Wisconsin School Law Resources
Your school district’s WASB membership provides your school board and administrative staff with direct access to Wisconsin school law resources.
If you do not find what you need below, just give us a call (877-705-4422) and we will attempt to help you find it.
The WASB publications, subscriptions and services listed below are designed to provide general information with commentary as a service to WASB members. The materials should not be relied upon as legal advice. If needed, legal advice regarding any school law topic or issue should be obtained from the school district’s legal counsel. The general information provided is based upon Federal and Wisconsin legal jurisdictions and should not be relied upon or interpreted as providing any form of general information for other legal jurisdictions.
School Law and Policy Resources for WASB Members
- The WASB School Law and Policy Index (updated October 2024)
- The Index is an alphabetical index of school law and policy topics with references to applicable state statutes, DPI regulations, and WASB legal and policy publications.
- The archives of regular WASB publications
- New Laws bulletins (for new Wisconsin Acts and DPI regulations)
- Legal Comments from the Wisconsin School News magazine
- Legal and Policy Services Newsletter
- Policy Perspectives newsletter
- Legal Notes (publication retired in 2011)
- School Employment & Labor Law Review (merged into the School Law & Policy eNewsletter effective July 2017)
- Other popular WASB member service publications and resources (member login may be required)
- Basic Legal and Governance Resources for School Board Members (orientation resources for new board members)
- New School Board Member Handbook
- School Board Elections Resources (includes the WASB’s School District Elections Schedule)
- Legislative Updates & bill tracking
- The WASB Nonrenewal Bulletin
- 2024 Annual School District Meeting Booklet
- Note: The special Annual Meeting Booklet Supplement that was created for the 2020 Annual School District Meeting Booklet to address annual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic is still relevant.
- Open Meetings Law Brochure
- Referendum Resource Center (includes the School District Guide to Referenda)
- Calendar of Events and Notices (includes significant dates identified in statute for schools and school boards)
- Event Recaps – presentation handouts from seminars and conferences
- WASB’s law-related eNewsletters
- Legal and Policy Services Newsletter (WASB members only)
- Legislative Update Blog
- A separate paid subscription is required to access the following:
- The WASB Policy Resource Guide (PRG)
- The FOCUS archives (automatically included for PRG subscribers)
- WASB Employee Handbook service
- Updated Wisconsin School Laws (the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions (DPI rules) from state law)
Human Resources Information
- Bargaining Information
- WASB Employee Handbook service (separate subscription required)
- Guide to Exit Interviews and Exit Surveys
- Hiring Guidelines
- Impartial Hearing Officer Guide
- Nonrenewal Bulletin
- The Review (WI School Employment & Labor Law Review) Note: This publication was retired and merged into the School Law & Policy eNewsletter effective July 2017.
Related WASB Trainings and Events
- Title IX Online Training for school staff
- Civil Rights Training for school staff
- Online Learning Platform for school board members and staff
- Online Events for school board members and staff
- Other upcoming events
Wisconsin Statutes, Regulations and Resources
- Wisconsin Constitution
- Wisconsin Statutes
- Ch. 115 (state superintendent; general classifications and definitions; children with disabilities)
- Ch. 116 (CESAs – cooperative educational service agencies)
- Ch. 117 (school district reorganization)
- Ch. 118 (general school operations)
- Ch. 119 (first class city school system)
- Ch. 120 (school district government)
- Ch. 121 (school finance)
- Wisconsin Legislative Documents Collection
- Wisconsin Administrative Code
- Wisconsin Court System
- State law resources collected by the Wisconsin State Law Library
Wisconsin Agencies
Federal Statutes, Regulations and Resources
- Constitution of the United States
- U.S. Code (the federal statutes)
- Title 20 (education)
- Code of Federal Regulations (administrative law)
- The e-CFR (most current)
- Title 34 (education)
- FERPA regulations
- Federal courts
- Federal law resources collected by the Wisconsin State Law Library