AB970,7,3 (1) Education expense reimbursement program.

AB970,7,4 (a) Definitions. In this subsection:

AB970,7,5 1. “Approved educational provider” means any of the following:

AB970,7,7 a. A school board, as defined in s. 115.001 (7), in charge of a public school in a school district, other than a charter school.

AB970,7,10 b. An institution within the University of Wisconsin System, a technical college, a tribally controlled college, or a private, nonprofit institution of higher education located in this state.

AB970,7,14 c. Any of the following educational institutions that submits a notice of intent to participate under par. (f) 1.: the governing body of a charter school; the governing body of a private school, as defined in s. 115.001 (3r); or the governing body of a tribal school, as defined in s. 115.001 (15m).

AB970,7,17 d. Any other educational provider the department approves to offer courses to pupils for reimbursement under this subsection, including educational providers that provide instruction through means of the Internet.

AB970,7,18 2. “Charter school” has the meaning given in s. 115.001 (1).

AB970,7,19 3. “Department” means the department of public instruction.

AB970,7,21 4. “Educational materials” means materials that a pupil's parent may use to educate the pupil, including curriculum or textbooks.

AB970,7,22 5. “Parent” includes a guardian.

AB970,7,23 6. “Resident school board" means the school board of a resident school district.

AB970,8,2 7. “Resident school district” means the school district in which a pupil resides or, if the pupil is attending school in a school district other than the pupil's resident school district pursuant to a whole grade sharing agreement under s. 118.50, the school district in which the pupil is attending school.

AB970,8,3 (b) Applicability.

AB970,8,6 1. In the 2022-23 school year and in the summer semester or session in 2023, a pupil enrolled in a public school, including a charter school, in this state may, subject to subd. 2., do any of the following:

AB970,8,8 a. Attend a course offered by an approved educational provider for reimbursement under this subsection.

AB970,8,9 b. Purchase educational materials for reimbursement under this subsection.

AB970,8,12 2. A pupil may receive reimbursement under this subsection for a total of no more than 2 courses attended or educational materials purchased under this subsection.

AB970,8,14 3. A pupil that attends a course under this subsection may not attend the same course under s. 118.52 or 118.55.

AB970,8,15 (c) Pupil application procedures; attending courses.

AB970,8,19 1. The parent of a pupil who wants to attend a course under this subsection shall notify the department. No later than 10 days after the department receives the notice, the department shall inform the parent of how to apply to attend a course and the deadlines that apply under this subsection.

AB970,9,2 2. The parent of a pupil who wants to attend a course under this subsection shall submit an application, on a form provided by the department, to the approved educational provider offering the course not later than 6 weeks prior to the date on which the course is scheduled to commence. The application shall specify the course that the pupil wants to attend and may specify the school or schools at which the pupil wants to attend the course. The approved educational provider shall send a copy of the application to the department.

AB970,9,10 3. If an approved educational provider receives more applications for a particular course than there are spaces available in the course, the approved educational provider shall determine which pupils to accept on a random basis. The approved educational provider may reject an applicant only if there is no space available in the course, the applicant pupil does not meet the approved educational provider's admission requirements, or the course conflicts with the applicant pupil's individualized education program under s. 115.787 or services plan, as defined in 34 CFR 300.37.

AB970,9,19 4. If an approved educational provider receives an application for a course under subd. 2., no later than one week prior to the date on which the course is scheduled to commence, the approved educational provider shall notify the applicant and the department, in writing, whether the application is accepted and, if the application is accepted, the school at which the pupil may attend the course. The acceptance applies only for the following semester, school year, or other session in which the course is offered. If the approved educational provider rejects the application, the approved educational provider shall include in the notice the reason for the rejection.

AB970,9,24 5. If a pupil's parent receives notice of acceptance for the pupil to attend a course offered by an approved educational provider under subd. 4., the parent shall, prior to the date on which the course is scheduled to commence, notify the pupil's resident school board and the approved educational provider of the pupil's intent to attend the course.

AB970,10,10 (d) Pupil application procedures; purchasing educational materials. The parent of a pupil who wants to purchase educational materials under this subsection for purposes of educating the pupil shall, prior to purchasing the educational materials, submit a notice to the department that describes the educational materials, lists what is included in the educational materials, and specifies the cost of the educational materials. No later than 10 days after the department receives the notice, the department shall inform the parent regarding whether the parent's request for reimbursement is approved and any deadlines that apply to the parent's request under this subsection. The department may reject a request under this paragraph only if the notice is incomplete or the limit under par. (b) 2 . applies.

AB970,10,12 (e) Mandatory participation by school boards and institutions of higher education.

AB970,10,20 1. An approved educational provider specified in par. (a) 1. a . shall participate in the program under this subsection. Except as provided in par. (c) 3 ., an approved educational provider specified in par. (a ) 1. a . shall use the same policies and criteria for accepting and rejecting applications to attend a course under under par. (c) as the policies and criteria for entry into the course that apply to pupils who reside in the school district, except that, notwithstanding par. (c ) 3., the approved educational provider may give preference in attendance in a course to residents of the school district.

AB970,10,25 2. An approved educational provider specified in par. (a) 1. b . shall participate in the program under this subsection. An approved educational provider specified in par. (a) 1. b . shall adopt policies and criteria for accepting and rejecting applications to attend a course under par. (c ) and shall post a copy of those policies and criteria on the approved educational provider's Internet site.