Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, each school district must hold school for 180 days each
school term and must schedule at least 437 hours of direct pupil instruction in
kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades one to six, and
at least 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades seven to twelve. With some
exceptions, the state superintendent must withhold state aid from a school district
if the school district fails to hold school for 180 days. If, however, a school district
holds less than 180 days of school as a result of a strike by school district employees,
instead of withholding state aid from the school district, the amount of state aid is
reduced to account for the amount of shared costs not incurred by the school district
as a result of the strike.

This bill eliminates the requirement that a school district hold school for 180
days each year. The bill replaces the requirement that the state superintendent
withhold state aid from a school district that fails to hold school for 180 days with a
requirement that the state superintendent withhold state aid from a school district
that fails to provide the hours of direct pupil instruction specified above. Finally, the
bill substitutes the requirement that a school district that fails to hold school for 180
days as a result of a strike of school district employees receive a reduction in state
aid with a requirement that a school district that fails to provide the hours of direct
pupil instruction specified above as a result of a strike of school district employees
receive a reduction in state aid.
Current law permits a school district to receive state aid for pupils who enroll
in academic summer classes and laboratory periods offered by the school district if
the state superintendent has determined that the classes are necessary for academic
purposes. Current law also permits a school district to include in its revenue limit
calculation a portion of the summer class enrollment for such necessary, academic
classes and laboratory periods.
This bill permits a school district to receive state aid for and include in its
revenue limit calculations a portion of the summer class enrollment of high school
pupils who complete an online summer course offered by the school district if all of
the following conditions are satisfied: 1) the pupil either resides in the school district
that offers the online course or is enrolled in that school district through the open
enrollment program; 2) the pupil receives credit for completing the online course; and
3) the school board of the school district that offers the online course has determined
that the course fulfills a prerequisite to the receipt of a high school diploma.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB749,1 1Section 1. 115.01 (10) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 115.01 (10).
AB749,2 2Section 2. 115.01 (10) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
AB749,3 3Section 3. 118.04 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,2,84 118.04 (4) Shall not charge tuition for attendance at summer classes of pupils
5who are residents of the school district if the school board receives aid for such classes
6under s. 121.14 (1) (a) 1. The school board may establish and collect reasonable fees
7for social, recreational, or extracurricular summer classes and, programs, and
8courses
which are neither credited toward graduation nor aided under s. 121.14.
AB749,4 9Section 4. 118.38 (2) (bm) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,3,4
1118.38 (2) (bm) The department shall promulgate rules establishing criteria
2for waiving the requirement to schedule at least the number of hours of direct pupil
3instruction specified under s. 121.02 (1) (f) 2. if school is closed for a reason specified
4in s. 115.01 (10) (a) 2. or 3. (b) or (c).
AB749,5 5Section 5. 118.40 (8) (d) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,3,96 118.40 (8) (d) 2. Ensure that its teachers are available to provide direct pupil
7instruction for at least the applicable number of hours specified in s. 121.02 (1) (f) 2.
8each school year. No more than 10 hours in any 24-hour period may count toward
9the requirement under this subdivision.
AB749,6 10Section 6. 120.12 (15) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,3,1411 120.12 (15) School hours. Establish rules scheduling the hours of a normal
12school day. The school board may differentiate between the various elementary and
13high school grades in scheduling the school day. The equivalent of 180 such days, as
14defined in s. 115.01 (10), shall be held during the school term.
AB749,7 15Section 7. 120.12 (27) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,3,1916 120.12 (27) School closings and reopenings. (a) Within 24 hours of a school
17being closed for a reason specified in s. 115.01 (10) (a) 2. or 3. (b) or (c) or by the
18department of health services under s. 252.02 (3), notify the department. The notice
19shall include the reason for the closure.
AB749,3,2320 (b) Within 24 hours of reopening a school that was closed for a reason specified
21in s. 115.01 (10) (a) 2. or 3. (b) or (c) or by the department of health services under
22s. 252.02 (3), notify the department that the school has reopened. In the notice, the
23school board shall include the number of days the school was closed.
