16.993(6)
(6) No later than October 1 of each even-numbered year, submit a biennial report concerning the department's activities under this subchapter to the governor, and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under
s. 13.172 (3).
16.993(7)
(7) Purchase educational technology materials, supplies, equipment, and contractual services for school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison under
s. 16.72 (8), and establish standards and specifications for purchases of educational technology hardware and software by school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, and the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
16.993(8)
(8) Purchase educational technology equipment for use by school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, and public educational institutions in this state and permit the districts, agencies, and institutions to purchase or lease the equipment, with an option to purchase the equipment at a later date. This subsection does not require the purchase or lease of any educational technology equipment from the department.
16.993(10)
(10) Coordinate an annual conference on educational technology, hosted by the governor, for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educators and establish a schedule of fees for attending the conference, which fees may not exceed the actual costs incurred in conducting the conference. All fees collected under this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (hc).
16.994
16.994
Information technology block grants. 16.994(1)
(1)
Competitive grants. In fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17, the department may annually award grants on a competitive basis to eligible school districts for the purpose of improving information technology infrastructure. In awarding grants under this section, the department shall give priority to applications for school districts in which the percentage of pupils who satisfy the income eligibility criteria under
42 USC 1758 (b) (1) for a free or reduced-price lunch is greater than in other applicant school districts. The department shall require an applicant for a grant under this section to provide all of the following:
16.994(1)(a)
(a) A description of the specific infrastructure, including any equipment, that the applicant intends to purchase with grant proceeds.
16.994(1)(b)
(b) The applicant's plan to purchase, install, and use the information technology infrastructure described in
par. (a).
16.994(1)(c)
(c) A description of the applicant's readiness to use information technology infrastructure purchased with grant proceeds.
16.994(2)
(2) Eligible school districts. A school district is eligible for a grant under this section if the school district's membership in the previous school year divided by the school district's area in square miles is 13 or less.
16.994(3)
(3) Maximum awards. The total amount the department may award to an eligible school district under
sub. (1) during the 2015-17 fiscal biennium may not exceed the following:
16.994(3)(a)
(a) If the membership of the eligible school district is fewer than 750 pupils, $30,000.
16.994(3)(b)
(b) If the membership of the eligible school district is 750 pupils to 1,500 pupils, $40 multiplied by the school district's membership.
16.994(3)(c)
(c) If the membership of the eligible school district is more than 1,500 pupils, $60,000.
16.994(4)
(4) Funding limitation. The department may not award grants under this section that total more than $7,500,000 in any fiscal year.
Effective date note
NOTE: This section is repealed eff. 7-1-17 by
2015 Wis. Act 55.
16.994 History
History: 2015 a. 55.
16.995
16.995
Educational technology infrastructure financial assistance. 16.995(1)(1)
Financial assistance authorized. The department may provide financial assistance under this section to school districts from the proceeds of public debt contracted under
s. 20.866 (2) (zc) and to public library boards from the proceeds of public debt contracted under
s. 20.866 (2) (zcm). Financial assistance under this section may be used only for the purpose of upgrading the electrical wiring of school and library buildings in existence on October 14, 1997, and installing and upgrading computer network wiring. The department may not provide any financial assistance under this section after July 26, 2003.
16.995(2)
(2) Financial assistance applications, terms, and conditions. The department shall establish application procedures for, and the terms and conditions of, financial assistance under this section. The department shall make a loan to a school district or public library board, or to a municipality on behalf of a public library board, in an amount equal to 50 percent of the total amount of financial assistance for which the department determines the school district or public library board is eligible and provide a grant to the school district or public library board for the remainder of the total. The terms and conditions of any financial assistance under this section may include the provision of professional building construction services under
s. 16.85 (15). The department shall determine the interest rate on loans under this section. The interest rate shall be as low as possible but shall be sufficient to fully pay all interest expenses incurred by the state in making the loans and to provide reserves that are reasonably expected to be required in the judgment of the department to ensure against losses arising from delinquency and default in the repayment of the loans. The term of a loan under this section may not exceed 10 years.
