Current through August 26, 2024
(1) EXPLANATION OF
RIGHTS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM PROFILE. When an applicant applies to a
school, the school shall provide the applicant with all of the following:
(a) An explanation of the rights of a child
with a disability and his or her parent in a public school compared to the
rights of a child with a disability and his or her parent at a private school
participating in a special needs scholarship program on a document provided by
the department under s.
115.7915(4) (am), Stats.
(b) The profile of the school's special
education program required under s.
PI 49.03(3)
(c).
(2) AGE REQUIREMENT. In order to be eligible
for the special needs scholarship program, a 4-year-old kindergarten pupil,
5-year-old kindergarten pupil, and a first grade pupil shall attain the ages
specified in s.
118.14(1),
Stats.
(3) APPLICATION RECEIPT. An
application shall be considered received under s.
115.7915(3) (b), Stats., when an applicant has submitted
all of the following to the school:
(a) An
application.
(b) Residency
documentation.
Note: The application may be obtained at no charge
from the Wisconsin department of public instruction's webpage at
http://dpi.wi.gov/sms/special-needs-scholarship.
(4) APPLICATION ELIGIBILITY
DETERMINATION. Within 21 days of receiving an application under sub. (3), the
special needs scholarship program administrator or designee shall do all of the
following:
(a) Determine if the application
is eligible pending the verification under par. (b) 1. by verifying all of the
following:
1. The address on the pupil's
application is in the Wisconsin school district listed on the application using
the state of Wisconsin's Statewide Voter Registration System or any another
source permitted by the department.
2. The residency document submitted under
sub. (3) (b) is one of the residency documents specified by the department that
shows the pupil resides at the address on the application at the time of
application. The residency document shall be dated no earlier than 3 months
prior to the date the application is submitted under sub. (3) (a). If a school
receives a lease agreement as a residency document, the lease term shall
include the date the application was submitted under sub. (3) (a). The document
shall contain the name of the parent on the application and match the address
on the application.
(b)
If the application is determined eligible under par. (a) and the school has an
available scholarship for the pupil, the school shall do all of the following:
1. Send an email to the local education
agency that developed the pupil's individualized education program or services
plan requesting that the local education agency verify the pupil has an
individualized education program or services plan that meets the requirements
under sub. (7).
2. Send an email to
the pupil's resident school district notifying it that, pending verification
that the requirements of sub. (7) are met, the child will be awarded a
scholarship under s.
115.7915,
Stats.
(c) Notify an
applicant in writing if one of the following occurs:
1. The application under sub. (3) is
determined ineligible. The school shall state in its letter the reasons why the
application is ineligible.
2. The
application under sub. (3) is determined eligible but the school does not have
a scholarship available for the pupil. The school shall state in the letter the
pupil's place on the school's waiting list.
Note: The student application designee
authorization form may be obtained at no charge from the Wisconsin department
of public instruction's webpage at
http://dpi.wi.gov/sms/special-needs-scholarship.
(5) TRANSFER REQUESTS.
(a) An applicant may submit a transfer
request for a pupil to transfer to a different school participating in the
special needs scholarship program on a form provided by the department. A pupil
that has been determined to no longer be a child with a disability under s.
115.7915(4m) (e) 1, Stats., may not transfer under this
subsection to a different school participating in the special needs scholarship
program.
(b) A transfer request
shall be considered received under s.
115.7915(3) (b), Stats., when an applicant has submitted
all of the following to the school:
1. A
transfer request form.
2. Residency
documentation.
3. Individualized
education program or services plan.
(c) Within 21 days of receiving a transfer
request under par. (b), the special needs scholarship program administrator or
designee shall do all of the following:
1.
Determine if the transfer request is eligible by verifying all of the
following:
a. The address on the pupil's
transfer request is in the Wisconsin school district listed on the transfer
request using the state of Wisconsin's Statewide Voter Registration System or
another source permitted by the department.
b. The residency document submitted under
par. (b) 2. is one of the residency documents specified by the department that
shows the pupil resides at the address on the transfer request at the time the
pupil applies. The residency document shall be dated no earlier than 3 months
prior to the date the transfer request is submitted under par. (b). If a school
receives a lease agreement as a residency document, the lease term shall
include the date the transfer request was submitted under par. (b). The
document shall contain the name of the parent on the transfer request and match
the address on the transfer request.
c. The pupil was a special needs scholarship
program pupil on the most recent count date based on the department's response
to the email request under subd. 1m.
