118.15(1)(f)
(f) At the beginning of each school term, the school board shall notify the pupils enrolled in the school district and their parents or guardians of the substance of
pars. (d),
(dm) and
(e).
118.15(2)(a)(a) If the determination is made under
sub. (1) (b) for a child to attend a technical college, the district board governing the technical college shall establish appropriate vocational and technical courses in accordance with
s. 118.33 (3m) and the school board shall pay the technical college district board an amount calculated as follows:
118.15(2)(a)1.
1. Divide the number of credit hours of instruction scheduled by the technical college district for the pupil by 30.
118.15(2)(a)2.
2. Multiply the quotient under
subd. 1. by the statewide average instructional cost for general education programs in the technical college system in the previous school year, as determined by the technical college system board.
118.15(2)(a)3.
3. Multiply the quotient under
subd. 1. by any additional costs associated with direct student support services, as determined jointly by the department and the state director of the technical college system.
Effective date note
NOTE: Subd. 3. is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
3. Multiply the quotient under subd. 1. by any additional costs associated with direct student support services, as determined jointly by the state superintendent and the state director of the technical college system.
118.15(2)(c)
(c) Pupils attending a technical college under this subsection may receive general education subjects at the technical college and shall be counted as pupils enrolled in the high school for all purposes including computing state aid for the school district. Payments by the school district under
par. (a) shall be deemed costs of operation and maintenance.
118.15(2)(d)
(d) Transportation, or board and lodging under
s. 121.57 (1) (a), for pupils attending a technical college under this subsection shall be provided by the school district, and state aids shall be paid therefor, on the same basis as is transportation for pupils attending high school.
118.15(3)
(3) This section does not apply to:
118.15(3)(a)
(a) Any child who is excused by the school board because the child is temporarily not in proper physical or mental condition to attend school or an educational program under
s. 115.85 (2), but who can be expected to return to school or the program upon termination or abatement of the illness or condition. The school attendance officer may request the parent or guardian of the child to obtain a written statement from a licensed physician, dentist, chiropractor, optometrist or psychologist or Christian Science practitioner living and residing in this state, who is listed in the Christian Science Journal, as sufficient proof of the physical or mental condition of the child. An excuse under this paragraph shall be in writing and shall state the time period for which it is valid, not to exceed 30 days.
118.15(3)(b)
(b) Any child excused by the school board in accordance with the school board's written attendance policy under
s. 118.16 (4) and with the written approval of the child's parent or guardian. The child's truancy, discipline or school achievement problems or exceptional educational needs as described in
s. 115.76 (3) may not be used as the reason for an excuse under this paragraph. The excuse shall be in writing and shall state the time period for which it is effective, not to extend beyond the end of the current school year.
118.15(4)
(4) Instruction in a home-based private educational program that meets all of the criteria under
s. 118.165 (1) may be substituted for attendance at a public or private school.
118.15(4m)
(4m) No school board, school board member, multidisciplinary team under
s. 115.80 or person employed by a school board or cooperative educational service agency may in any manner compel a pregnant girl to withdraw from her regular education program.
118.15(5)(a)(a) Except as provided under
par. (b) or if a person has been found guilty of a misdemeanor under
s. 948.45, whoever violates this section may be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days or both, if evidence has been provided by the school attendance officer that the activities under
s. 118.16 (5) have been completed or were not completed due to the child's absence from school as provided in
s. 118.16 (5m). In a prosecution under this paragraph, if the defendant proves that he or she is unable to comply with the law because of the disobedience of the child, the action shall be dismissed and the child shall be referred to the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under
chs. 48 and
938.
118.15(5)(am)
(am) The court may order any person who violates this section to participate in counseling at the person's own expense.
118.15(5)(b)
(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to a person who has under his or her control a child who has been sanctioned under
s. 49.26 (1) (h).
118.15 History
History: 1971 c. 40,
125,
154;
1973 c. 89,
243,
319,
332;
1975 c. 39,
199;
1979 c. 221,
298,
300,
355;
1981 c. 20;
1983 a. 512;
1985 a. 29;
1987 a. 36,
285,
399;
1989 a. 31,
336;
1991 a. 39;
1993 a. 223,
399;
1995 a. 27 s.
3945,
9145 (1);
1995 a. 77,
225.
118.15 Annotation
Compelling Amish parents to send their children to high school infringes upon their religious liberties. State v. Yoder, 49 W (2d) 430, 182 NW (2d) 539; aff'd,
406 U.S. 205.
118.15 Annotation
A city is not liable for failure to enforce the school attendance laws for damages resulting from an assault by truants. Riemer v. Crayton, 57 W (2d) 755.
118.15 Annotation
See note to Art. I, sec. 18, citing State v. Kasuboski, 87 W (2d) 407, 275 NW (2d) 101 (Ct. App. 1978).
