Wisconsin school districts are often posed with the conundrum of balancing the privacy rights of parents with their obligations under the open records law. School districts have often taken the position that the privacy of the parents is of higher public interest than the disclosure of their email addresses pursuant to a public records request,…
It is well understood that public school districts must keep student records confidential under Wisconsin’s Pupil Records law and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”).[1] Both laws include exceptions that authorize disclosure without parental consent. One such exception applies to the disclosure of directory data.[2] However, this exception only applies…
Under Wisconsin Statute sections 115.31(6m) and 73.0301(2)(b), the Department of Public Instruction (“DPI”) is required to revoke a teaching license if the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (“DOR”) certifies to the DPI that an individual teaching license holder (“teacher”) is liable for delinquent taxes. The process by which this type of license revocation may occur, however, is not clearly articulated in a readily accessible manner. Neither the Wisconsin Statutes nor…
Two identical bills have been introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate that would drastically affect transgender students’ participation in sports. 2021 AB 196 and 2021 SB 322 would amend provisions of Wis. Stat. §118.13(1), to create exceptions to the pupil discrimination statute. The bills would also create Wis. Stat. §118.132 to identify the requirements…
Two recently-enacted stimulus laws, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), provide that an employer may be eligible for tax benefits if the employer makes payments toward its employees’ student loans in certain circumstances. Employers and employees can avoid paying federal payroll taxes on an employee’s student…
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act), which provides another round of stimulus payments and other initiatives intended to combat the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act also provides funding for general government operations. Of particular interest to employers and small businesses, the Act makes changes to…
The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred several changes in education, most notably related to in-person learning. For those who have taken or plan to take the General Education Development (GED) test, the move to an increasingly virtual world has led to much uncertainty about whether these individuals may enter post-secondary education or the workforce according to…
Beginning November 2, 2020, Wisconsin employers must provide notice to employees about the availability of unemployment insurance benefits at the time of an employee’s separation from employment with the employer. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) created the new notice requirement as a result of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The Emergency…
On September 10, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an emergency temporary injunction, barring Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) from enforcing its own Emergency Order #9. The PHMDC Order prohibited in-person instruction for certain students in Dane County public and private schools. The Supreme Court’s Decision In James, et al., v. Heinrich/Parisi, et…
The federal District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction temporarily prohibiting enforcement of the Department of Education’s (DOE) rules for how public-school districts are to distribute Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds to private schools. State of Michigan v. Betsy Devos, No. 20-4478, 2020 WL 5074397…