Comments on the recently-passed crime reporting provision for public, charter and choice high schools are being accepted until noon this Friday, April 5.

The new law requires schools that operate high school grades, excluding non-choice private high schools, to report instances of certain crimes that occur on their grounds during school hours or school-sanctioned events or on transportation that result in a charge being filed.

As part of the legislative process, the public has the opportunity to submit comments for the DPI to consider when creating administrative rules. The law requires the department to review ALL comments.

WCRIS has already submitted comments on our members’ behalf. It’ll be helpful for choice high school principals to also submit their own comments on how the crime reporting requirement should be implemented. WCRIS urged the department to:

  • Create a clear reporting process, including what instances are reportable and when they need to be reported to the DPI;
  • Instruct lead law enforcement officials to communicate the outcome of an incident on school grounds with school leaders so these leaders know what to report to the DPI;
  • Explain what schools should do if a citation or charge is dropped;
  • Clarify a threshold for specific crimes that require reporting, like theft;
  • Address what a school needs to report about off-chance crimes that may happen on its grounds during school hours or an event, but have nothing to do with the school’s staff, students or visitors.

Submit your comments in the textbox here.

Though the law has already passed, this is an excellent opportunity to influence what will be required of your choice high school. The DPI cannot change or alter the law. Only the legislature can do that. The DPI is charged with administering the details of the law that the legislature gave them.

The law requires reporting to begin in the 2024-25 school year, but it’ll still be several months before we have the final rules from the DPI. WCRIS will notify you of them via Current Events when they’re available. Stay tuned.