Effective December 10, 2025, the State of Wisconsin enacted 2025 Wisconsin Act 57 (Act 57), placing additional parental notification requirements on school boards, private schools, and charter school operators upon receipt of a “report” that raises reasonable cause to suspect that one of the following three categories of conduct occurred:
- A staff member or volunteer has been convicted of a serious child sex offense[3] and worked primarily and directly with children in a manner that would be a felony under Wis. Stat. § 948.13; or
- A registered sex offender has intentionally captured a representation[4] of a minor pupil without the written consent of their parent or guardian.
Parental reporting is limited to those parents or guardians of pupils who are alleged to have been the victim, target, or recipient of such conduct.
Receiving Reports and Reasonable Cause Required—Reporting to the pupil’s parent(s) or guardian(s) is only required if: (1) a report is received, (2) the person receiving the report determines that there is reasonable cause to believe the conduct occurred, and (3) the conduct is one of three categories of conduct as explicitly provided in Act 57.
Under Act 57, a report is “received” by a school district or operator of a charter school when an employee who is required to hold a principal or district administrator license, or who is the Title IX coordinator, receives information relating to one of the three categories of conduct. Act 57 fails to define “report,” but such can be reasonably interpreted as a communication, either written or verbal, that alleges any one of the three categories of conduct.
A school board, governing body of a private school, or operator of a charter school must only notify the parent(s) or guardian(s) of the pupil if the individual who received the report determines there is “reasonable cause” to suspect that the alleged conduct occurred. The “reasonable cause” standard requires more than mere suspicion and is met if a reasonable person, upon objective review of evidence provided, believes that such conduct occurred.
Notice Requirements—Upon concluding that it has an obligation under Act 57 to notify the pupil’s parent(s) or guardian(s), the school board, operator of a charter school, or governing board of a private school must notify the parent(s) or guardian(s) in person or by phone, including voicemail, no later than one of the following, whichever is applicable:
- If the report is received on a school day before the end of regularly scheduled instruction, 5:00 p.m. that day; or
- If the report is received on a school day after the end of regularly scheduled instruction or on a day that is not a school day, by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the next calendar day.
Act 57 further requires that school boards provide annual notice to parents and guardians with information regarding their rights to access records pertaining to school employee discipline made pursuant to public records requests.
Open Questions—As currently written, Act 57 prompts several questions. For example, are school districts to assume that making a reasonable cause determination supersedes the obligation to notify parents or guardians before 5:00 p.m. on the same day the report was received? Or, should a school district err on the side of caution and notify a parent prior to a reasonable cause determination when making the reasonable cause determination would otherwise delay notification after 5:00 p.m.?
Furthermore, if an employee or volunteer whose responsibilities primarily included direct interaction with children was convicted of a serious child sex offense, is a school district required to notify all parents or guardians of pupils who were exposed to the employee or volunteer, or only those parents or guardians of pupils whom the employee or volunteer may have victimized? The answer to these questions cannot be answered based on the text of Act 57, and school districts will need to rely on guidance issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, to the extent such is forthcoming, as well as advice from legal counsel, in implementing its legal requirements therein.
In closing, school districts already have policies and/or practices to notify parents and guardians when they believe their child is a victim of an employee’s or volunteer’s sexual misconduct. Act 57 likely does little to provide additional information to parents regarding sexual misconduct in schools, except for imposing a narrow reporting timeline upon receiving a report and making a reasonable cause determination. From a practical perspective, Act 57 creates questions regarding reporting, to whom, and by when, especially when reports are received near the end of the school day or if it is unclear whether any particular pupil was involved in the individual’s violative conduct. We anticipate that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will provide guidance in the coming months to answer these questions. Regardless, in most situations a school district’s parental notice obligations under Act 57 will be clear. We encourage school districts to meet with their principals, district administrators, and Title IX Coordinator(s) to explain these new requirements and create a plan for implementing and complying with these new requirements.
[1] “School staff member” refers to “any person who provides services to a school or a school board, including an employee of a school or a school board and a person who provides services to a school or school board under a contract.” See Wis. Stat. § 948.098(1)(c).
[2] “Sexual misconduct” refers to “verbal conduct of a sexual nature or physical contact of a sexual nature.” See Wis. Stat. § 948.098(1)(d).
[3] “Serious child sex offense” has the meaning as defined under Wis. Stat. § 948.13(1), and includes, but is not limited to, first or second-second degree sexual assault of a child under §§ 948.02(1)-(2), use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime under Wis. Stat. § 948.075, and sexual exploitation of a child under Wis. Stat. §§ 948.05(1)-(1m), among others.
[4] To “capture a representation” refers to taking a photograph, making a motion picture, videotape, recording, or other visual or audio representation, or recording or storing data that represents a visual image in any medium. See Wis. Stat. § 942.09(1)(a).