118.15 Annotation
See note to 785.02, citing In Interest of D.L.D. 110 W (2d) 168, 327 NW (2d) 682 (1983).
118.15 Annotation
Section permits VTAE instructors to teach limited number of courses to public school students under certain circumstances without department of public instruction certification. Educ. Ass'n. v. Public Instruction Dept., 154 W (2d) 655, 453 NW (2d) 915 (Ct. App. 1990).
118.15 Annotation
This section is not unconstitutionally vague. State v. White, 180 W (2d) 203, 509 NW (2d) 434 (Ct. App. 1993).
118.15 Annotation
The Amish and compulsory school attendance. 1971 WLR 832.
118.153(1)(a)
(a) "Children at risk" means pupils in grades 5 to 12 who are one or more years behind their age group in the number of high school credits attained, or 2 or more years behind their age group in basic skill levels, and are also one or more of the following:
118.153(1)(b)
(b) "Dropout" means a child who ceased to attend school, does not attend a public or private school, technical college or home-based private educational program on a full-time basis, has not graduated from high school and does not have an acceptable excuse under
s. 118.15 (1) (b) to
(d) or
(3).
118.153(2)(a)(a) Every school board shall identify the children at risk who are enrolled in the school district and annually by August 15 develop a plan describing how the school board will meet their needs.
118.153(2)(b)1.1. If in the previous school year a school district had 50 or more dropouts and a dropout rate exceeding 5% of its total high school enrollment, the school board shall apply to the department for aid under this section.
Effective date note
NOTE: Subd. 1. is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
1. If in the previous school year a school district had 50 or more dropouts and a dropout rate exceeding 5% of its total high school enrollment, the school board shall apply to the state superintendent for aid under this section.
118.153(2)(b)2.
2. If in the previous school year a school district had 40 or more dropouts, the school board may apply to the department for aid under this section.
Effective date note
NOTE: Subd. 2. is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
2. If in the previous school year a school district had 40 or more dropouts, the school board may apply to the state superintendent for aid under this section.
118.153(3)(a)1.
1. Every school board that applies for aid under
sub. (2) (b) shall make available to the children at risk enrolled in the school district a program for children at risk.
118.153(3)(a)2.
2. Upon request of a pupil who is a child at risk or the pupil's parent or guardian, a school board described under
subd. 1. shall enroll the pupil in the program for children at risk. If the school board makes available more than one program for children at risk, the school board shall enroll the pupil in the program selected by the pupil's parent or guardian if the pupil meets the prerequisites for that program. If there is no space in that program for the pupil, the school board of the school district operating under
ch. 119 shall place the pupil's name on a waiting list for that program and offer the pupil an alternative program for children at risk until space in the requested program becomes available.
118.153(3)(b)
(b) A program for children at risk shall be designed to allow the pupils enrolled to meet high school graduation requirements under
s. 118.33. The school board of the school district operating under
ch. 119 shall ensure that there are at least 40 pupils and no more than 200 pupils in each program and that a separate administrator or teacher is in charge of each program.
118.153(3)(c)1.1. Each school board shall identify appropriate private, nonprofit, nonsectarian agencies located in the school district or within 5 miles of the boundaries of the school district to meet the requirements under
pars. (a) and
(b) for the children at risk enrolled in the school district.
118.153(3)(c)2.
2. The school board may contract with the agencies identified under
subd. 1. for not more than 30% of the children at risk enrolled in the school district if the school board determines that the agencies can adequately serve such children.
118.153(3)(c)3.
3. The school board shall pay each contracting agency, for each full-time equivalent pupil served by the agency, an amount equal to at least 80% of the average per pupil cost for the school district.
118.153(4)(a)(a) Beginning in August 1994, and annually thereafter, a school board that applied for aid under this section in the previous school year shall submit a report to the department. The report shall include only information about the pupils enrolled in a program for children at risk in the previous school year that is necessary for the department to determine the number of pupils who achieved each of the objectives under
par. (c).
Effective date note
NOTE: Par. (a) is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
(a) Beginning in August 1994, and annually thereafter, a school board that applied for aid under this section in the previous school year shall submit a report to the state superintendent. The report shall include only information about the pupils enrolled in a program for children at risk in the previous school year that is necessary for the state superintendent to determine the number of pupils who achieved each of the objectives under par. (c).
118.153(4)(b)
(b) Upon receipt of a school board's annual report under
par. (a) the department shall pay to the school district from the appropriation under
s. 20.255 (2) (bc), for each pupil enrolled in a program for children at risk who achieved at least 3 of the objectives under
par. (c) in the previous school year, additional state aid in an amount equal to 10% of the school district's average per pupil aids provided under s.
20.835 (7) (a), 1991 stats., and
s. 20.255 (2) (ac) in the previous school year.
