AB 31

Agriculture

Food security initiative grant program

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer

Protection to administer a food security initiative, under which it must provide

grants to food banks, food pantries, and other nonprofit organizations fighting food

insecurity to either adapt to challenges posed by the COVID-19 public health crisis

or purchase Wisconsin food products.

Education

Per pupil aid; 2020-21 pupil enrollment

Under current law, a school district's pupil enrollment is a factor in the per pupil

aid calculation, which is a categorical aid paid to school districts. Per pupil aid is

funded from a sum sufficient appropriation and is not considered for purposes of

revenue limits.

The amount of per pupil aid paid to a school district is calculated using a

three-year average of the number of pupils enrolled in the school district and a per

pupil amount set by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the calculation for the amount

of per pupil aid paid to a school district is $742 times the average of the school

district's pupil enrollment in the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 school years.

Under the bill, for purposes of calculating per pupil aid in the 2020-21,

2021-22, and 2022-23 school years, a school district's pupil enrollment in the

2020-21 school year is the school district's pupil enrollment in the 2019-20 or

2020-21 school year, whichever is greater.

Pupil assessments and school and school district accountability report;

2020-21 school year exemption

Under the bill, requirements to administer various pupil assessments do not

apply in the 2020-21 school year.

Under current law, school boards, independent charter schools, private schools

participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Racine Parental Choice

Program, or Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, and, under some circumstances,

a private school participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program are required

to annually administer assessments adopted by the Department of Public

Instruction to pupils in the fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. These

assessments are commonly referred to as the Wisconsin Student Assessment

System, which includes the Wisconsin Forward Exam, ACT ASPIRE, the ACT with

Writing, and Dynamic Learning Maps. The requirements to administer the WSAS

did not apply in the 2019-20 school year. Under the bill, the requirements to

administer the WSAS do not apply in the 2020-21 school year.

Current law also requires school boards, independent charter schools, and

private schools participating in a parental choice program to annually administer a

standardized reading test developed by DPI to third grade pupils. The requirements