SB525: Bill Text

LRB-2515/6

PG:sac&eev:jf

2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE

2013 Senate BILL 525

January 30, 2014 - Introduced by Senators Vukmir, Darling and Farrow, cosponsored by Representatives Jagler, Knudson, Tittl, Jacque, Kleefisch, Sanfelippo, Strachota, Pridemore, Endsley, Rodriguez, Thiesfeldt, Bernier, Klenke, Skowronski and Knodl. Referred to Committee on Education.

SB525,1,5 An Act to amend 20.255 (2) (ac), 20.255 (2) (cy), 115.77 (1), 115.791 (4), 118.305 (1) (h) and 121.54 (3); and to create 20.255 (2) (az), 115.7915, 118.40 (2r) (e) 5., 118.60 (4s) and 119.23 (4s) of the statutes; relating to: creating a Special Needs Scholarship Program for disabled pupils, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill establishes a Special Needs Scholarship Program. Under the program, beginning in the 2014-15 school year, a child with a disability may receive a scholarship to attend a public school located outside the pupil's school district of residence, a charter school, or a private school, if all of the following conditions are met:

1. The child has applied to attend a public school outside of his or her school district of residence under the Open Enrollment Program and was rejected by the school board of the nonresident school district or was prohibited from attending school in a nonresident school district by the school board of the child's resident school district.

2. The school has notified the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) of its intent to participate in the program and the child has been accepted by the school.

3. If the school is a private school, it is approved as a private school by DPI or is accredited.

4. An individualized education program (IEP) has been completed for the child.

5. With certain exceptions, the child attended a public school in this state in the previous school year.

The bill directs DPI to develop a document, for inclusion with an application, comparing the rights of a child with a disability and his or her parent under state and federal handicapped education law with the rights of a child with a disability under the program created by this bill and federal handicapped education law.

A school that accepts a child under the program must notify DPI. Upon receipt of the notice, DPI must notify the school board of the pupil's school district of residence and determine the amount of the child's scholarship. The amount is the lesser of the cost to the school the child is attending under the scholarship of providing regular instruction, instructional and pupil support services, special education and related services, and supplementary aids and services to the child, plus the per pupil operating and debt service costs, or an amount equal to the statewide cost per public school pupil plus the state aid per child with a disability. If the child is attending for less than a full school term, DPI must prorate the amount of the scholarship.

DPI pays the scholarship directly to the school or school district that the child will attend. The scholarship continues while the child attends a school eligible to participate in the program until he or she graduates from high school or until the end of the school term in which he or she turns 21, whichever comes first.

Under the bill, the total amount appropriated as state school equalization aid is reduced by the total amount of scholarships paid by DPI to schools and school districts under the program, as described above. A pupil attending a private school, a public school outside the pupil's school district of residence, or an independent charter school under the program is not counted for state aid purposes by the pupil's school district of residence.

Each private school participating in the program must comply with applicable health and safety laws; hold a valid certificate of occupancy if the municipality in which the school is located issues such certificates; comply with federal law that prohibits discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, or national origin; conduct criminal background investigations of its employees and exclude from employment any person not permitted to hold a teaching license as the result of an offense and any person who might reasonably be believed to pose a threat to the safety of others; provide to each applicant a profile of the school's special education program; implement the child's most recent IEP; and comply with the restrictions on the use of seclusion and physical restraint that currently apply to public and charter schools.

The private school must also annually submit to DPI a school financial report prepared by a certified public accountant. If the private school expects to receive at least $50,000 in scholarships during a school year, it must either file a surety bond with DPI or provide DPI with information demonstrating that it has the ability to pay an amount equal to 25 percent of the total amount of scholarships that it expects to receive.

The bill provides that if a child attends a private school under the program, his or her school district of residence must provide transportation to and from the school if the school is located at least two miles from the child's residence, the child resides in the private school's attendance area, and the private school is situated within the school district of residence or not more than five miles beyond the boundaries of the school district.

If the child attends a public school under the program, the child's parent is responsible for transporting the child to and from school unless transportation is required in the child's IEP. If the latter applies, the school district that the child attends is responsible for transporting the child. The bill allows a low-income pupil to apply to DPI for reimbursement of transportation costs.

The bill authorizes DPI to bar a school from participating in the program if the school intentionally and substantially misrepresents information required under the bill, routinely fails to comply with financial standards, uses a pupil's scholarship for any purpose other than educational purposes, or fails to refund any scholarship overpayments to the state.

Finally, the bill directs the Legislative Audit Bureau to contract for a study of the program. The results of the study must be reported to the legislature by January 9, 2017.

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:

SB525,1 Section 1. 20.255 (2) (ac) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB525,3,4 20.255 (2) (ac) General equalization aids. The amounts in the schedule for the payment of educational aids under ss. 121.08, 121.09, 121.095, 121.105, and 121.137 and subch. VI of ch. 121, less the amount appropriated under par. (az).

SB525,2 Section 2. 20.255 (2) (az) of the statutes is created to read:

SB525,3,7 20.255 (2) (az) Special Needs Scholarship Program. A sum sufficient to pay the special needs scholarships under s. 115.7915.

SB525,3 Section 3. 20.255 (2) (cy) of the statutes, as affected by 2013 Wisconsin Act 20, is amended to read:

SB525,4,2 20.255 (2) (cy) Aid for transportation; open enrollment and, course options, and special needs scholarships. The amounts in the schedule to reimburse parents for the costs of transportation of pupils under ss. 115.7915, 118.51 (14) (b), and 118.52 (11) (b).