Effective date note
NOTE: Par. (b) is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
(b) Upon receipt of a school board's annual report under par. (a) the state superintendent shall pay to the school district from the appropriation under s. 20.255 (2) (bc), for each pupil enrolled in a program for children at risk who achieved at least 3 of the objectives under par. (c) in the previous school year, additional state aid in an amount equal to 10% of the school district's average per pupil aids provided under s. 20.835 (7) (a), 1991 stats., and s. 20.255 (2) (ac) in the previous school year.
118.153(4)(c)3.
3. The pupil, if a high school senior, received a high school diploma.
118.153(4)(c)4.
4. The pupil earned at least 4.5 academic credits or a prorated number of credits if the pupil was enrolled in the program for less than the entire school year.
118.153(4)(c)5.
5. The pupil demonstrated, on standardized tests or other appropriate measures, at least one month's gain in reading and mathematics for each month of enrollment.
118.153(4)(e)
(e) If the appropriation under
s. 20.255 (2) (bc) in any fiscal year is insufficient to pay the full amount of aid under
par. (b), state aid payments shall be prorated among the school districts entitled to such aid.
118.153(5)
(5) The school board of the school district operating under
ch. 119 shall use the additional funds received under this section to expand successful programs for children at risk or to establish new programs if expansion of a successful program would violate
sub. (3) (b).
118.153(6)
(6) Biennially, the legislative audit bureau shall audit school district eligibility, performance criteria and state aid payments under this section.
118.153(7)
(7) The department shall promulgate rules to implement and administer this section. The rules shall not be overly restrictive in defining approved programs and shall not serve to exclude programs that have demonstrated success in meeting the needs of children at risk.
Effective date note
NOTE: Sub. (7) is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
(7) The state superintendent shall promulgate rules to implement and administer this section. The rules shall not be overly restrictive in defining approved programs and shall not serve to exclude programs that have demonstrated success in meeting the needs of children at risk.
118.155
118.155
Released time for religious instruction. 118.155(1)(1) Any school board shall, without approval of the department, permit pupils with written permission of a parent or guardian to be absent from school at least 60 minutes but not more than 180 minutes per week to obtain religious instruction outside the school during the required school period. The supervisor of such religious instruction shall report monthly, to the principal of the school regularly attended, the names of the pupils who attended such weekly religious instruction. The school board may deny the privilege of released time to pupils who absent themselves from such religious instruction after requesting the privilege. The time period, or periods, allotted for the pupil to be absent from school for the purpose of religious instruction shall be determined by the school board.
Effective date note
NOTE: Sub. (1) is shown as amended eff. 1-1-96 by
1995 Wis. Act 27. The treatment by Act 27 was held unconstitutional and declared void by the Supreme Court in Thompson v. Craney, case no.
95-2168-OA. Prior to Act 27 it read:
Effective date text
(1) Any school board shall, without approval of the state superintendent, permit pupils with written permission of a parent or guardian to be absent from school at least 60 minutes but not more than 180 minutes per week to obtain religious instruction outside the school during the required school period. The supervisor of such religious instruction shall report monthly, to the principal of the school regularly attended, the names of the pupils who attended such weekly religious instruction. The school board may deny the privilege of released time to pupils who absent themselves from such religious instruction after requesting the privilege. The time period, or periods, allotted for the pupil to be absent from school for the purpose of religious instruction shall be determined by the school board.
118.155(2)
(2) Any transportation to religious instruction or from religious instruction to the public school shall be the responsibility of the parents or of the organization sponsoring the religious instruction.
118.155(3)
(3) The school district shall be released from all liability for a pupil who is absent from school in accordance with
sub. (1).
118.155 History
History: 1973 c. 161;
1995 a. 27 s.
9145 (1).
118.155 Annotation
Constitutionality upheld. State ex rel. Holt v. Thompson, 66 W (2d) 659, 225 NW (2d) 678.
118.16
118.16
School attendance enforcement. 118.16(1)(a)
(a) "Habitual truant" means a pupil who is absent from school without an acceptable excuse under
sub. (4) and
s. 118.15 for either of the following:
118.16(1)(a)1.
1. Part or all of 5 or more days out of 10 consecutive days on which school is held during a school semester.
118.16(1)(a)2.
2. Part or all of 10 or more days on which school is held during a school semester.
118.16(1)(b)
(b) "School attendance officer" means an employe designated by the school board to deal with matters relating to school attendance and truancy. "School attendance officer" does not include an individual designated under
sub. (2m) (a) to take into custody a child who is absent from school without an acceptable excuse under
s. 118.15 unless that individual has also been designated by the school board to deal with matters relating to school attendance and truancy.
118.16(1)(c)
(c) "Truancy" means any absence of part or all of one or more days from school during which the school attendance officer, principal or teacher has not been notified of the legal cause of such absence by the parent or guardian of the absent pupil, and also means intermittent attendance carried on for the purpose of defeating the intent of
s. 118.15.
