Date of enactment:
2023 Senate Bill 267 Date of publication*:
2023 WISCONSIN ACT
AN ACT to create 115.359 of the statutes; relating to: grants to support recovery high schools.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 115.359 of the statutes is created to read:
115.359 Recovery high schools; operational and
planning grants. (1) DEFINITION. In this section,
“recovery high school” means a public, private, or tribal
school that operates only high school grades and meets all
of the following criteria:
(a) The school is specifically designed for pupils in
recovery from a substance use disorder or a mental health
disorder that coexists with a substance use disorder.
(b) The school awards high school credits that count
towards a high school diploma awarded by the school or
high school credits that will transfer and count towards a
high school diploma awarded by a school district.
(2) ELIGIBILITY; OPERATIONAL GRANT. A recovery
high school is eligible for a grant under sub. (3) if the
recovery high school satisfies all of the following:
(a) The recovery high school is governed by a gov-
erning board.
(b) The recovery high school employs an individual
who is responsible for the daily operations of the recov-
ery high school.
(c) The recovery high school demonstrates that its
model is capable of supporting its anticipated enrollment.
(d) If the recovery high school is a private school, the
private school is a nonprofit organization.
(e) The recovery high school requires prospective
pupils to apply to the recovery high school and conditions
eligibility for enrollment on all of the following:
1. That the pupil desires to be sober.
2. That the pupil commits to attend the recovery high
school daily.
3. That the pupil consents to weekly drug testing.
4. That the pupil agrees to a 30−day probationary
period and that the pupil’s enrollment may be terminated
at the end of the probationary period for any of the fol-
lowing reasons:
a. The pupil tests positive for a controlled substance
on a drug test administered at the end of the probationary
period.
b. The individual responsible for the daily operations
of the recovery high school determines that the pupil’s
enrollment should be terminated based on the pupil’s
behavior at the recovery high school during the proba-
tionary period.
(f) The recovery high school provides evidence that
it has at least one other source of funding to support its
operations.
(g) The recovery high school provides evidence−
based programming to pupils. For purposes of this para-
graph, “evidence−based programming” includes evi-
dence−based peer−to−peer suicide prevention
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 2023 Senate Bill 267
programming, smaller class sizes, and self−care plan-
ning.
(3) OPERATIONAL GRANTS. (a) A recovery high
school that meets the requirements under sub. (2) may
apply for a grant under this subsection. An applicant for
a grant under this subsection shall include in its applica-
tion the grant amount requested and a proposed budget
for how it will use the grant funds in the following school
year.
(b) Beginning in the 2023−24 school year, from the
appropriation under s. 20.255 (3) (ef), the department
annually shall award grants to eligible recovery high
schools that apply for a grant under this subsection. If the
department does not award an applicant the full amount
requested in an application, the department shall provide
an explanation to the applicant for the reduced grant
award. The department shall pay 50 percent of a grant
amount on the 2nd Monday of July and 50 percent of the
grant amount on the 2nd Monday of January.
(c) A recovery high school may use a grant under this
subsection for any of the following purposes:
1. To employ school staff, including teachers and
counselors.
2. To rent, or otherwise secure, a physical location for
the school.
3. To purchase drug testing supplies.
4. To develop and implement an after−school and
weekend sober activity program.
5. For transportation of pupils.
6. For legal and accounting services.
7. For general administrative costs, including insur-
ance, office supplies and equipment, and phone and
Internet costs.
(4) PLANNING GRANTS. (a) Subject to par. (c), the
department shall award planning grants to public, pri-
vate, and tribal schools that intend to establish a recovery
high school and nonprofit organizations that intend to
establish a recovery high school. An applicant for a grant
under this subsection shall include in its application the
grant amount requested and a proposed budget for how
it will use the grant funds in the following school year.
If the department does not award an applicant the full
amount requested in an application, the department shall
provide an explanation to the applicant for the reduced
grant award.
(b) A grant under this subsection may be used for any
of the following:
1. Hiring a consultant for planning the recovery high
school.
2. General program planning for the recovery high
school.
