Chapter 16

16.99(1m) (1m) “Data line” means a data circuit that provides direct access to the Internet.

16.99(2g) (2g) “Educational agency” means a school district, charter school sponsor, juvenile correctional facility, private school, tribal school, as defined in s. 115.001 (15m), cooperative educational service agency, technical college district, private college, public library system, public library board, public museum, the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, or the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

16.99(3) (3) “Educational technology” means technology used in the education or training of any person or in the administration of an elementary or secondary school and related telecommunications services.

16.99(3b) (3b) “Juvenile correctional facility” means a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility, as defined in s. 938.02 (19), but does not include the Mendota juvenile treatment center under s. 46.057.

16.99(3d) (3d) “Political subdivision” means any city, village, town, or county.

16.99(3g) (3g) “Private college” means a private, regionally accredited, 4-year, nonprofit college or university that is incorporated in this state or that has its regional headquarters and principal place of business in this state or a tribally controlled college in this state.

16.99(3j) (3j) “Private school” has the meaning given in s. 115.001 (3r).

16.99(3m) (3m) “Public library system” has the meaning given in s. 43.01 (5).

16.99(3p) (3p) “Public museum” means a nonprofit or publicly owned museum located in this state that is accredited by the American Association of Museums or an educational center that is affiliated with such a museum.

16.99(4) (4) “Telecommunications” has the meaning given in s. 16.97 (10).

16.99(5) (5) “Universal service fund” means the trust fund established under s. 25.95.

16.99 History History: 1997 a. 27; 1999 a. 9 ss. 949 to 952, 2320 to 2322; 2001 a. 16, 57, 104, 105; 2003 a. 33 ss. 238n, 238p, 1036d to 1050d; Stats. 2003 s. 16.99; 2005 a. 344; 2009 a. 302; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 185; 2019 a. 9.

16.993 16.993 Technology for educational achievement in Wisconsin; departmental duties. The department shall do all of the following:

16.993(1) (1) In cooperation with school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, the technical college system board, and the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, promote the efficient, cost-effective procurement, installation, and maintenance of educational technology by school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, and the University of Wisconsin System.

16.993(2) (2) Identify the best methods of providing preservice and in-service training for teachers related to educational technology.

16.993(3) (3) Enter into cooperative purchasing agreements under s. 16.73 (1) under which participating school districts and cooperative educational service agencies may contract for their professional employees to receive training concerning the effective use of educational technology.

16.993(4) (4) In cooperation with the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, the technical college system board, the department of public instruction and other entities, support the development of courses for the instruction of professional employees who are licensed by the state superintendent of public instruction concerning the effective use of educational technology.

16.993(5) (5) Provide telecommunications access to educational agencies under the program established under s. 16.997.

16.993(6) (6) No later than October 1 of each even-numbered year, submit a biennial report concerning the department’s activities under this subchapter to the governor, and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3).

16.993(7) (7) Purchase educational technology materials, supplies, equipment, and contractual services for school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison under s. 16.72 (8), and establish standards and specifications for purchases of educational technology hardware and software by school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, and the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

16.993(8) (8) Purchase educational technology equipment for use by school districts, cooperative educational service agencies, and public educational institutions in this state and permit the districts, agencies, and institutions to purchase or lease the equipment, with an option to purchase the equipment at a later date. This subsection does not require the purchase or lease of any educational technology equipment from the department.

16.993 History History: 1997 a. 27, 237; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16, 104; 2003 a. 33 ss. 238pm, 1053d to 1063; Stats. 2003 s. 16.993; 2005 a. 25; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20 ss. 2365m, 9448; 2013 a. 168 s. 21; 2017 a. 59.

16.995 16.995 Educational technology infrastructure financial assistance.

16.995(1) (1) Financial assistance authorized. The department may provide financial assistance under this section to school districts from the proceeds of public debt contracted under s. 20.866 (2) (zc) and to public library boards from the proceeds of public debt contracted under s. 20.866 (2) (zcm). Financial assistance under this section may be used only for the purpose of upgrading the electrical wiring of school and library buildings in existence on October 14, 1997, and installing and upgrading computer network wiring. The department may not provide any financial assistance under this section after July 26, 2003.

16.995(2) (2) Financial assistance applications, terms, and conditions. The department shall establish application procedures for, and the terms and conditions of, financial assistance under this section. The department shall make a loan to a school district or public library board, or to a municipality on behalf of a public library board, in an amount equal to 50 percent of the total amount of financial assistance for which the department determines the school district or public library board is eligible and provide a grant to the school district or public library board for the remainder of the total. The terms and conditions of any financial assistance under this section may include the provision of professional building construction services under s. 16.85 (15). The department shall determine the interest rate on loans under this section. The interest rate shall be as low as possible but shall be sufficient to fully pay all interest expenses incurred by the state in making the loans and to provide reserves that are reasonably expected to be required in the judgment of the department to ensure against losses arising from delinquency and default in the repayment of the loans. The term of a loan under this section may not exceed 10 years.

16.995(3) (3) Repayment of loans. The department shall credit all moneys received from school districts for repayment of loans under this section to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (ha). The department shall credit all moneys received from public library boards or from municipalities on behalf of public library boards for repayment of loans under this section to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (hb).

16.995(3m) (3m) Public debt repayment. To the extent that sufficient moneys for the provision of educational telecommunications access under s. 16.997 are available in the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (mp) after payment of the administrative expenses specified in s. 20.505 (4) (mp), the department shall use those available moneys to reimburse s. 20.505 (4) (es) and (et) for the payment of principal and interest costs incurred in financing educational technology infrastructure financial assistance under this section and to make full payment of the amounts determined by the building commission under s. 13.488 (1) (m).

