Assembly passes two bills to require schools to report certain crimes

by Dan Rossmiller | Mar 17, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue

On Tuesday (March 14) the state Assembly took floor action on a pair of bills relating to reporting of crimes by schools as part of a floor calendar of bills focusing on crime.  Below is a description of those bills and the Assembly’s action on them.

Assembly Bill 53 – Reporting of certain crimes and other incidents that occur on school property or school transportation. [Main author: Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Town of Delafield)]

Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, AB 53 would require public high schools and private high schools participating in a parental choice (voucher) program to collect statistics on violations of municipal disorderly conduct ordinances and certain crimes, including homicide, sexual assault, burglary, battery, and arson, that occur on school property or on transportation provided by the school. The high school must collect statistics about the crime or disorderly conduct only if: 1) it occurred on a weekday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.; 2) it is reported to law enforcement; and 3) a charge is filed, or citation is issued.

AB 53 further would require that the collected statistics be reported to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and be included on the annual school and school district accountability report (a/k/a “school and district report cards”). However, the DPI may not consider crime statistics reported by a school or school district for purposes of determining a school or school district’s performance on the annual school and school district accountability report (a/k/a report cards”).

(more…)

Bill to mandate crime reporting and school resource officers added to March 2 hearing

by Chris Kulow | Mar 1, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue

Assembly Bill 69 has been added to the agenda for the March 2 Assembly Committee on Education public hearing that we had previously posted about. The bill is authored by state Rep. Nik P. Rettinger (R-Mukwonago). Below is the Legislative Reference Bureau analysis of the bill: 

“This bill requires each public school, including a charter school, to report any incident that occurs in a school building or on school grounds to local law enforcement. The bill provides that, if 100 or more incidents occur in and on public school buildings and grounds during a school semester, and at least 25 of those incidents result in an arrest, the school must, no later than the first day of the next school year, employ or contract for the employment of a law enforcement officer as an armed school resource officer (SRO) to work at the school. Under the bill, “incident” is a defined term that includes violations of state and municipal disorderly conduct laws and certain crimes, including homicide, sexual assault, burglary, battery, and arson. However, the bill provides that, for purposes of counting the number of incidents that resulted in arrest, “incident” does not include incidents related to use or possession of alcohol, cigarettes, nicotine, tobacco products, or vaping devices. (more…)

Education committees to hold joint hearing on reading on March 2

by Dan Rossmiller | Feb 23, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue

The Senate and Assembly Education committees will hold a joint informational hearing on the subject of reading in Wisconsin schools on Thursday, March 2. Testimony at the hearing will be taken from invited speakers only. The hearing will take place at 10:00 a.m. in Room 412 East of the state Capitol. 

View the notice for Joint Informational hearing here.

In addition, the Assembly Education Committee has issued a notice that it will hold a public hearing on Assembly Bill 53 following the conclusion of the informational hearing.

View the notice for the public hearing here.

(more…)