Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
(608) 267-9127
Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
Comments should be submitted by March 3, 2016, to Carl Bryan, Department of Public Instruction, 125 S. Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841 or at Carl.Bryan@dpi.wi.gov. The department will publish a hearing notice in the Administrative Register that will provide information on the deadline for the submission of comments. SECTION 1. PI 48 is created to read:
RACINE AND WISCONSIN PARENTAL CHOICE PROGRAMS
PI 48.01 Purpose. Any qualified pupil in grades kindergarten to 12 who meets the requirements under s. 118.60 (2) (a), Stats., may attend any school participating in the Racine parental choice program or Wisconsin parental choice program under s. 118.60, Stats. This chapter establishes approval criteria and requirements for schools participating in the choice programs under s. 118.60, Stats., and requirements for receipt of state aid under s. 118.60 (4) and (4m), Stats. PI 48.02 Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) “4-year-old kindergarten outreach activities” means the direct services that a school provides to 4-year-old kindergarten parents and primary caregivers that have an educational component that fulfills the requirements of s. 121.004 (7) (cm), Stats. (2) “Average attendance rate” means the rate obtained by dividing the aggregate number of full-time equivalent days of a pupil’s actual attendance by the aggregate number of full-time equivalent days the pupil was enrolled.
(4) “Choice program” means a program established under s. 118.60, Stats. (5) “Classroom records” means teacher-originated test scores, report cards, progress reports, and attendance records. (6) “Count date” means the third Friday in September and the second Friday in January except as provided under s. 121.05 (3m), Stats. (7) “Credit” means the credit given to pupils in grades 9 to 12 for successful completion of a school term of study in one course that meets daily for a normal class period or the equivalent established by the governing body of a school. (8) “Department” means the Wisconsin department of public instruction.
(10) “Financial audit” means the audit of a school required under s. 118.60 (7) (am) 2m. a., Stats, including the audit opinion. (11) “Financially viable” or “financial viability” means the ability of the school to pay for goods and services, make debt service payments, and pay other obligations as they become due.
(12) “First time participant” means a school that meets one of the following criteria:
(a) The school did not participate in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, Stats., at the time the school submitted a notice of intent to participate in the choice program for the following school year. (b) The school participated in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, Stats., at the time the school submitted a notice of intent to participate in the choice program for the following school year but one of the following occurred: 1. The school voluntarily withdrew from participation in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, Stats. 2. The state superintendent issued an order terminating or barring the school’s participation in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, Stats. (13) “Generally accepted auditing standards” means the auditing standards prescribed by the accounting examining board under s. Accy 1.202. (14) “Grade equivalent” means the scaled score that corresponds to a pupil’s raw score on a standardized achievement test, as determined by the test’s publisher.
(15) “New private school” has the meaning given in s. 118.60 (1) (bn), Stats. (16) “Official attendance records” means a listing of all kindergarten through grade 12 pupils enrolled in the school by grade level from the student information system required under s. 115.383 (3) (b), Stats. (17) “Parent” means a parent listed on the pupil application submitted under s. PI 48.05 who is one of the following: (a) The pupil’s biological parent, legal guardian, parent by adoption, or step-parent who resides in the same household as the pupil applicant. A parent on military duty is considered to be residing in the household.
(b) If no individual meets the requirements in par. (a), an individual who has the legal authority to make educational decisions for the pupil.
(18) “Professional standards” means all of the following:
(a) Standards established by the accounting examining board under ch. 442, Stats. (b) Standards issued by the comptroller general of the United States for engagements in which the use of generally accepted governmental auditing standards is required.
(c) Standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
(19) “Racine parental choice program” means the program established under s. 118.60, Stats., for pupils residing in the Racine Unified School District. (20) “Reserve” means the difference between the revenue received under ss. 118.60 and 119.23, Stats., and the amount of net eligible education expenses for pupils participating in a program under ss. 118.60 and 119.23, Stats. PI 35.02(22)(23) “Standardized achievement test” means a published, nationally normed test that provides a valid and reliable measure of a pupil’s present achievement level in comparison with age or grade level cohorts. PI 35.02(23)(24) “State superintendent” means the state superintendent of public instruction. (25) “Wisconsin parental choice program” means the program established under s. 118.60 Stats., for pupils who reside in Wisconsin but do not reside in the Racine Unified School District or in the city of Milwaukee. (26) “Working papers” means the record of the audit procedures performed by the auditor, the relevant audit evidence obtained by the auditor, and the conclusions reached by the auditor.
PI 48.03 School requirements.
