Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill makes various changes to provisions related to primary and secondary
education created in 2015 Wisconsin Act 55, the biennial budget act.
Civics exam as a condition for obtaining a high school diploma.
Current law requires that, beginning in the 2016-17 school year, before a school
board, independent charter school, or private school participating in a parental
choice program awards a high school diploma to a pupil, the pupil must receive a
passing score on a civics exam that is identical to the civics exam required to be taken

by persons seeking U.S. citizenship (mandatory civics exam). Current law provides
an exception to this requirement for a pupil who has an IEP in effect. A pupil who
has an IEP in effect must take the mandatory civics exam but is not required to
receive a passing score as a condition of graduation. This bill expands this exception
to apply to a parentally placed private school pupil with a disability.
This bill also requires an IEP team to include in a pupil's IEP a statement about
whether it is appropriate to administer the mandatory civics exam to the pupil. If
a pupil's IEP or services plan includes a statement that it is not appropriate to
administer the mandatory civics exam to the pupil, completion of the mandatory
civics exam may not be required as a condition of graduation for that pupil.
Financial information about private schools participating in a parental
choice program.
This bill changes requirements created in 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 relating to
independent financial audits of private schools participating in the Milwaukee
Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, or the statewide
parental choice program (a parental choice program).
Under current law, each private school participating in a parental choice
program must submit an annual independent financial audit to the department.
This bill clarifies that, for purposes of the annual independent financial audit, in
order for a cost to be an eligible education expense an independent auditor must test
the cost and confirm that the cost is reasonable for the private school to achieve its
educational purposes, as determined by the private school in a written policy. The
bill also replaces the audit certification process created in 2015 Wisconsin Act 55
with a process and deadline for notifying a participating private school of whether
or not it has satisfied the audit requirements.
Under the bill, a private school participating in a parental choice program must
maintain a cash and investment balance that is at least equal to the private school's
reserve balance. In the event a private school ceases to participate in any parental
choice program or is barred from participating in the parental choice programs, the
private school must refund its reserve balance to the department.
School and school district accountability report.
This bill changes requirements created in 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 relating to
how the department determines school and school district performance for purposes
of the school and school district accountability report.
Current law requires the department to weight pupil test scores to account for
the length of time pupils are enrolled in a school or school district before taking a test
used for purposes of the accountability report and to exclude information about
certain pupils who change schools for the ninth grade. This bill eliminates these
requirements.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB828,1
1Section 1. 115.385 (1g) (a) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
255
, is repealed.
AB828,2 3Section 2. 115.385 (1g) (b) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
455
, is repealed.
AB828,3 5Section 3. 115.385 (1g) (c) 3. c. of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin
6Act 55
, is amended to read:
AB828,3,77 115.385 (1g) (c) 3. c. Add 3.35 3.33 to the result under subd. 3. b.
AB828,4 8Section 4. 115.787 (2) (em) of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,3,129 115.787 (2) (em) A statement of whether it is appropriate to administer the
10civics test under s. 118.33 (1m) (a) to the child and, if it is appropriate, any
11accommodations that are necessary to measure the child's knowledge of the
12information required to be tested on the civics test required under s. 118.33 (1m) (a).
AB828,5 13Section 5. 118.33 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
1455
, is renumbered 118.33 (1m) (a) 2. a. and amended to read:
AB828,3,2115 118.33 (1m) (a) 2. a. A Except as provided in subd. 2. b., a school board,
16operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), and governing body of a
17private school participating in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 shall require a
18pupil for whom an individualized education program under s. 115.787 is in effect and
19a parentally placed child with a disability, as defined in 34 CFR 300.130,
to complete
20the civics test described under subd. 1. but shall may not condition graduation on the
21successful completion of the test.
AB828,6 22Section 6. 118.33 (1m) (a) 2. b. of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,4,423 118.33 (1m) (a) 2. b. If a pupil's individualized education program under s.
24115.787 or a services plan, as defined in 34 CFR 300.37, includes a statement that
25it is not appropriate to administer the civics test under subd. 1. to the pupil, a school

1board, operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), and governing body
2of a private school participating in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 may not make
3completion of the civics test described under subd. 1. a condition of graduation for
4that pupil.
AB828,7 5Section 7. 118.60 (7) (am) 1m. of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin
6Act 55
, is amended to read:
AB828,4,207 118.60 (7) (am) 1m. In this paragraph, "eligible education expenses" means all
8direct and indirect costs associated with a private school's educational programming
9for pupils enrolled in grades kindergarten to 12 that are reasonable for the private
10school to achieve its educational purposes, as determined by the governing body of
11the private school in a written policy and reviewed tested by an independent auditor.
12"Eligible education expenses" include expenses related to management, insurance,
13transportation, extracurricular programming and activities, facility and equipment
14costs, development expenses, and programming that provides child care services
15before school, after school, or both before and after school. A cost is not an "eligible
16education expense" if an independent auditor determines, after testing, that the cost
17is not a cost associated with the private school's educational programming for pupils
18enrolled in grades kindergarten to 12 that is reasonable for the private school to
19achieve its educational purposes, as determined by the governing body of the private
20school in a written policy.
AB828,8 21Section 8. 118.60 (7) (am) 3. of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,5,522 118.60 (7) (am) 3. a. By no later than February 15 or 120 days after the date
23on which the audit under subd. 2m. a. is received by the department, whichever is
24later, the department shall notify a private school participating in the program under
25this section whether or not additional information is required for the department to