16.995(3)
(3) Repayment of loans. The department shall credit all moneys received from school districts for repayment of loans under this section to the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (ha). The department shall credit all moneys received from public library boards or from municipalities on behalf of public library boards for repayment of loans under this section to the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (hb).
16.995(3m)
(3m) Public debt repayment. To the extent that sufficient moneys for the provision of educational telecommunications access under
s. 16.997 are available in the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (mp) after payment of the administrative expenses specified in
s. 20.505 (4) (mp), the department shall use those available moneys to reimburse
s. 20.505 (4) (es) and
(et) for the payment of principal and interest costs incurred in financing educational technology infrastructure financial assistance under this section and to make full payment of the amounts determined by the building commission under
s. 13.488 (1) (m).
16.995(4)
(4) Funding for financial assistance. The department, subject to the limits of
s. 20.866 (2) (zc) and
(zcm), may request that the building commission contract public debt in accordance with
ch. 18 to fund financial assistance under this section.
16.995 History
History: 1997 a. 27,
41;
1999 a. 9;
2001 a. 16,
104;
2003 a. 33 ss.
238q,
1068d to
1072d; Stats. 2003 s. 16.995;
2005 a. 25.
16.996
16.996
Educational technology teacher training grants. 16.996(1)(1)
Purpose. The department shall annually award grants to eligible consortia of school districts for the costs of training teachers to use educational technology.
16.996(2)
(2) Eligible consortia. A consortium of school districts is eligible for a grant under this section if all of the following apply:
16.996(2)(a)
(a) The consortium consists of 3 or more school districts.
16.996(2)(b)
(b) Each school district's membership in the previous school year divided by that school district's area in square miles is 13 or less.
16.996(2)(c)
(c) The consortium applies for a grant under this section.
16.996(3)
(3) Grant amount. In any year the department awards grants under this section, subject to
sub. (4), the department shall pay to each eligible consortium the sum of the following amounts:
16.996(3)(a)
(a) For each school district in the consortium that had a membership of less than 750 pupils in the previous year, $7,500.
16.996(3)(b)
(b) For each school district in the consortium that had a membership of 750 pupils to 1,500 pupils in the previous year, $10 multiplied by the school district's membership in the previous year.
16.996(3)(c)
(c) For each school district in the consortium that had a membership of more than 1,500 pupils in the previous year, $15,000.
16.996(4)(a)(a) The department may not award grants under this section that total more than $1,500,000 in any fiscal year.
16.996(4)(b)
(b) If, in any fiscal year, $1,500,000 is insufficient to pay the full amount under
sub. (3), the department shall prorate the payments among the eligible consortia.
16.996 History
History: 2015 a. 55.
16.997
16.997
Educational telecommunications access program. 16.997(1)(1) Except as provided in
s. 196.218 (4t), the department shall promulgate rules establishing an educational telecommunications access program to provide educational agencies with access to data lines and video links.
16.997(2)
(2) The rules promulgated under
sub. (1) shall do all of the following:
16.997(2)(a)
(a) Allow an educational agency to make a request to the department for access to data lines and video links.
16.997(2)(b)
(b) Establish eligibility requirements for an educational agency to participate in the program established under
sub. (1) and to receive additional telecommunications access under
s. 16.998, including a requirement that a charter school sponsor use data lines and video links to benefit pupils attending the charter school and a requirement that Internet access to material that is harmful to children, as defined in
s. 948.11 (1) (b), is blocked on the computers of juvenile correctional facilities that are served by data links and video links subsidized under this section.
16.997(2)(c)
(c) Establish specifications for data lines and video links for which access is provided to an educational agency under the program established under
sub. (1) or for which additional access is provided to an educational agency under
s. 16.998.
16.997(2)(d)
(d) Require an educational agency to pay the department not more than $250 per month for each data line or video link that is provided to the educational agency under the program established under
sub. (1), except that the charge may not exceed $100 per month for each data line or video link that relies on a transport medium that operates at a speed of 1.544 megabits per second.
