Author: Laura Pedersen

On March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court (Court), in a unanimous opinion, articulated a two-part test for determining whether a public official acts on behalf of the government (i.e., engages in state action) when blocking an individual’s comments or the individual on the public official’s social media page.  See Lindke v. Freed, No….

On November 14, 2023, the Wisconsin State Assembly (Assembly) passed Assembly Bill 223 (Bill).  The Bill offers designated school personnel and certain health care providers, including school nurses, immunity for administering an opioid antagonist to a student or other person in an elementary or secondary school regardless of parental consent.  Opioid antagonists are medications that…

Wisconsin law requires that public school districts report pupil count data to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) relative to two (2) dates during the school year: (1) the third Friday in September and (2) the second Friday in January.  The data collected is used to determine membership for school finance purposes.  Because the third…

On March 20, 2023, the Public Records Board (PRB) approved the General Records Schedule for Wisconsin Public School District and Related Records (GRS), replacing the Wisconsin Records Retention Schedule for School Districts (WRRSSD).  The GRS became effective on March 20, 2023, making the WRRSSD outdated, despite its May 2023 expiration. The GRS and the WRRSSD…

At this time of the school year, Wisconsin school districts may be receiving school district reorganization petitions.  There are four (4) types of school district reorganization governed by Wis. Stat. Ch. 117, including consolidation of two (2) or more school districts, dissolution of a school district, creation of a school district, and the detachment of…

On May 9, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas issued a decision concerning the rights of school district employees with respect to transgender student policies.  While the decision does not serve as mandatory authority on courts with jurisdiction over Wisconsin school districts, it is likely that courts with jurisdiction over…

When school districts hire individuals as coaches who are already serving as employees of those districts, concerns regarding the payment of such employees often arise.  Because of those concerns, many school districts avoid such dual-employment relationships unless the coaches also serve as teachers.  This Legal Update provides information related to the general requirements of the…

The Public School Student Regular Open Enrollment application period for the 2022-23 school year opened on February 7, 2022, and will remain open until 4:00 PM on April 29, 2022.  Open enrollment affords parents/guardians an opportunity to apply for their children to attend public school in a nonresident district tuition free.  Under the open enrollment…

When school districts enter into a Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR) Organization Security and Confidentiality Agreement (Confidentiality Agreement) with the Department of Health Services (DHS), authorized users are afforded certain rights and responsibilities.  This article focuses on the rights of school districts in accessing and using student COVID-19 vaccination data located on the WIR.  In addition,…

Amidst the season of giving, this article comes as a reminder regarding the obligations school districts have with respect to receiving donations from booster clubs or other support organizations.  While Wis. Stat. § 118.27(2) allows school boards to receive donations from booster clubs or other support organizations, the subsection creates a potential conflict with Title…