3. Curriculum and lesson planning.
4. Mental health services planning.
5. Any other costs incurred to develop a final plan for
establishing a recovery high school.
(c) 1. Beginning on the effective date of this subdivi-
sion .... [LRB inserts date], and ending on the date the
department determines there are at least 3 recovery high
schools in this state, in each fiscal year the department
shall allocate $300,000 from the appropriation under s.
20.255 (3) (ef) for grants under this subsection. The
department may not award more than 4 grants under this
subsection in any school year.
2. In any school year for which the department deter-
mines that there are at least 3 recovery high schools in
operation in this state, the department may not award
grants under this subsection.
3. In the school year beginning after the department
first determines there are at least 3 recovery high schools
in operation in this state and each school year thereafter,
if the department determines there are fewer than 3
recovery high schools in operation in this state for that
school year, the department shall allocate $100,000 from
the appropriation under s. 20.255 (3) (ef) for grants under
this subsection.
(5) REPORTING. (a) By no later than August 1, a
recovery high school that received a grant under sub. (3)
in the previous school year shall report, in a manner that
does not identify a pupil enrolled in the recovery high
school, all of the following to the department:
1. An independent financial audit of the recovery
high school conducted by an independent certified public
accountant.
2. A written report on the operations of the recovery
high school in the previous school year that includes at
least all of the following information:
a. The number of prospective pupils who applied to
attend the recovery high school.
b. The total number of pupils who were enrolled in
the recovery high school during the school year.
c. Demographic information about pupils enrolled in
the recovery high school, including age, gender, race,
ethnicity, and school district of residence.
d. As of the first day of each month that the recovery
high school is in operation for the attendance of pupils,
the number of pupils enrolled in the recovery high school
and the staff−to−pupil ratio.
e. The number of pupils who graduated from the
recovery high school.
f. Information about substance use by pupils enrolled
in the recovery high school, including a list of the sub-
stances for which enrolled pupils are in recovery, the
relapse rate for pupils enrolled in the recovery high
school, and the number of positive drug tests and the
drugs identified by those tests.
g. Information about the mental health of pupils
enrolled in the recovery high school, including the num-
ber of enrolled pupils who receive mental health services
from the recovery high school for something other than
a substance use disorder and a list of mental health disor- − 3 − 2023 Wisconsin Act 2023 Senate Bill 267
ders for which enrolled pupils receive services from the
recovery high school.
h. Information on academic, behavioral, and sub-
stance use recovery progress and success among pupils
enrolled in the recovery high school.
i. The name of each staff member employed by the
recovery high school and any professional credential
held by the staff member.
j. How grant funding received under sub. (3) was
used to support the operations of the recovery high
school.
(b) By no later than August 1, a recipient of a grant
under sub. (4) in the previous school year shall report all
of the following to the department:
1. How it used the grant funding it received under
sub. (4).
2. The status of the grant recipient’s plan to establish
a recovery high school, which may include a final plan
for establishing a recovery high school or an explanation
of why the recipient no longer intends to establish a
recovery high school.
(6) RETURN OF GRANT FUNDS. (a) If a recovery high
school closes during a school year for which it receives
a grant under sub. (3), the recovery high school shall
return any unused grant funds to the department.
(b) The recipient of a grant under sub. (4) shall return
any unused grant funds to the department.
SECTION 2. 0Nonstatutory provisions.
(1) GRANT FUNDING; JOINT COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
By no later than the 90th day after the effective date of
this subsection, the department of public instruction shall
submit a request to the joint committee on finance to sup-
plement the appropriation under s. 20.255 (3) (ef) with
$500,000 in each year of the fiscal biennium from fund-
ing provided to the joint committee on finance supple-
mental appropriation under s. 20.865 (4) (a) in 2023 Wis-
consin Act 19 for a grant program for recovery high
schools.
(2) GRANT AWARDS; 2023−24 SCHOOL YEAR. Notwith-
standing s. 115.359 (3) (b), for purposes of making pay-
ment to grant recipients in the 2023−24 school year, the
department may pay the grant amount to a recipient of a
grant under s. 115.359 (3) (b) in one payment at any time
before July 1, 2024.