The 2015-16 state legislative session is drawing to an end. As state lawmakers return to their districts to begin campaigning for re-election in November, they look back on a legislative session featuring the introduction of 1,006 Assembly bills and 795 Senate bills. Just 341 of them were signed into law by the Governor so far. Another nearly 150 bills await his action.

Throughout the session, WCRIS was there on behalf of independent and religious schools, monitoring the Legislature’s activity, fielding questions from lawmakers and lobbyists, working in partnership with other organizations, and advocating on behalf of our schools and students.

A highlight of the session was when Gov. Walker attended the WCRIS Leadership Conference on February 12 in Pewaukee and spoke to 250 of our school principals and administrators. It was the first time a Governor has attended a WCRIS event.

Several of the laws that were passed this session, including the state budget bill last July, have an impact on WCRIS schools and have been included in the 2016-17 WCRIS Legal Handbook that WCRIS members received in the US mail earlier this month.

One free copy of the Legal Handbook was sent to every WCRIS member school. If you need additional copies — for your assistant principals, pastor, oversight board members, business managers, etc. — you can order more at a special members-only price.

The following is a summary of the laws passed (outside of the state budget bill) that have been signed by the Governor and have an impact on WCRIS schools. Also noted are the page numbers in the Legal Handbook where they are explained.

Three laws just signed Tuesday include:

  • 2016 ACT 289 (Senate Bill 615) – Relating to: the Special Needs Scholarship Program, which was created in the 2015-17 biennial budget, including requiring a child with a disability who wishes to participate in the program to have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or services plan in effect prior to being eligible to participate; permitting a child with a disability to apply for a scholarship and attend a private school under the program at any time during a school year; requiring a parent or guardian of the child attending a private school under the program to make the child available no more than once every three years for a reevaluation of the child’s IEP and services plan; and requiring a participating private school that receives more applicants under the program than the number of spaces available at the school to accept applications in the order in which they are received. The bill also modifies how the revenue limit authority is calculated for school districts with students that enroll in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program and the Racine Parental Choice Program. (WCRIS LH p. 109-111)
  • 2016 Act 297 (Assembly Bill 602) – adds Christian Schools International (CSI) and the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) to the list of entities that are accrediting agencies and preaccrediting agencies for purposes of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, and the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. The bill also adds CSI and ACSI to the list of entities from which accreditation may qualify a private school to participate in the Special Needs Scholarship program. (WCRIS LH pp. 11, 20, 29)
  • 2016 Act 338 (Assembly Bill 722) – requires each school that maintains an Internet site and for which the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has published an accountability report to prominently display a link to the school’s most recent accountability report on the school’s Internet site within 30 days after the department publishes the accountability report. The bill also requires each private school participating in a parental choice program and independent charter school that maintains an Internet site to do the same.

The following bills were signed into law earlier this year:

  • 2015 Wisconsin Act 52 – Relating to: method for notifying parent or guardian of habitually truant pupil. (WCRIS LH p. 58)
  • 2015 Wisconsin Act 72 – Relating to: the pupil participation limit in the statewide parental choice program. (WCRIS LH p. 25)
  • 2015 Wisconsin Act 126 – Relating to: a sales and use tax exemption for building materials that become a part of a facility for a local unit of government or nonprofit organization. (WCRIS LH p. 4)
  • 2015 Wisconsin Act 46 – Relating to: requiring certain persons to hold certificates of food protection practices in order to operate certain school lunchrooms participating in the National School Lunch Program. (See WCRIS Legal Handbook p. 77)

There are a couple of other pending bills that the Governor is expected to sign in the coming days that will have an impact on WCRIS schools. Stay tuned to future issues of Current Events for details on those provisions, if they become law.