Gov. Evers issued vetoes on a large number of bills today (3/29). Included on that list were several pieces of legislation that the WASB was tracking (veto messages linked below):

SB 335/AB 342 Relating to: allowing school boards to employ a school district administrator who is not licensed by the department of public instruction.

SB 489/AB 510 Relating to: rights reserved to a parent or guardian of a child. 

SB 608/AB 640 Relating to: a license to teach based on working as a paraprofessional in a school district. 

SB 688/AB 723 Relating to: local government competitive bidding thresholds and requiring school districts to utilize competitive bidding. 

Today, Governor Tony Evers signed AB 1050 into law as 2023 Wisconsin Act 240. The bill will allow the Office of School Safety to use funds raised through concealed carry permit fees to continue funding their operations. This stopgap measure authored by Sen. Quinn and Rep. Novak, only allows for these measures to stay in effect through the next budget cycle. Both Quinn and Novak attempted to get OSS funding in the 2023-25 budget cycle but were unsuccessful in their attempts. Legislators will have to appropriate more money to the office in the next budget cycle, or OSS will risk closure or a significant reduction in services.

 

The WASB supports the services OSS provides to our members and thanks these lawmakers and Governor Evers for their continued efforts in bringing this bill across the finish line. Read below to see the governor’s press release.

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Governor Evers signed 11 bills that would impact school districts into law this week. These bills range in topic from raising safety standards, broadening a tech-ed grant program, educator licensing, changes to certain aspects of Act 20 training and screener requirements, and numerous stocking medication bills. He also issued a veto on SB 549, which would have required schools to admit certain federally charted youth organizations once a year for recruiting purposes. Read below to view the actions taken by the governor this week. read more…

The Office of School Safety has shared the following message and resources for school districts. Visit the OSS website for more information on the office and the resources and services it provides to school districts.

It’s Easier Than You Think to Apply for a Digital Mapping Grant!

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Last week, the Legislature adjourned for the session (barring extraordinary circumstances), with the Senate voting on the last bills for the year on March 12th. The following bills were passed by one chamber but not the other. While they didn’t make it across the finish line this session, they will likely be back next session or in the future. See below to view the education related bills that failed to reach the governor’s desk in 2023-24. read more…

Our public education partners at WASBO (Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials) and WSPRA (Wisconsin School Public Relations Association) have provided districts with the following message as the spring and fall election dates draw closer.

You can find information about both options at this link.

Please feel free to share this widely with anyone you think might benefit from it. We will be disseminating it to WASBO members and other partners and will make it available on our website.”

The Wisconsin State Senate meets today (3/12) at 11am in floor session to take up a large calendar full of appointments, legislation and constitutional amendments. This is expected to be the last legislative action of the 2023-24 state legislative session. After today, any bills that have not passed through both houses of the legislature (in identical form) are not becoming law this session. This includes the following legislation related to K-12 education the WASB has been tracking (SB=Senate Bill/AB=Assembly Bill): read more…

The state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) has voted along party lines to select the early literacy curricula that will comprise the recommended list of curricula under 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, the law that revamped early reading requirements. See our previous blog post for more background. Democrats on the committee moved to approve the 11 curricula proposed by the DPI but were voted down. The GOP-supported motion approves only the four curricula selected by the Council on Early Literacy Curricula: Core Knowledge Language Arts K-3, Our EL Education Language Arts, Wit and Wisdom with Pk-3 Reading Curriculum, and Bookworms Reading and Writing K-3. As we stated previously, schools are not required to use one of these four recommendations, but there is an opportunity to have some of the cost reimbursed by the state if a school decides to choose one from the list. read more…

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently proposed changes (Clearinghouse Rule CR 24-026) to the school start date rule that governs the issuance of start date waivers. The goal behind this is to provide clearer guidance and additional flexibility for school districts when applying for a waiver. The proposed rule provides more flexibility for school boards when seeking to adjust their school calendars to better meet the academic and local needs of their respective districts. Currently, school boards are significantly limited in requesting an exemption to the school start date.

The WASB strongly supports this proposed rule based on our WASB Resolution supporting local control of the school start date. While this does not get us all of the way back to school boards having the authority to set their own start date locally, boards would be granted greater flexibility in determining the start date for their district. PLEASE SUBMIT COMMENTS IN SUPPORT OF THIS RULE (information on how to do this is below). read more…

From WisPolitics: “A Senate committee (The Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families) today voted against recommending legislation that would bar transgender athletes from playing girls sports after GOP Sen. Joan Ballweg joined two Dems in opposing it.

AB 377/SB 378 can still advance to the Senate floor next week despite the 3-2 vote, via paper ballot, against the bill. GOP committee members Jesse James, R-Altoona, and Rachel Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, both voted for it.

The legislation, which passed the Assembly along party lines in October, would require public, choice and charter schools to designate their sports teams as either male, female or co-ed. Those who were identified as male on their birth certificates would be barred from playing on a team designated for females. read more…