Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Public Instruction
Chapter PI 8 - School District Standards
Section PI 8.01 - School district standards

1. Each school district board shall certify annually that every teacher, supervisor, administrator, and other professional staff member has been issued a valid certificate, license or permit by the department for the position for which he/she is employed before entering on duties for such position and that a copy of the valid certificate, license, or permit is on file in the district.

2.

1. In this paragraph " state minimum performance standard" means the state minimum performance standard on the test administered under s. 121.02 (1) (r), Stats.

2. Each school district shall identify, diagnose, serve and monitor each pupil in reading in grades kindergarten through fourth if either of the following apply:

3. Identification and diagnosis of reading deficiencies shall be directed or performed by the district reading specialist required under s. 118.015, Stats., or by licensed personnel who have earned at least 6 semester credits in courses dealing with the measurement of reading skills and achievement or the diagnosis of reading difficulties. Children with identified and diagnosed reading deficiencies shall receive instruction and services directed toward the removal of the deficiencies. The instruction and services shall be coordinated with all other reading instruction. Monitoring of pupil progress shall occur on a regular basis and include parental involvement.

4. If fewer than 80% of the pupils score above the state minimum performance standards, either in the district or in any individual school in the district, the district shall develop a written plan which includes the following:

5. The department shall provide upon request technical assistance to districts required to develop a plan to provide remedial reading services.

1. The school district shall maintain a school board approved plan for the provision of a program of guidance and counseling services.

2. The program shall be developmentally based and available to every pupil in every grade of the school district.

3. The program shall be:

4. The program shall provide developmentally appropriate educational, vocational, career, personal and social information to assist pupils in problem solving and in making decisions.

5. The program shall include pupil appraisal, post-secondary planning, referral, research and pupil follow-up activities.

1. The emergency nursing policies shall be developed by a professional nurse or nurses registered in Wisconsin in cooperation with other school district personnel and representatives from community health agencies and services as may be designated by the board.

2. Policies for emergency nursing services shall include protocols for dealing with pupil accidental injury, illness and administration of medication at all school sponsored activities including but not limited to curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and a method to record each incident of service provided.

3. Arrangements shall be made with a licensed physician to serve as medical advisor for the emergency nursing service.

4. The emergency nursing services shall be available during the regular school day and during all school sponsored activities of pupils.

5. Pupil emergency information cards, equipment, supplies and space for the emergency nursing services shall be appropriate and readily accessible.

6. A review and evaluation by the school board shall be made of the emergency nursing services program at least annually.

1. Have on file a written, long-range plan for library services development which has been formulated by teachers, library and audiovisual personnel and administrators, and approved by the school district board.

2. Designate a licensed library media person to direct and coordinate the district's library media program.

3. Provide library facilities within the school building and make available to all pupils a current, balanced collection of books, basic reference materials, texts, periodicals, and audiovisual materials which depicts in an accurate and unbiased way the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of American society.

4. Provide library media services to all pupils as follows: to pupils in grades kindergarten through 6, library media services which are performed by or under the direction of licensed library and audiovisual personnel; and to pupils in grades 7 through 12, library media services which are performed by licensed library and audiovisual personnel.

1. Health instruction shall be provided in accordance with a written comprehensive health education curriculum which includes the curricular areas defined in ss. 115.35 and 118.01 (2), Stats. A professional staff member shall be designated as coordinator of health education. Health education in grades kindergarten through 6 shall be under the direction of a licensed health teacher. In grades 7 through 12 health education shall be conducted by or under the direction of a licensed health teacher and shall include one structured course in health taught by a licensed health teacher.

2. Physical education instruction shall be provided in accordance with a developmental, sequential, comprehensive physical education curriculum and program of instruction for all pupils. Instruction in grades kindergarten through 6 shall be provided at least 3 times weekly, except that days on which special activities are conducted may be exempt; and shall be conducted by or under the direction of a licensed physical education teacher. Pupils in grade 6 may be scheduled in accordance with the criteria for scheduling grades 7 through 12 if the pupils are attending a school that includes any of those grades. All pupils in grades 7 through 12 shall participate in the instructional program of physical education taught by a licensed physical education teacher, except that in senior high schools one year or the equivalent may be optional to pupils.

3. Art instruction shall be provided in accordance with a written comprehensive art curriculum which is based upon concepts developed through sensory awareness, aesthetic discrimination and skill development in the creation of art and the knowledge of human art heritage. Art instruction shall be provided for all pupils in grades kindergarten through 6 and shall be performed by or under the direction of a licensed art teacher. Art instruction shall be available to all pupils in grades 7 through 12 and shall be taught by a licensed art teacher.

4. Music instruction shall be provided in accordance with a written comprehensive music curriculum including developmental experiences involving singing, playing instruments, listening, movement, creative expression and music reading. Music instruction shall be provided for all pupils in grades kindergarten through 6 and shall be performed by or under the direction of a licensed music teacher. Music instruction including general music, vocal music and instrumental music shall be available to all pupils in grades 7 through 12 and shall be taught by a licensed music teacher.

1. In this paragraph:

2. Each school district board shall develop, adopt and implement a written school district curriculum plan which includes the following:

3. Each sequential curriculum plan shall specify objectives, course sequence, course content, resources, an objective process of determining whether pupils attain the specified objectives, and an allocation of instructional time by week, semester and school term. The school district board shall establish in the school district curriculum plan the allocation of instructional time, by week, semester and school term, among all subject areas.

4. Each sequential curriculum plan shall include a program evaluation method which provides that components of the sequential curriculum plan shall be monitored continuously. The overall program evaluation method shall be reviewed at least once every 5 years and revised as appropriate to ensure that pupils meet the curriculum objectives.

5. The school district curriculum plan shall be consistent with the approved education for employment program under ch. PI 26.

6. The school district board shall develop sequential curriculum plans in at least 3 of the subject areas specified in subd. 2. by September 1, 1988; in at least 3 more of the subject areas specified in subd. 2. by September 1, 1989; and in all of the remaining subject areas specified in subd. 2. by September 1, 1990. The computer literacy and environmental education curriculum plans shall be developed as follows:

1. In grades kindergarten through 4, regular instruction shall be provided in reading, language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, health, physical education, art and music. In this subdivision, "regular instruction" means instruction each week for the entire school term in sufficient frequency and length to achieve the objectives and allocation of instructional time identified in the curriculum plans developed and adopted under par. (k).

2. In grades kindergarten through 8, include instruction in the social studies curriculum in the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of the federally recognized American Indian tribes and bands located in the state in at least 2 grade levels and in at least one grade level in grades 9 through 12 beginning September 1, 1991.

3. In grades 5 through 8, regular instruction shall be provided in reading, language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, physical education, health, art and music. In this subdivision, "regular instruction" means instruction each week for the entire school term in sufficient frequency and length to achieve the objectives and allocation of instructional time identified in the curriculum plans developed and adopted under par. (k), except that in middle level formats which offer or require a variety of exploratory experiences for pupils, such as foreign language, business education, vocational agriculture, technology education, home economics education and marketing education, regular instruction in health, art and general music may be provided as follows:

4. In grades 7 and 8, provide regular instruction in foreign language beginning in the 1994-95 school year. In this subdivision regular instruction in foreign language means access to instruction in sufficient frequency and length to achieve the objectives and time allocations of a written, sequential curriculum plan in foreign language. The foreign language curriculum shall follow the requirements of other curriculum documents required under par. (k).

5. An introduction to career exploration and planning, through a one semester course or the equivalent in instructional time and course content, shall be integrated within grades 5 through 8.

6. In grades 9 through 12, access shall be provided without charge for tuition, to an educational program which enables pupils each year to study English, social studies, mathematics, science, vocational education, foreign language, physical education, art and music. The school district board shall make all courses as widely available to all pupils as possible, however an individual pupil's scheduling conflict does not constitute denial of access to a course.

1. Each school district board shall comply with s. 118.33, Stats., and ch. PI 18, relating to high school graduation standards.

1. Each school district board shall establish specific criteria and a systematic procedure to measure the performance of licensed school personnel. The written evaluation shall be based on a board adopted position description, including job related activities, and shall include observation of the individual's performance as part of the evaluation data. Evaluation of licensed school personnel shall occur during the first year of employment and at least every third year thereafter.

2. The school district board shall ensure that evaluations, including those for purposes of discipline, job retention or promotion, shall be performed by persons who have the training, knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate professional school personnel. The school district board shall be responsible for the evaluation of the school district administrator under this subdivision.

1. The department shall develop a standardized reading test for pupils in grade 3. The department shall annually provide the test to all school district boards and score and report the results. Each school district board shall annually administer the test to all pupils in the school district enrolled in grade 3. Standardized refers to test objectives and items, test related materials, test administration procedures, the testing schedule, and the scoring and reporting procedures and formats. The department shall provide guidelines to assist school districts in testing and excluding from testing pupils with special needs, including pupils with exceptional educational needs under subch. V of ch. 115, Stats., and pupils with limited English proficiency under subch. VII of ch. 115, Stats. Each school district shall develop and adopt a district policy related to the testing and exclusion from testing of pupils with exceptional educational needs under subch. V of ch. 115, Stats., and pupils with limited English proficiency under subch. VII of ch. 115, Stats.

2. The department shall report each school district's test results, for the school district and for each school in the district, to the school district board.

3. The department shall report aggregate statewide pupil achievement data to each school district for the purpose of local evaluation of school district test performance in relation to statewide performance.

4. The department shall establish achievement performance standards and shall report the achievement level to each school district board in relation to the standards.

1.

2.

3. Each school district shall develop and adopt a district policy related to the testing and exclusion from testing of pupils with exceptional educational needs under subch. V of ch. 115, Stats., and pupils with limited English proficiency under subch. VII of ch. 115, Stats.

1. In this paragraph:

2. Each school district board shall establish a plan and designate a person to coordinate the gifted and talented program. Gifted and talented pupils shall be identified as required in s. 118.35 (1), Stats. This identification shall occur in kindergarten through grade 12 in general intellectual, specific academic, leadership, creativity, and visual and performing arts. A pupil may be identified as gifted or talented in one or more of the categories under s. 118.35 (1), Stats. The identification process shall result in a pupil profile based on multiple measures, including but not limited to standardized test data, nominations, rating scales or inventories, products, portfolios, and demonstrated performance. Identification tools shall be appropriate for the specific purpose for which they are being employed. The identification process and tools shall be responsive to factors such as, but not limited to, pupils' economic conditions, race, gender, culture, native language, developmental differences, and identified disabilities as described under subch. V of ch. 115, Stats. The school district board shall provide access, without charge for tuition, to appropriate programming for pupils identified as gifted or talented as required under ss. 118.35 (3) and 121.02 (1) (t), Stats. The school district board shall provide an opportunity for parental participation in the identification and resultant programming.

Note: A Gifted and Talented Resource Guide is available at https://dpi.wi.gov/gifted.

1. The school district standard addressed by the alternative compliance plan.

2. The means by which the alternative compliance plan addresses the objectives of the school district standard including all of the following information:

1. The state superintendent may approve a school district board's plan for alternative compliance with a school district standard, if he or she determines the alternative compliance plan will meet the objectives of the school district standard, maintains educational equity and will result in any of the following:

2. The plan approval under subd. 1. may be subject to conditions specified by the state superintendent.

3. The state superintendent shall provide for the review of the requests for alternative compliance plans made under par. (a) and shall notify the school district board of his or her decision within 60 days from the date the request is received. The decision shall be in writing and shall include the reasons for the decision.

4. The state superintendent may either hold a public hearing or request that the school district board hold a public hearing on the alternative compliance being proposed.

1. An initial alternative compliance plan may be approved for a 2 year period.

2. An alternative compliance plan may be renewed every 3 years after the initial plan approval only if an evaluation of the alternative compliance plan is provided by the school district board and is approved by the state superintendent.

3. The evaluation shall include the information specified in par. (a) 2. g. and is subject to the same timelines specified under par. (a).

1. A letter from the district administrator or school board president requesting a waiver from the hours of direct pupil instruction requirement under sub. (2) (f) and s. 121.02 (1) (f), Stats., and specifying the reason or reasons for requesting the waiver.

2. A record of the public hearing held under s. 118.38 (1) (b), Stats., indicating the response from the community to the waiver request.

3. A copy of the order to close the school under s. 115.01 (10) (b) or (c), Stats., if applicable. If the order is submitted under s. 115.01 (10) (c), Stats., a copy of the board minutes indicating approval of the request for a waiver.

4. The number of hours requested to be waived.

5. The dates the school or schools were closed.

6. A description of the actions the school board took to make up the hours of instruction missed during the period of the school closure and what prevented the district from scheduling and holding at least the number of hours of direct pupil instruction specified under sub. (2) (f) and s. 121.02 (1) (f), Stats.

7. The number of days planned for inclement weather and parent teacher conference days as specified under sub. (2) (f).

8. Any additional information requested by the department.

1. Whether the department received all the information required under par. (b).

2. The response of the community to the proposed waiver as indicated by the record of the public hearing submitted under par. (b) 2.

3. The length of the school closure.

4. The dates of the school closure and whether there was sufficient time before the end of the school year to adjust the school calendar to provide the required hours of direct pupil instruction missed during the period of the school closure.