresident school district. Notwithstanding subs. (3) (a) 1. and
106	106	(3m) (a), an application may be submitted under this subsection regardless of the
107	107	number of applications that have been submitted to nonresident school boards in a
108	108	school year.
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135	135	SECTION 4 ASSEMBLY BILL 644
136	136	(b) If a nonresident school board receives an application under par. (a), the
137	137	nonresident school board shall immediately forward a copy of the application to the
138	138	resident school board, and shall notify the applicant, in writing, whether it has
139	139	accepted the application no later than 20 days after receiving the application. If the
140	140	nonresident school board has accepted the application, the nonresident school board
141	141	shall identify the specific school or program that the pupil may attend. A nonresident
142	142	school board may accept an application under par. (a) even if in doing so the
143	143	nonresident school district exceeds the space available in the school, program, class,
144	144	or grade within the nonresident school district, as determined under sub. (5) (a) 1.
145	145	(c) If an application is accepted by the nonresident school board under par. (b),
146	146	the pupil may immediately begin attending the school or program in the nonresident
147	147	school district and shall begin attending the school or program no later than the 15th
148	148	day following receipt by the parent of the pupil of the notice of acceptance under par.
149	149	(b). If the pupil has not enrolled in or attended school in the nonresident school
150	150	district by the day specified in this paragraph, the nonresident school district may
151	151	notify the pupil's parent, in writing, that the pupil is no longer authorized to attend
152	152	the school or program in the nonresident school district.
153	153	(d) If an application is accepted by the nonresident school board under par. (b)
154	154	and the pupil begins attending a public school in the nonresident school district, the
155	155	pupil may continue to attend a public school in the nonresident school district in the
156	156	following school year and may continue to attend a public school in the nonresident
157	157	school district in succeeding school years without reapplying, except that the
158	158	nonresident school board may require the pupil to reapply under sub. (3) or (3m) if
159	159	the pupil's parent is no longer employed as a teacher or an administrator in the
160	160	nonresident school district.
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188	188	SECTION 5
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190	190	SECTION 5. 118.51 (5) (a) 7. of the statutes is created to read:
191	191	118.51 (5) (a) 7. Whether the pupil's parent is employed as a teacher by the
192	192	nonresident school board.
193	193	SECTION 6. 118.51 (8) of the statutes is amended to read:
194	194	118.51 (8) DISCIPLINARY RECORDS. Notwithstanding s. 118.125, for an
195	195	application submitted under sub. (3) (a), by the first Friday following the first
196	196	Monday in May, and within 10 days of receiving a copy of an application under sub.
197	197	(3m) (c) or (3p) (b), the resident school board shall provide to the nonresident school
198	198	board to which a pupil has applied under this section a copy of any expulsion findings
199	199	and orders pertaining to the pupil, a copy of records of any pending disciplinary
200	200	proceeding involving the pupil, a written explanation of the reasons for the expulsion
201	201	or pending disciplinary proceeding and the length of the term of the expulsion or the
202	202	possible outcomes of the pending disciplinary proceeding.
203	203	SECTION 7. 118.51 (9) of the statutes is amended to read:
204	204	118.51 (9) APPEAL OF REJECTION. If the nonresident school board rejects an
205	205	application under sub. (3) (a), (3p) (a), or (7), the resident school board prohibits a
206	206	pupil from attending public school in a nonresident school district under sub. (3m)
207	207	(d) or the nonresident school board prohibits a pupil from attending public school in
208	208	the nonresident school district under sub. (11), the pupil's parent may appeal the
209	209	decision to the department within 30 days after the decision. If the nonresident
210	210	school board provides notice that the special education or related service is not
211	211	available under sub. (12) (b), the pupil's parent may appeal the required transfer to
212	212	the department within 30 days after receipt of the notice. The department shall
213	213	affirm the school board's decision unless the department finds that the decision was
214	214	arbitrary or unreasonable.
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241	241	SECTION 8 ASSEMBLY BILL 644
242	242	SECTION 8. 118.51 (15) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
243	243	118.51 (15) (a) Application form. Prepare, distribute to school districts, and
244	244	make available to parents an application form to be used by parents under sub. (3)
245	245	(a) and, an application form to be used by parents under sub. (3m) (a), and an
246	246	application form to be used by parents under sub. (3p) (a). The form shall include
247	247	provisions that permit a parent to apply for transportation reimbursement under
248	248	sub. (14) (b). The form shall require an applicant who is applying to attend a virtual
249	249	charter school to indicate that he or she is applying to attend a virtual charter school,
250	250	the number of virtual charter schools to which he or she is applying, and whether he
251	251	or she is a sibling of a pupil currently enrolled in a virtual charter school through the
252	252	open enrollment program.
253	253	SECTION 9. 118.51 (15) (c) 2. and 4. of the statutes are amended to read:
254	254	118.51 (15) (c) 2. The number of applications received under subs. (3) (a) and
255	255	(3m) (a), and (3p) (a) and, for the applications received under sub. (3m) (a), the
256	256	number of applications received under each of the criteria listed in sub. (3m) (b).
257	257	4. The number of pupils attending public school in a nonresident school district
258	258	under this section. The department shall specify, separately, the number of pupils
259	259	attending public school in a nonresident school district whose applications were
260	260	accepted under subs. (3) (a) 3. and, (3m) (c), and (3p) (b), and, for the applications
261	261	accepted under sub. (3m) (c), the number of pupils attending under each of the
262	262	criteria listed in sub. (3m) (b).
263	263	(END)
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