Under current law, if the amount appropriated for high-cost special education aid is insufficient to pay the full amount to the eligible entities, DPI must prorate payments among all eligible entities. The bill converts the appropriation for high-cost special education aid from a sum certain to a sum sufficient, eliminating the need to prorate aid due to an insufficient appropriation amount.

Special education transition grants

This bill changes the per individual amount for grants awarded to school districts and independent charter schools under the special education transition grant program. Under current law, a school district or independent charter school is awarded $1,000 per qualifying individual. Under the bill, a school district or independent charter school is awarded the lesser of 1) $1,500 per qualifying individual or 2) an amount per qualifying individual that is determined by dividing the amount appropriated for these grants in a school year by the total number of individuals who qualify for the grants in that school year.

The bill also provides an additional $1,500,000 for special education transition readiness grants in the 2020-21 school year. DPI awards special education transition readiness grants to school districts and independent charter schools to support special education workforce transition support services.

Sparsity aid

This bill makes certain additional school districts eligible for sparsity aid. Under current law, a school district is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of $400 per pupil if the school district's membership in the previous school year did not exceed 745 pupils and if the membership divided by the school district's area in square miles is less than ten. Also, under current law, a school district that was eligible to receive sparsity aid in the previous school year but that is not eligible to receive sparsity aid in the current school year because the school district's membership exceeded 745 pupils may receive up to 50 percent of the aid the school district received in the previous school year.

Under this bill, beginning in the 2020-21 school year, a school district with the same density of pupils per square mile and a membership that exceeds 745 pupils is eligible for sparsity aid in the amount of $100 per pupil. The bill also provides that, beginning in the 2020-21 school year, a school district that is ineligible for sparsity aid because it no longer satisfies the pupils per square mile requirement may receive 50 percent of the aid the school district received in the previous school year.

The bill provides an additional $10,100,000 for sparsity aid in the 2020-21 school year.

School mental health programs; aid

Under current law, DPI must make payments to school districts, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program that increased the amount they spent to employ, hire, or retain social workers during the two previous school years (eligible local education agency). Under current law, DPI first pays each eligible local education agency 50 percent of the amount by which the eligible local education agency increased its expenditures for social workers over the previous two school years. If, after making these payments, there is money remaining in the appropriation for this aid program, DPI makes additional payments to eligible local education agencies. The amount of these additional payments is determined based on the amount remaining in the appropriation and the amount spent by eligible local education agencies to employ, hire, and retain social workers during the previous school year.

This bill expands eligibility for the first round of payments under this aid program to include increased spending on school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, or school nurses, or any combination thereof (pupil services professionals), during the previous two school years. Additionally, the bill expands eligibility for the second round of payments to any school district, independent charter school, or private school participating in a parental choice program that made expenditures to employ, hire, or retain pupil services professionals during the previous school year. In other words, for the second round of payments, the bill eliminates the requirement that a school district, independent charter school, or private school increased its expenditures on pupil services professionals.

The bill provides an additional $19,000,000 for aid for school mental health programs in the 2020-21 school year.

Summer school grants; urban school districts

Under current law, DPI must award a grant to a first class city school district (currently, only Milwaukee Public Schools) for the purpose of developing, redesigning, or implementing a summer school program. This bill expands the summer school grant program to include additional urban school districts. Under the bill, an urban school district is a school district that had a membership of at least 18,000 pupils in the previous school year. The bill requires DPI to annually allocate $2,000,000 to MPS and to allocate the remaining amount appropriated equally to the other urban school districts. The bill provides an additional $3,600,000 for summer school grants in the 2020-21 school year.

Tribal language revitalization grants

Under current law, a school board, CESA, or Head Start agency may apply to DPI for a grant to support instruction in one or more American Indian languages. Under this bill, beginning in the 2020-21 school year, an applicant also may apply to DPI for a two-year grant to develop, implement, and provide American Indian heritage, language, and cultural instruction programs for children participating in Head Start programs and for pupils in grades kindergarten to two.

The bill also authorizes DPI to contract with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc., to implement and administer those grant programs and provides an additional $262,200 for tribal language revitalization grants in the 2020-21 school year.

WRS annuities for teachers returning to work

Under current law, if a WRS annuitant, or a disability annuitant who has attained his or her normal retirement date, is appointed to a position with a WRS-participating employer, or provides employee services to a WRS-participating employer in which he or she is expected to work at least two-thirds of what is considered full-time employment by the Department of Employee Trust Funds, the annuity must be suspended and no annuity payment is payable until after the participant again terminates covered employment.

This bill creates an exception to this requirement for an annuitant who retired from employment as a teacher with a school district who is subsequently rehired or provides employee services as a teacher after retirement if 1) the participating employer is a school district; 2) at least 30 days have elapsed from the date the person left covered employment with a school district; 3) at the time the person initially retires from a school district, the person does not have an agreement with any school district to return to employment; and 4) the person elects to not become a participating employee at the time the person is rehired as a teacher by a school district or enters into a contract to provide employee services as a teacher after retirement. In other words, the bill allows a teacher annuitant who retired from a school district to return to work as a teacher for a school district that is a participating employer and elect to not become a participating employee for purposes of the WRS, and instead continue to receive his or her annuity.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB821-ASA1,1 Section 1 . 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table

SB821-ASA1,2 Section 2. 20.255 (1) (kt) of the statutes is created to read:

SB821-ASA1,6,8 20.255 (1) (kt) Tribal language revitalization grant program operations. The amounts in the schedule to pay operational and administrative costs incurred by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc., to implement and administer the tribal language revitalization grant programs under s. 115.745. All moneys transferred from the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (8) (hm) 5m. shall be credited to this appropriation account. Notwithstanding s. 20.001 (3) (a), the unencumbered balance on June 30 of each year shall revert to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (8) (hm).

SB821-ASA1,3 Section 3 . 20.255 (2) (ac) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB821-ASA1,6,15 20.255 (2) (ac) General equalization aids. The amounts in the schedule A sum sufficient for the payment of educational aids under ss. 121.08, 121.09, 121.095, 121.105, and 121.137 and subch. VI of ch. 121 equal to the amount determined by the joint committee on finance under s. 121.15 (3m) (c) in the 2020-21 fiscal year and biennially thereafter, and equal to the amount determined by law in the 2021-22 fiscal year and biennially thereafter.

SB821-ASA1,4 Section 4. 20.255 (2) (bd) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB821-ASA1,6,18 20.255 (2) (bd) Additional special education aid. The amounts in the schedule for A sum sufficient for the payment of aid under s. 115.881.