1m. Send an email to the department
requesting verification that the student was a special needs scholarship
program pupil on the most recent count date.
2. Notify an applicant in writing if the
transfer request was accepted or not accepted. The school shall state in its
letter the reason or reasons why the transfer request is ineligible if the
transfer request is determined ineligible. If the transfer request is
determined eligible but the school does not have a scholarship available for
the pupil, the school shall state in the letter the pupil's place on the
school's waiting list.
Note: The transfer request form may be obtained at
no charge from the Wisconsin department of public instruction's webpage at
http://dpi.wi.gov/sms/special-needs-scholarship.
(6) SIBLING PREFERENCE.
(a) A school may give an application under
sub. (3) or a transfer request under sub. (5) from a sibling of a pupil who is
already attending the school preference over either of the following:
1. An application under sub. (3), if the
school has not yet sent either of the emails required under sub. (4)
(b).
2. A transfer request under
sub. (5), if the school has not sent the letter of acceptance under sub. (5)
(c) 2.
(b) A school
shall determine the eligibility of a sibling receiving preference under par.
(a) before the date the school is required to determine the eligibility, under
sub. (4) or (5), of any application or transfer request the sibling is given
preference over.
(c) If the school
is unable to determine if the sibling application or transfer request is
eligible within the time period required under par. (b), the school must accept
the applications and transfer requests in the order they were
received.
(7)
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM OR SERVICES PLAN IN EFFECT. A pupil shall be
determined to have an individualized education program or services plan in
effect if the pupil meets one of the following:
(a) A local education agency is implementing
the individualized education program or services plan at the time the school
receives an application as provided under sub. (3).
(b) A local education agency developed the
individualized education program or services plan no earlier than 3 years prior
to September 15 of the school term for which the student submits an application
under sub. (3), and there has not been a more recent reevaluation that
determined the student no longer has a disability.
(7g) LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCY VERIFICATION. The
local education agency that developed the pupil's individualized education
program or services plan shall provide one of the following to the school
within 5 business days of receiving the request under sub. (4) (b) 1.:
(a) If the pupil has an individualized
education program or services plan that meets the requirements under sub. (7),
the local education agency shall send a copy of the individualized education
program or services plan to the school as verification that the pupil meets the
requirement under sub. (7).
(b) If
the pupil does not have an individualized education program or services plan
that meets the requirements under sub. (7), the local education agency shall
send an email or other written correspondence to the school indicating that the
pupil does not meet the requirement under sub. (7).
(7r) LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE OR DENIAL. Within 7
days of receiving the verification under sub. (7g), the special needs
scholarship program administrator or designee shall notify the applicant, in
writing, whether the application submitted under sub. (3) was determined
eligible or ineligible. If the application is determined ineligible, the letter
shall state the reason or reasons why the application is ineligible.
(8) SCHOLARSHIP CONTINUANCE. Except as
provided under sub. (9), a scholarship awarded to a pupil under this chapter
shall continue until any of the following occur:
(a) The pupil graduates from high
school.
(b) The pupil attains the
age of 21. A pupil who attains the age of 21 shall receive the scholarship
until the end of the school term in which the pupil attains the age of
21.
(c) The pupil no longer resides
in Wisconsin as of the third Friday in September.
(d) The pupil is enrolled, in or out of
Wisconsin, in another private school, a home-based private educational program,
a charter school under s.
118.40(2r) or (2x), Stats., or a public school
district.
(e) A student who has
been determined to no longer have a disability leaves the school he or she is
attending.
(9) SUMMER
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. A pupil may attend summer school at a different school and
continue to receive a special needs scholarship program scholarship. The school
the pupil attends under this subsection may not receive a special needs
scholarship program payment under s. PI 49.16 for the pupil.
