Granting high school credit for extracurricular sports; services provided by a special education program; transportation aid paid to school districts; the use of moneys received by a school district from the common school fund; using the results of standardized examinations to evaluate, discharge, suspend, or discipline a teacher or for the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract; the number of teaching days scheduled in the Milwaukee Public Schools; permitting a school district to limit the grades in which to reduce class size under the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education Program; permitting a school board to deny enrollment to a pupil who has been expelled from an out-of-state school or from an independent charter school in this state and permitting an independent charter school to expel a pupil; use of law enforcement records to take disciplinary action against a pupil under a school district's athletic code; and changing the date by which a school district must certify the amount of its property tax levy

Also under current law, a school board may refuse to enroll a pupil during the term of the pupil's expulsion from another school district. In an opinion issued on April 10, 2008, the Wisconsin attorney general determined that current law does not permit a school district to refuse to enroll a pupil who is currently expelled from a private school or an out-of-state school.

Current law permits the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, the Milwaukee Area Technical College, and the city of Milwaukee to operate charter schools (independent charter schools) directly or to contract for the operation of charter schools. Generally, charter schools operate with fewer constraints than traditional public schools. Current law does not explicitly authorize an independent charter school to expel a pupil.

This bill permits an independent charter school to include in its charter or contract grounds for expelling a pupil provided the grounds duplicate the grounds provided under current law to school boards. If a charter or contract of an independent charter school includes grounds for expelling a pupil, the charter or contract must also include the same procedural requirements established for the expulsion of a pupil by a school board under current law.

This bill authorizes a school board to refuse to enroll a pupil during the term of the pupil's expulsion from a public school in another state if the grounds for the pupil's expulsion would have been grounds for expulsion in this state. This bill also permits a school board to refuse to enroll a pupil during the term of the pupil's expulsion from an independent charter school if the charter or contract of the independent charter school contains the grounds for expulsion and procedural requirements identified above.

Under current law, a school board may include early reinstatement conditions in an expulsion order issued for a pupil. Current law defines "early reinstatement condition" as a condition that a pupil must meet before he or she may be granted early reinstatement or a condition that a pupil must meet after his or her early reinstatement but before the expiration of the term of expulsion specified in the pupil's expulsion order. Early reinstatement conditions must relate to the reasons for the pupil's expulsion. If a school district administrator or designee determines that the pupil has satisfied the early reinstatement conditions, the pupil may be reinstated before the expiration of the term of the pupil's expulsion. If a pupil who received early reinstatement subsequently violates an early reinstatement condition before the expiration of the term of expulsion, the school board may revoke the pupil's early reinstatement.

This bill permits a school board other than the school board that expelled a pupil to establish enrollment conditions for the pupil. The bill defines "enrollment condition" as a condition that a pupil is required to meet before he or she may be granted conditional enrollment or a condition that a pupil is required to meet after his or her conditional enrollment but before the expiration of the term of expulsion specified in the pupil's expulsion order. The enrollment conditions must relate to the reasons for the pupil's expulsion from the expelling school district. The school district administrator or designee of the nonexpelling school district may permit the pupil to conditionally enroll in a school located in that school district if the pupil satisfies the enrollment conditions, and may revoke conditional enrollment if the pupil subsequently violates the enrollment conditions.

Teacher evaluations Current law allows a school board to use the results of state-required standardized examinations and the standardized examinations required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act to evaluate teachers if certain conditions are met.

The school board must develop a teacher evaluation plan that includes a description of the evaluation process, multiple criteria in addition to examination results, the rationale for using examination results for evaluating teachers, and an explanation of how the school board intends to use the evaluations to improve pupil academic achievement.

This bill allows a school board to use the results of standardized examinations to evaluate teachers without the presence of the conditions described above.

Under current law, the results of standardized examinations may not be used to discharge, suspend, or formally discipline a teacher or as the reason for the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract.

This bill provides that the results of standardized examinations may not be used as the sole reason to discharge, suspend, or formally discipline a teacher or as the sole reason for the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract.

SAGE contracts Current law generally allows an eligible school board that enters into a five-year renewable student achievement guarantee (SAGE) contract with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to receive $2,250 for each low-income pupil enrolled in grades kindergarten to three in a school with specified low-income enrollment if the school board reduces the class size of the classes in which the low-income pupils are enrolled. Current law requires a school board to phase in the class size limitation over the five-year contract. In the first year of a SAGE contract, the school board must reduce class size in grades kindergarten and one. By the fourth year of the SAGE contract, the school board must have reduced the class size in all of the grades kindergarten to three.

In general, for SAGE contracts entered into prior to the 2010-11 school year, a participating school board could only satisfy the class size limitation requirement by reducing class size to 15 pupils. For SAGE contracts entered into in the 2010-11 school year, current law permits a school board to satisfy the class size limitation requirement by either reducing class size to 18 pupils or by combining two classes with two classroom teachers to achieve a total class size of 30 pupils. Current law permits a school board to renew and receive payments under a renewed SAGE contract if the school board either maintains the reduced class size achieved during the last school year of the original SAGE contract for the grades specified for the last school year of the contract, reduces class size to no more than 18 pupils, or combines two classes with two classroom teachers to achieve a total class size of 30 pupils.

This bill permits a school board that has entered into or renewed a SAGE contract to choose not to comply with the class size limitation requirements in one or more grades covered by the contract in one or more schools in the school district and in one or more years of the contract term.

Special education services Under current law, a school district receives state special education aid for the costs of contracting with a public or private agency for physical or occupational therapy services. This bill explicitly authorizes a school district to contract for a variety of services, including orientation and mobility training, educational interpreters, audiologists, speech therapists, pupil transition services, and any services approved by the state superintendent of public instruction; and makes the costs of such a contract eligible for special education aid.

Pupil transportation costs Under current law, DPI must prorate state aid payments to school districts for transportation costs if the amount appropriated does not cover all eligible costs.

Under this bill, if funds remain after DPI pays all approved claims, DPI must distribute the balance to school districts on a prorated basis.

School libraries Current law allows a school district to use up to 25 percent of the moneys it receives from the common school fund in a fiscal year to purchase school library computers and related software. This bill eliminates the 25 percent limit.

MPS teaching days Under current law, the board of Milwaukee Public Schools determines the school calendar and vacation periods for the regular day and summer schools each school year, but the board may not schedule more than 200 teaching days in the regular day school period in any school year. This bill eliminates the requirement that no more than 200 teaching days be scheduled in the regular day school period.

Law enforcement records Under current law, law enforcement records obtained by and relating to the conduct of a pupil of a school district may not be used as the sole basis for expelling or suspending the pupil or as the sole basis for taking any other disciplinary action against the pupil, including action under the school district's athletic code. This bill permits a school district to use such law enforcement records as the sole basis for taking action against a pupil under the district's athletic code.

Credits for sports Current law requires a high school pupil to earn 1.5 credits in physical education in order to be eligible for a high school diploma. This bill authorizes a school board to adopt a policy granting a pupil credit in physical education for completing a season in an extracurricular sport if the sport is sanctioned by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Tax levy Under current law, each school board must annually determine the amount necessary to be raised to operate and maintain the schools of the school district and must, on or before November 6, certify that amount to the municipal clerk to assess and enter onto the tax rolls. This bill provides that, in years in which a November general election is held, the school board must certify the amount to be assessed on or before November 10.