The state Assembly Committee on Education, chaired by Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) will hold an informational hearing on Tuesday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 412 East of the State Capitol. The committee will receive invited testimony only from the Department of Public Instruction and Legislative Fiscal Bureau on the topic of “School Funding as Related to the Counting of Students”.
One of the WASB’s top budget priorities is to secure provisions that mitigate the effects of the drop in student membership counts (which affect both revenue limit calculations and per pupil aid allocations) caused by the pandemic. This was also one of the most-mentioned elements brought forward by school leaders who testified at budget hearings.
The governor’s budget proposal includes an adjustment to the rolling three-year membership average to account for the effect of the pandemic on school district enrollment by allowing school districts to use the greater of 2019 and 2020 pupil counts for both summer and fall (third Friday) in the calculation of revenue limits to adjust for distortions in pupil counts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The informational hearing follows an executive session of the committee voting on the following:
Assembly Bill 160 (Rep. Rodriguez) Relating to: payments to parents for transportation to a private school during the 2020-21 school year for pupils who reside in a first class city school district (MPS).
WASB Position: Monitoring.
Assembly Bill 261 (Rep. Wittke) Relating to: the department of public instruction’s waiver authority related to parental choice programs, the Special Needs Scholarship Program, and independent charter schools.
WASB Position: Neutral. This is a technical bill supported by the DPI.
Clearinghouse Rule 21-011 Relating to changes to criteria relating to specific learning disabilities.