SB525,4 Section 4. 115.77 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB525,4,7 115.77 (1) In sub. (1m) (a) to (d), except as provided in s. 118.51 (12) (a) and (b) 2., if a child with a disability is attending a public school in a nonresident school district under s. 115.7915, 118.51, or 121.84 (1) (a) or (4), "local educational agency" means the school district that the child is attending.

SB525,5 Section 5. 115.791 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB525,4,14 115.791 (4) Subject to s. 115.77 (1m) (d) and (e), this section does not require a local educational agency to pay the cost of education, including special education and related services, of a child with a disability at a private school or facility, including a child with a disability attending a private school under s. 115.7915, if the local educational agency made a free appropriate public education available to the child and the child's parents elected to place the child in a private school or facility.

SB525,6 Section 6. 115.7915 of the statutes is created to read:

SB525,4,17 115.7915 Special Needs Scholarship Program. (1) Definition. In this section:

SB525,4,20 (a) "Eligible school" means a public school located in this state but outside the pupil's school district of residence; a charter school located in this state, including a virtual charter school; or a private school located in this state.

SB525,4,21 (b) "Services plan" has the meaning given in 34 CFR 300.37.

SB525,4,24 (1m) Scholarship requirements. Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, a child with a disability shall receive a scholarship under this section to attend an eligible school if all of the following apply:

SB525,5,3 (a) The child applied to attend a public school in one or more nonresident school districts under s. 118.51 for the same school year for which he or she is submitting an application under par. (f), and all of the following occurred:

SB525,5,7 1. The child was rejected by the school boards of all the nonresident school districts to which he or she applied under s. 118.51 (3) (a), (3m) (a), or (7); or was prohibited from attending public school in all the nonresident school districts to which he or she applied under s. 118.51 (3m) (d), (7), or (12) (b) 1.

SB525,5,9 2. If the child's parent appealed any school board decision under subd. 1., the department affirmed the decision.

SB525,5,14 (b) The school district in which the eligible public school is located, the eligible charter school, or the eligible private school notified the department of its intent to participate in the program under this section. The notice shall specify the number of pupils who may participate in the program under this section for whom the school has space.

SB525,5,22 (c) The eligible school, if a private school, is approved by the state superintendent under s. 118.165 (2) or is accredited by the Wisconsin North Central Association, Wisconsin Religious and Independent Schools Accreditation, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod School Accreditation, National Lutheran School Accreditation, the diocese or archdiocese within which the private school is located, or any other organization recognized by the National Council for Private School Accreditation, as of the August 1 preceding the school term for which the scholarship is awarded.

SB525,5,24 (d) An individualized education program or services plan has been completed for the child.

SB525,6,3 (e) The child attended a public school in this state for the entire school year immediately preceding the school year for which the child first receives a scholarship under this section.

SB525,6,9 (f) The child, or the child's parent on behalf of the child, has submitted an application to the eligible school, on a form prepared by the department, for a scholarship under this section to attend the eligible school. The application shall include the document developed by the department under sub. (2) (a). An application may be made, and a child may begin attending an eligible school under this section, at any time during the school year.

SB525,6,11 (g) The child has been accepted by the school district in which the eligible public school is located, the eligible charter school, or the eligible private school.

SB525,6,15 (1s) Acceptance of pupils. If an eligible school receives more applications under sub. (1m) (f) than the number of pupils specified in the notice under sub. (1m) (b), it shall select pupils on a random basis except that it may give preference to siblings of pupils who are already attending the eligible school.

SB525,6,21 (2) Department duties. (a) 1. The department shall develop a document for inclusion with an application under sub. (1m) (f), and revise it as necessary, comparing the rights of a child with a disability and of his or her parent under this subchapter, other than this section, and 20 USC 1400 to 1482, with the rights of a child with a disability and of his or her parent under this section and 20 USC 1400 to 1482.

SB525,7,2 2. Receipt by an applicant of the document developed under subd. 1., acknowledged in a format prescribed by the department, constitutes notice that the applicant has been informed of his or her rights under this section and 20 USC 1400 to 1482. Subsequent acceptance of a scholarship under this section constitutes the applicant's informed acknowledgment of the rights specified in the document.

SB525,7,5 (b) The governing body of an eligible school that accepts a child under sub. (1m) (g) shall notify the department. Upon being notified, the department shall do all of the following:

SB525,7,10 1. Notify the school board of the pupil's school district of residence that the pupil has been awarded a scholarship under this section. The school board shall, within 3 days of receiving the notice, provide the department and the governing body of the eligible school that accepted the pupil with a copy of the pupil's individualized education program.

SB525,7,12 2. Determine the amount of the pupil's scholarship. The amount shall be the lesser of the following:

SB525,7,20 a. Divide the sum of the statewide gross property tax levy for schools in the previous year and the total amount of general school aid appropriated under s. 20.255 (2) (ac), (ar), and (bb) in the previous fiscal year by the total statewide membership, as defined in s. 121.004 (5), in the previous school year, and add to the quotient the result obtained by dividing the amount appropriated under s. 20.255 (2) (b) in the previous fiscal year by the total number of children with disabilities enrolled in public schools in the previous school year, as determined for federal aid purposes under 20 USC 1400 to 1482.