16.997(2)(f)
(f) Ensure that juvenile correctional facilities that receive access under this section to data lines and video links or that receive additional access under
s. 16.998 to data lines, video links, and bandwidth use those data lines and video links and that bandwidth only for educational purposes.
16.997(2c)
(2c) The department shall develop criteria to use to evaluate whether to provide more than one data line and video link to an educational agency. The department shall include in the criteria an educational agency's current bandwidth, equipment, and readiness, and the available providers and any other economic development in the geographic area that the educational agency serves.
16.997(2g)
(2g) An educational agency that is provided access to a data line under the program established under
sub. (1) or to an additional data line under
s. 16.998 may not do any of the following:
16.997(2g)(a)
(a) Provide access to the data line to any business entity, as defined in
s. 13.62 (5), unless the business entity complies with all of the following:
16.997(2g)(a)1.
1. The business entity is transmitting an event sponsored by the educational agency.
16.997(2g)(a)2.
2. The business entity has the permission of the educational agency to record and transmit the event.
16.997(2g)(a)2g.
2g. The access to the data line by the business entity is through the Internet.
16.997(2g)(a)2r.
2r. All transmissions through the data line originate or terminate at the site of an educational agency or other governmental agency that is an authorized user of the data line.
16.997(2g)(a)3.
3. The business entity reimburses the department for its proportionate share of the cost of the data line used to transmit the event.
16.997(2g)(b)
(b) Request access to an additional data line for purposes of providing access to bandwidth to a political subdivision under a shared service agreement under
sub. (2r) (a).
16.997(2r)(a)(a) A public library board that is provided access to a data line under the program established under
sub. (1) or to an additional data line under
s. 16.998 may enter into a shared service agreement with a political subdivision that provides the political subdivision with access to any excess bandwidth on the data line that is not used by the public library board, except that a public library board may not sell, resell, or transfer in consideration for money or anything of value to a political subdivision access to any excess bandwidth. A shared service agreement under this paragraph is not valid unless the agreement allows the public library board to cancel the agreement at any time after providing notice to the political subdivision.
16.997(2r)(b)
(b) A political subdivision that obtains access to bandwidth under a shared service agreement under
par. (a) may not receive compensation for providing any other person with access to the bandwidth.
16.997(2r)(c)
(c) A public library board shall provide the department with written notice within 30 days after entering into or modifying a shared service agreement under
par. (a).
16.997(3)
(3) The department shall prepare an annual report on the status of providing data lines and video links that are requested under
sub. (2) (a) and the impact on the universal service fund of any payment under contracts under
s. 16.974.
16.997(4)
(4) If the federal communications commission promulgates or modifies rules that provide rate discounts for telecommunications services to educational agencies under
47 USC 254, the governor shall submit a report to the joint committee on finance that includes any recommended changes to statutes or rules with respect to funding the program established under
sub. (1).
16.997(7)
(7) From the appropriation under
s. 20.505 (4) (s), the department shall award $25,000 annually in grants to consortia of school districts that meet all of the following criteria for the purpose of developing and implementing a technology-enhanced high school curriculum:
16.997(7)(a)
(a) The curriculum is developed for and implemented through streaming video conferencing and online course work.
16.997(7)(b)
(b) The consortium includes high schools from at least 8 school districts.
16.997(7)(c)
(c) The participating school districts collectively contribute an amount equal to at least the amount of the grant received in the same fiscal year.
16.997(7)(d)
(d) The curriculum is made available to each high school participating in the consortium.
16.998
16.998
Educational telecommunications; additional access. An educational agency that is eligible for a rate discount for telecommunications services under
47 USC 254 may request data lines, video links, and bandwidth access that is in addition to what is provided under the program under
s. 16.997 (1). The department shall apply for aid under
47 USC 254 to cover the costs of the data lines, video links, and bandwidth access that are provided under this section and shall credit any aid received to the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (mp). To the extent that the aid does not fully cover those costs, the department shall require an educational agency to pay the department a monthly fee that is sufficient to cover those costs and shall credit any monthly fee received to the appropriation account under
s. 20.505 (4) (Lm).
16.998 History
History: 2005 a. 25.