AB749,8 24Section 8. 121.004 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,4,4
1121.004 (5) Membership. "Membership" for any school district is the sum of
2pupils enrolled as reported under s. 121.05 (1) or (2), as appropriate, and the summer
3average daily membership equivalent for classes and courses approved under s.
4121.14.
AB749,9 5Section 9. 121.004 (7) (c) 1. a. and b. of the statutes are amended to read:
AB749,4,86 121.004 (7) (c) 1. a. A pupil enrolled in a 5-year-old kindergarten program
7requiring full-day attendance for 5 days a week for an entire school year term shall
8be counted as one pupil.
AB749,4,149 b. A pupil enrolled in a 5-year-old kindergarten program requiring full-day
10attendance for less than 5 days a week for an entire school year term shall be counted
11as the result obtained by multiplying the number of hours in each day in which the
12pupil is enrolled by the total number of days for which the pupil is enrolled, and
13dividing the result by the product of the total number of hours of attendance per day
14required of first grade pupils in the school district multiplied by 180.
AB749,10 15Section 10. 121.004 (7) (cm) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,4,2016 121.004 (7) (cm) A pupil enrolled in a 4-year-old kindergarten program,
17including a 4-year-old kindergarten program being phased in under s. 118.14 (3) (b),
18that provides the required number of hours of direct pupil instruction under s. 121.02
19(1) (f) 2. shall be counted as 0.6 pupil if the program annually provides at least 87.5
20additional hours of outreach activities.
AB749,11 21Section 11. 121.004 (8) of the statutes is renumbered 121.004 (8) (intro.) and
22amended to read:
AB749,4,2523 121.004 (8) Summer average daily membership equivalent. (intro.) "Summer
24average daily membership equivalent" is the a number determined by dividing the
25sum of the following by 48,600:
AB749,5,3
1(a) The total number of minutes in which pupils are enrolled in academic
2summer classes or laboratory periods, as defined by the state superintendent under
3s. 121.14, divided by 48,600.
AB749,12 4Section 12. 121.004 (8) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
AB749,5,75 121.004 (8) (b) The sum of the number of minutes of online course instruction
6completed per pupil for each high school pupil who completes an online summer
7course offered by a school district if all of the following are satisfied:
AB749,5,88 1. The online course is offered by a school district.
AB749,5,109 2. The pupil receiving instruction in the online course resides in the school
10district under subd. 1. or is attending that school district under s. 118.51.
AB749,5,1211 3. The pupil receiving instruction in the online course receives credit for
12completion of the course.
AB749,5,1413 4. The school board of the school district under subd. 1. determines that the
14credit received under subd. 3. fulfills a requirement under s. 118.33 (1) (a) 1.
AB749,13 15Section 13. 121.006 (2) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 121.006 (2) (a) (intro.)
16and amended to read:
AB749,5,1917 121.006 (2) (a) (intro.) Hold school for at least 180 days each year the minimum
18number of hours of direct pupil instruction required for the grade in which a pupil
19is enrolled as specified in s. 121.02 (1) (f)
, less any days of the following:
AB749,5,22 201. Hours during which the state superintendent determines that school is not
21held or educational standards are not maintained as the result of a strike by school
22district employees, the days to be computed in accordance with s. 115.01 (10).
AB749,14 23Section 14. 121.006 (2) (a) 2., 3. and 4. of the statutes are created to read:
AB749,6,3
1121.006 (2) (a) 2. Hours during which school is closed by order of the school
2district administrator because of inclement weather and hours during which
3parent-teacher conferences are held, not to exceed 35 hours during the school term.
AB749,6,54 3. Hours during which school is closed by order of a local health officer, as
5defined in s. 250.01 (5), or the department of health services.
AB749,6,106 4. Hours during which school is closed by order of the school district
7administrator because of a threat to the health or safety of pupils or school personnel,
8but not including inclement weather, unless the school board determines that the
9hours will not count as hours of direct pupil instruction for purposes of s. 121.02 (1)
10(f).
AB749,15 11Section 15. 121.02 (1) (f) 1. of the statutes is repealed.
