LRB-4070/1
PG:skg:lpa
1995 - 1996 LEGISLATURE
February 19, 1996 - Introduced by Representatives Baldus, Goetsch and F. Lasee,
cosponsored by Senator Clausing, by request of Linda Vander Loop. Referred
to Committee on Education.
AB897,1,3
1An Act to create 115.85 (6) of the statutes;
relating to: providing special
2education and related series to pupils enrolled in home-based private
3educational programs.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current federal law and regulations, a state educational agency (for
example, the department of public instruction (DPI), is required to ensure that, to
the extent consistent with their number and location in the state, children with
disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools are provided with special
education and related services. The special education and related services provided
by school districts to private school pupils must be comparable in quality, scope and
opportunity for participation to those services provided by school districts to pupils
enrolled in public schools. Federal regulations establish a process, involving
consultation with private school representatives, for the purpose of determining
which children with disabilities enrolled in private schools should be served.
Federal law does not define "private school" for the purposes specified above.
According to the federal office of special education, the determination of whether
pupils with disabilities who are being educated at home are covered as if they were
enrolled in a private school is based on state law. DPI has determined that, in
Wisconsin, enrollment in a home-based private educational program does not
constitute enrollment in a private school. Therefore, school districts are not required
to make special education and related services available to pupils with disabilities
who are enrolled in a home-based private educational program.
This bill provides that a pupil enrolled in a home-based private educational
program must be treated for special education purposes as if he or she was enrolled
in a private school.
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:
AB897, s. 1
1Section
1. 115.85 (6) of the statutes is created to read:
AB897,2,42
115.85
(6) Home-based private educational programs. For the purposes of this
3subchapter, a pupil enrolled in a home-based private educational program shall be
4treated as if he or she was enrolled in a private school.