(1) Private school. A school participating in the choice program shall be a private school as defined in s. 118.165, Stats. (2) Choice administrator. The choice administrator shall be one of the following:
(a) An owner of the school.
(b) An individual appointed as the school’s choice administrator by the governing body of the organization operating the school.
(3) Notice of intent to participate. Except as provided under s. PI 48.04 (1) for new private schools, annually by January 10, a school that intends to participate in the choice program in the following school year shall submit to the department a notice of intent to participate. (a) The notice shall include all of the following:
1. Except as provided under par. (b), the school’s plan for ensuring it will select pupils on a random basis from a new pool of applicants each school year, as required under s. 118.60 (3) (a), Stats. The school’s plan shall be one of the following: a. The plan provided by the department.
b. A plan provided by the school and approved by the department. A school using this option shall submit the plan to the department for approval by January 10. If the school does not provide a plan by January 10 or the plan is not approved by the department by January 31, the school shall use the plan provided by the department. If the school makes a change to the plan in a subsequent school year, the school shall submit, with the school’s notice of intent to participate, the revised plan to the department for approval.
2. The number of spaces the school has available for pupils participating in each choice program in which the school participates.
3. The open application periods during which the school will accept choice program pupil applications. After January 10, a school may not amend the open application periods it selects.
4. The name and location of the accredited institution of higher education from which the choice administrator received at least a bachelor’s degree and the date the degree was received, the number of the choice administrator’s teaching or administrator license issued by the department, or an indication that the administrator is excluded from the requirement under s. 118.60 (2) (c) 2., Stats. 5. The signature and mailing address of the choice administrator.
(b) A school only participating in the Wisconsin parental choice program is not required to submit the random selection plan under par. (a) 1. in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.
Note: The notice of school’s intent to participate form, which includes the department’s random selection plan, may be obtained at no charge from the Wisconsin department of public instruction’s webpage at http://dpi.wi.gov/sms/choice-programs. (4) Continuing eligibility.
(a) Annually by October 15, a school participating in the choice program shall submit a report to the department for each choice program in which it participates that states which of the following standards under s. 118.60 (7) (a), Stats., the school intends to meet: 1. At least 70% of the choice program pupils attending the school advance one grade level each school year. In this subdivision, "advance one grade level" means successful completion of at least four credits or the equivalent as approved by the state superintendent during each school year. For pupils in grades kindergarten through 8, a school using this standard shall ensure each pupil who has advanced one grade level has met one of the following criteria:
a. Achievement of 70% of the instructional objectives specific to each grade level in reading, mathematics and language arts that are introduced during each semester of the current school year. A school using this criteria shall do all of the following: establish written objectives and performance standards for reading, mathematics and language arts for each grade level in which choice program pupils are enrolled; document written criteria and methodology for evaluating pupil performance for each objective and document each pupil’s performance using the evaluation method specified in this subparagraph in a written record; and maintain these records for 5 years.
b. Achievement of at least 0.08 grade equivalent increase for each month between the annual or semi-annual administration of the standardized achievement test. A school using this criteria shall do all of the following: by October 15, report to the department the tests to be administered and the dates on which they will be administered and maintain each pupil’s answer sheets and score information for 5 years.
.2. The school’s average attendance rate for choice program pupils is at least 90%. The school shall use the official attendance records to determine attendance. .3. At least 80% of choice program pupils demonstrate significant academic progress. In this subdivision, “significant academic progress” means a pupil demonstrates the following:
a. Improvement in reading and mathematics in comparison to the pupil’s performance level in the previous school year.
b. Satisfactory performance on at least 50% of any new instructional concepts in reading and mathematics the school introduced during each of the current school year semesters, and the level of attainment is documented in a written record of performance at the beginning, mid-point and end of each semester. 4. At least 70% of the families of choice program pupils meet parental involvement criteria established by the school.
(b) Annually by June 30, a school participating in the choice program shall submit a report to the department for each program in which it participates that establishes the school has met the standard selected under par. (a) during that school year.
(c) A school that uses academic achievement test results to meet the requirement under par. (a) shall do all of the following:
1. Ensure that test security is maintained.
2. Pay all costs of administering the test, scoring the test, ensuring test security, and reporting the results of the test.
(5) Disclosure of information.
(a) Annually by August 1 of the school’s initial school year in the choice program, a first time participant shall submit to the department all of the following:
2. The governing body members’ signatures required under s. 118.60 (6m) (c), Stats., and the mailing addresses for each governing body member on a form provided by the department. (b) Annually by August 1, a school participating in the choice program that is not a first time participant shall submit to the department all of the following:
