School districts are required by both state and federal law to provide a range of annual notices, as well as individualized notices to parents in certain circumstances. In May of 2025, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) published its revised guidance for State and Federal Annual Notice Requirements: 2025-26 Parent and Student Notices. Below are the identified changes to the law and updated requirements for the upcoming 2025-26 school year. Please note that the information below only includes new changes to the annual notice requirements and does not encompass all notices that districts are required to provide.
Parent notifications related to early literacy under 2023 Wisconsin Act 20: Notice of Pupil Promotion without Completion of Personal Reading Plan. Districts are required under Wis. Stat. § 118.33(6)(a)3 to specify the criteria for promoting a pupil from third grade to fourth grade. If a district promotes a pupil to fourth grade who did not successfully complete a personal reading plan in third grade, the district must notify the parent or guardian in writing as such and include a description of the district’s post-promotion reading services and supports. Wis. Stat. 118.33(5m)(a). Each district has the discretion to establish an effective date for its third-grade promotion policy and post-promotion obligations that could be as late as the 2027-28 school year. However, because the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) requires intensive instructional services to begin as early in the school year as practicable, the WASB recommends seeking legal advice before deferring initial implementation of post-promotion mandates later than the 2025-26 school year.
Title IX Notices of Nondiscrimination and Related Information. The 2020 Title IX regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106) are in effect for all Wisconsin school districts, due to a court’s invalidation of the 2024 Title IX Amendments. Under the 2020 Title IX regulations, school districts are required to notify students, parents or legal guardians of pupils, applicants for admission, employees, applicants for employment, and all unions or professional organizations holding collective bargaining or professional agreements with the district of the following:
- The name or title, office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number of the employee or employees designated as the district’s Title IX coordinator. 34 C.F.R. § 106.8(a).
- That the district does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of sex in its education programs and activities, as required by Title IX and Part 106 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and that this prohibition of discrimination extends to admission and employment. Any inquiries about the application of Title IX should be referred to the district’s Title IX coordinator, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, or both. 34 C.F.R. § 106.8(b)(1).
- The district’s Title IX grievance procedures and process. This includes complaints of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and how the district will properly respond. 34 C.F.R. § 106.8(c).
Additionally, the school district must prominently display the contact information for their Title IX coordinator and the district’s policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sex on the district’s website and in each handbook or catalog available to those entitled to such notification (i.e., those listed above). 34 C.F.R. § 106.8(c).
Student Attendance. Districts are required to provide each pupil with a copy of the school attendance policies under Wis. Stat. § 118.16(4)(d) and must notify the student’s parent or legal guardian when that student is truant. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has issued additional guidance on these notices, which the WASB incorporated into its updated guidance on annual notices.
- Notice of each instance of truancy. School attendance officers must notify the parent or guardian of a child who has been truant of the child’s truancy and direct the parent or guardian to return the child to school no later than the next day on which school is in session or to provide an excuse for the absence. This notice may be made by electronic communication, personal contact, first class mail, or telephone call of which a written record is kept. The attendance officer shall attempt to give notice by personal contact, telephone call, or electronic communication before notice by first class mail may be given. Stat. § 118.16(2)(c).
- Notice of a student’s habitual truancy. If the child is habitually truant, a school attendance officer must notify the parent or guardian of the child when the child initially becomes a habitual truant. This notice may be made by registered or certified mail or by first class mail. The school attendance officer may simultaneously notify the parent or guardian by an electronic communication. Stat. § 118.16(2)(cg). After issuing a notice of habitual truancy, the attendance officer shall notify the student’s parent or guardian of any further unexcused absences as provided in the district’s truancy plan.
Child Nutrition Programs and Free and Reduced-Price Meal Information. Each district must post a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “And Justice for All” poster in a prominent location at every school food program (e.g., in the cafeteria). 7 C.F.R. § 1901.202(f). The USDA updated the “And Justice for All” poster and the content of the civil rights nondiscrimination statement included in the poster in March of 2025. Those updates are as follows:
- The new language includes English proficiency in the protected status of national origin.
- The new language excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from the protected status of sex.
- The new language includes as protected statuses marital status, family/parental status, and income derived from a public assistance program.
However, the USDA has not issued a policy memo or other guidance regarding requirements or expectations for converting to the new poster and language, nor has this guidance been updated on the DPI website.
In preparation for the start of the 2025-26 school year, school districts should update their annual notices as appropriate to reflect the above changes and confirm compliance with state and federal law.