1complete its review of the audit. Subject to subd. 3. b., the department may request
2that an auditor provide additional information if the request is related to the
3department reviewing the audit. The department shall determine whether a private
4school participating in the program under this section has provided the information
5and met the requirements required under subd. 2m. a. by April 1.
AB828,5,106 b. Before April 1, the department may contact the auditor who prepared the
7audit under subd. 2m. a. only regarding matters that may impact the private school's
8financial statement by an amount that is greater than 1 percent of the total amount
9the private school received under this section for the previous school year and any
10items or information the department determines are missing from the audit.
AB828,5,1311 c. Notwithstanding subd. 3. a. and b., the department may communicate with
12an auditor as necessary for the purpose of assessing the financial viability of a
13private school participating in the program under this section.
AB828,5,1614 d. An auditor who receives a written communication under this subdivision
15shall respond to the department within 10 school days of receiving the written
16communication.
AB828,9 17Section 9. 118.60 (7) (an) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act 55,
18is renumbered 118.60 (7) (an) 2. and amended to read:
AB828,5,2519 118.60 (7) (an) 2. If a private school participating in the program under this
20section has a cash or investment reserve balance that is greater than 50 percent of
21the total amount the private school received under this section in the previous school
22year, the governing body of the private school shall approve a plan for how it will use
23the amount of the cash or investment reserve balance that exceeds 50 percent of the
24total amount the private school received under this section in the previous school
25year.
AB828,10
1Section 10. 118.60 (7) (an) 1. of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,6,62 118.60 (7) (an) 1. A private school participating in the program under this
3section shall maintain a cash and investment balance that is at least equal to its
4reserve balance. If a private school ceases to participate in or is barred from the
5program under this section and s. 119.23 and the private school's reserve balance is
6positive, the private school shall refund the reserve balance to the department.
AB828,11 7Section 11. 118.60 (11) (bm) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
855
, is repealed.
AB828,12 9Section 12. 119.23 (7) (am) 1m. of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin
10Act 55
, is amended to read:
AB828,6,2411 119.23 (7) (am) 1m. In this paragraph, "eligible education expenses" means all
12direct and indirect costs associated with a private school's educational programming
13for pupils enrolled in grades kindergarten to 12 that are reasonable for the private
14school to achieve its educational purposes, as determined by the governing body of
15the private school in a written policy and reviewed tested by an independent auditor.
16"Eligible education expenses" include expenses related to management, insurance,
17transportation, extracurricular programming and activities, facility and equipment
18costs, development expenses, and programming that provides child care services
19before school, after school, or both before and after school. A cost is not an "eligible
20education expense" if an independent auditor determines, after testing, that the cost
21is not a cost associated with the private school's educational programming for pupils
22enrolled in grades kindergarten to 12 that is reasonable for the private school to
23achieve its educational purposes, as determined by the governing body of the private
24school in a written policy.
AB828,13 25Section 13. 119.23 (7) (am) 3. of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,7,9
1119.23 (7) (am) 3. a. By no later than February 15 or 120 days after the date
2on which the audit under subd. 2m. a. is received by the department, whichever is
3later, the department shall notify a private school participating in the program under
4this section whether or not additional information is required for the department to
5complete its review of the audit. Subject to subd. 3. b., the department may request
6that an auditor provide additional information if the request is related to the
7department reviewing the audit. The department shall determine whether a private
8school participating in the program under this section has provided the information
9and met the requirements required under subd. 2m. a. by April 1.
AB828,7,1410 b. Before April 1, the department may contact the auditor who prepared the
11audit under subd. 2m. a. only regarding matters that may impact the private school's
12financial statement by an amount that is greater than 1 percent of the total amount
13the private school received under this section for the previous school year and any
14items or information the department determines are missing from the audit.
AB828,7,1715 c. Notwithstanding subd. 3. a. and b., the department may communicate with
16an auditor as necessary for the purpose of assessing the financial viability of a
17private school participating in the program under this section.
AB828,7,2018 d. An auditor who receives a written communication under this subdivision
19shall respond to the department within 10 school days of receiving the written
20communication.
AB828,14 21Section 14. 119.23 (7) (an) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
2255
, is renumbered 119.23 (7) (an) 2. and amended to read:
AB828,8,423 119.23 (7) (an) 2. If a private school participating in the program under this
24section has a cash or investment reserve balance that is greater than 50 percent of
25the total amount the private school received under this section in the previous school

1year, the governing body of the private school shall approve a plan for how it will use
2the amount of the cash or investment reserve balance that exceeds 50 percent of the
3total amount the private school received under this section in the previous school
4year.
AB828,15 5Section 15. 119.23 (7) (an) 1. of the statutes is created to read:
AB828,8,106 119.23 (7) (an) 1. A private school participating in the program under this
7section shall maintain a cash and investment balance that is at least equal to its
8reserve balance. If a private school ceases to participate in or is barred from the
9program under this section and s. 118.60 and the private school's reserve balance is
10positive, the private school shall refund the reserve balance to the department.
AB828,16 11Section 16. 119.23 (11) (bm) of the statutes, as created by 2015 Wisconsin Act
1255
, is repealed.
AB828,17 13Section 17. Initial applicability.
AB828,8,1714 (1) Independent financial audits of private schools participating in a
15parental choice program.
The treatment of sections 118.60 (7) (am) 1m. and 3. and
16(11) (bm) and 119.23 (7) (am) 1m. and 3. and (11) (bm) of the statutes first applies to
17a financial audit of the 2015-16 school year.
AB828,8,1818 (End)
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