16.995(4) (4) Funding for financial assistance. The department, subject to the limits of s. 20.866 (2) (zc) and (zcm), may request that the building commission contract public debt in accordance with ch. 18 to fund financial assistance under this section.

16.995 History History: 1997 a. 27, 41; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16, 104; 2003 a. 33 ss. 238q, 1068d to 1072d; Stats. 2003 s. 16.995; 2005 a. 25.

16.997 16.997 Educational telecommunications access program.

16.997(1) (1) Except as provided in s. 196.218 (4t), the department shall promulgate rules establishing an educational telecommunications access program to provide educational agencies with access to data lines.

16.997(2) (2) The rules promulgated under sub. (1) shall do all of the following:

16.997(2)(a) (a) Allow an educational agency to make a request to the department for access to data lines.

16.997(2)(b) (b) Establish eligibility requirements for an educational agency to participate in the program established under sub. (1) and to receive additional telecommunications access under s. 16.998, including a requirement that a charter school sponsor use data lines to benefit pupils attending the charter school and a requirement that Internet access to material that is harmful to children, as defined in s. 948.11 (1) (b), is blocked on the computers of juvenile correctional facilities that are served by data lines subsidized under this section.

16.997(2)(c) (c) Establish specifications for data lines for which access is provided to an educational agency under the program established under sub. (1) or for which additional access is provided to an educational agency under s. 16.998.

16.997(2)(d) (d) Require an educational agency to pay the department not more than $250 per month for each data line that is provided to the educational agency under the program established under sub. (1), except that the charge may not exceed $100 per month for each data line that relies on a transport medium that operates at a speed of 1.544 megabits per second.

16.997(2)(f) (f) Ensure that juvenile correctional facilities that receive access under this section to data lines or that receive additional access under s. 16.998 to data lines and bandwidth use those data lines and that bandwidth only for educational purposes.

16.997(2c) (2c) The department shall develop criteria to use to evaluate whether to provide more than one data line to an educational agency. The department shall include in the criteria an educational agency’s current bandwidth, equipment, and readiness, and the available providers and any other economic development in the geographic area that the educational agency serves.

16.997(2g) (2g) An educational agency that is provided access to a data line under the program established under sub. (1) or to an additional data line under s. 16.998 may not do any of the following:

16.997(2g)(a) (a) Provide access to the data line to any business entity, as defined in s. 13.62 (5), unless the business entity complies with all of the following:

16.997(2g)(a)1. 1. The business entity is transmitting an event sponsored by the educational agency.

16.997(2g)(a)2. 2. The business entity has the permission of the educational agency to record and transmit the event.

16.997(2g)(a)2g. 2g. The access to the data line by the business entity is through the Internet.

16.997(2g)(a)2r. 2r. All transmissions through the data line originate or terminate at the site of an educational agency or other governmental agency that is an authorized user of the data line.

16.997(2g)(a)3. 3. The business entity reimburses the department for its proportionate share of the cost of the data line used to transmit the event.

16.997(2g)(b) (b) Request access to an additional data line for purposes of providing access to bandwidth to a political subdivision under a shared service agreement under sub. (2r) (a).

16.997(2r) (2r) 

16.997(2r)(a) (a) A public library board that is provided access to a data line under the program established under sub. (1) or to an additional data line under s. 16.998 may enter into a shared service agreement with a political subdivision that provides the political subdivision with access to any excess bandwidth on the data line that is not used by the public library board, except that a public library board may not sell, resell, or transfer in consideration for money or anything of value to a political subdivision access to any excess bandwidth. A shared service agreement under this paragraph is not valid unless the agreement allows the public library board to cancel the agreement at any time after providing notice to the political subdivision.

16.997(2r)(b) (b) A political subdivision that obtains access to bandwidth under a shared service agreement under par. (a) may not receive compensation for providing any other person with access to the bandwidth.

16.997(2r)(c) (c) A public library board shall provide the department with written notice within 30 days after entering into or modifying a shared service agreement under par. (a).

16.997(3) (3) The department shall prepare an annual report on the status of providing data lines that are requested under sub. (2) (a) and the impact on the universal service fund of any payment under contracts under s. 16.974.

16.997(4) (4) If the federal communications commission promulgates or modifies rules that provide rate discounts for telecommunications services to educational agencies under 47 USC 254, the governor shall submit a report to the joint committee on finance that includes any recommended changes to statutes or rules with respect to funding the program established under sub. (1).

16.997 History History: 1999 a. 9 ss. 2318, 2323 to 2329; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 33 ss. 238r, 1073d to 1088d; Stats. 2003 s. 16.997; 2005 a. 25, 344; 2007 a. 20, 97; 2009 a. 28; 2015 a. 55; 2019 a. 9; 2021 a. 239, 240.

16.998 16.998 Educational telecommunications; additional access. An educational agency that is eligible for a rate discount for telecommunications services under 47 USC 254 may request data lines and bandwidth access that is in addition to what is provided under the program under s. 16.997 (1). The department shall apply for aid under 47 USC 254 to cover the costs of the data lines and bandwidth access that are provided under this section and shall credit any aid received to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (mp). To the extent that the aid does not fully cover those costs, the department shall require an educational agency to pay the department a monthly fee that is sufficient to cover those costs and shall credit any monthly fee received to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (Lm).

16.998 History History: 2005 a. 25; 2019 a. 9.