AB749,16 12Section 16. 121.02 (1) (f) 2. of the statutes is renumbered 121.02 (1) (f) and
13amended to read:
AB749,6,2114 121.02 (1) (f) Annually, schedule at least 437 hours of direct pupil instruction
15in kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 1 to 6 and
16at least 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 7 to 12. Scheduled hours
17under this subdivision paragraph include recess and time for pupils to transfer
18between classes but do not include the lunch period. Scheduled hours under this
19paragraph may include up to 35 hours on Saturdays.
A school board operating a
204-year-old kindergarten program may use up to 87.5 of the scheduled hours for
21outreach activities.
AB749,17 22Section 17. 121.14 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 121.14 (1) (a) (intro.) and
23amended to read:
AB749,6,2524 121.14 (1) (a) (intro.) State aid shall be paid to each district or county children
25with disabilities education board only for all of the following:
AB749,7,2
11. Subject to par. (b), those academic summer classes or laboratory periods that
2are for necessary academic purposes, as defined by the state superintendent by rule.
AB749,7,6 3(b) Recreational programs and team sports shall not be eligible for aid under
4this section, and pupils participating in such programs shall not be counted as pupils
5enrolled under s. 121.004 (5) nor shall costs associated with such programs be
6included in shared costs under s. 121.07 (6).
AB749,18 7Section 18. 121.14 (1) (a) 2. of the statutes is created to read:
AB749,7,128 121.14 (1) (a) 2. Those online courses offered as summer classes to high school
9pupils who reside in the school district, or who are attending the online course in the
10school district under s. 118.51, provided the pupil receives a credit for the course and
11the school board of the school district determines the credit fulfills a requirement
12under s. 118.33 (1) (a) 1.
AB749,19 13Section 19. 121.23 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,7,1914 121.23 (2) (intro.) If a school district holds less than 180 days of school fails to
15provide the number of hours of direct pupil instruction specified under s. 121.02 (1)
16(f)
as the result of a strike by school district employees, for the purposes of computing
17general aid, the state superintendent shall compute the school district's primary and
18secondary ceiling costs per member in accordance with the procedure specified in
19pars. (a) to (e). In making the calculation, the state superintendent shall:
AB749,20 20Section 20. 121.58 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,8,1021 121.58 (4) State aid for summer class transportation. Annually on or before
22October 1 of the year in which transportation is provided under s. 121.54 (4), or under
23s. 121.54 (10) if the transportation is provided by the nonresident school district that
24a pupil attends under s. 118.51 or 121.84 (4), the school district clerk shall file with
25the department a report, containing such information as the department requires,

1on transportation provided by the school board to and from summer classes. Upon
2receipt of such report and if the summer classes meet the requirements of s. 121.14
3(1) (a) 1., state aid shall be paid for such transportation. A school district which
4provides such transportation shall be paid state aid for such transportation at the
5rate of $4 per pupil transported to and from public school whose residence is at least
62 miles and not more than 5 miles by the nearest traveled route from the public school
7attended, and $6 per pupil transported to and from public school whose residence is
8more than 5 miles by the nearest traveled route from the public school attended, if
9the pupil is transported 30 days or more. The state aid shall be reduced
10proportionately if the pupil is transported less than 30 days.
AB749,21 11Section 21. 121.83 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,8,1512 121.83 (2) (b) The tuition for summer school shall be the daily tuition rate for
13the previous school year multiplied by 180 the number of school days held in the
14previous school year
times the summer average daily membership equivalent of the
15pupil.
AB749,22 16Section 22. 121.90 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB749,8,1817 121.90 (3) "Summer enrollment" means the summer average daily
18membership equivalent for classes and courses approved under s. 121.14.
AB749,23 19Section 23. Initial applicability.
AB749,8,2120 (1) The treatment of section 118.04 (4) of the statutes first applies to tuition
21charged for online courses in the 2014-15 school year.
AB749,8,2522 (2) The treatment of section 121.004 (5) of the statutes, the renumbering and
23amendment of sections 121.004 (8) and 121.14 (1) of the statutes, and the creation
24of sections 121.004 (8) (b) and 121.14 (1) (a) 2. of the statutes first applies to state aid
25paid for summer classes in the 2014-15 school year.
AB749,9,2
1(3) The treatment of section 121.90 (3) of the statutes first applies to the
2determination of a school district's revenue limit in the 2014-15 school year.
AB749,9,33 (End)
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