2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO ASSEMBLY BILL 271
October 31, 2023 - Offered by Representative Dittrich.
AB271-ASA1,1,2 1An Act to create 115.359 of the statutes; relating to: grants to support recovery
2high schools.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill creates operational grants for recovery high schools and planning
grants for schools and nonprofit organizations that intend to establish recovery high
schools. Under the bill, a recovery high school is a public, private, or tribal school
operating only high school grades that 1) is specifically designed for pupils in
recovery from a substance use disorder or a mental health disorder that coexists with
a substance use disorder and 2) awards high school credits that count towards a high
school diploma awarded by the school or high school credits that will transfer and
count towards a high school diploma awarded by a school district.
Under the bill, the Department of Public Instruction must annually award
operational grants to eligible recovery high schools that apply for the grant. To be
eligible, a recovery high school must meet the following criteria:
1. The recovery high school must be governed by a governing board.
2. The recovery high school demonstrates that its model is capable of
supporting its anticipated enrollment.
3. The recovery high school must employ an individual who is responsible for
the recovery school's daily operations.
4. If the recovery high school is a private school, the private school is a nonprofit
organization.

5. The recovery high school provides evidence that it has at least one other
source of funding to support its operations.
6. The recovery high school requires prospective pupils to apply and conditions
eligibility for enrollment on the following: that the pupil desires to be sober; that the
pupil commits to attend the recovery high school daily; that the pupil consents to
weekly drug testing; and that the pupil agrees to a 30-day probationary period at the
end of which the pupil's enrollment may be terminated.
7. The recovery high school provides evidence-based programming to pupils.
An eligible recovery high school that applies for an operational grant must
include in its application the specific grant amount for which it is applying and a
budget for how it will use the grant funding it has requested. If DPI awards an
eligible recovery school less than the full amount requested, DPI must provide an
explanation for the reduced amount. Under the bill, if a recovery high school closes
during a school year during which it receives a grant, the recovery high school is
required to return any unused grant proceeds to DPI.
Until DPI determines there are at least three recovery high schools in this state,
the bill requires DPI to annually allocate $300,000 of the total amount appropriated
for grants to support recovery high schools to planning grants. Under the bill, DPI
must award planning grants to public, private, and tribal schools and nonprofit
organizations that intend to establish a recovery high school. However, the bill limits
DPI to awarding no more than four planning grants in any school year. Under the
bill, a planning grant may be used for hiring a recovery school consultant, general
program planning, curriculum planning, mental health services planning, and any
other costs incurred for establishing a recovery high school. An applicant for a
planning grant must include in its application the specific grant amount for which
it is applying and a budget for how it will use the grant funding it has requested. If
DPI awards less than the full amount requested, DPI must provide an explanation
for the reduced amount. The recipient of a planning grant must return any unused
grant proceeds to DPI. Once DPI determines that there are at least three recovery
high schools operating in the state, planning grants are not available unless DPI
determines that the number of recovery high schools in this state drops below three.
In the event DPI determines there are less than three recovery high schools, DPI may
again award planning grants.
Under the bill, the recipient of an operational or planning grant must report
various information to DPI by August 1 of the following school year. A recovery high
school that receives an operational grant must report, among other information, an
independent financial audit of the recovery high school conducted by an independent
certified public accountant and a written report on the recovery high school's
operations in the previous school year. A recipient of a planning grant must report
how the grant funding was used and the status of its plan to establish a recovery high
school, which may include a final plan for establishing a recovery high school or an
explanation of why the recipient no longer intends to establish a recovery high
school.
Finally, the bill requires DPI to submit a request by no later than 90 days after
the bill becomes law to the Joint Committee on Finance for the $1,000,000 that was

put in the JCF supplemental appropriation under 2023 Wisconsin Act 19 for a grant
program for recovery high schools.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB271-ASA1,1 1Section 1 . 115.359 of the statutes is created to read:
AB271-ASA1,3,4 2115.359 Recovery high schools; operational and planning grants. (1)
3Definition. In this section, “recovery high school” means a public, private, or tribal
4school that operates only high school grades and meets all of the following criteria:
AB271-ASA1,3,65 (a) The school is specifically designed for pupils in recovery from a substance
6use disorder or a mental health disorder that coexists with a substance use disorder.