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Membership Information and Reporting

Overview and Contact

Wisconsin public school districts are required to count pupils for membership purposes on the third Friday in September and second Friday in January and report the data to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The PI-1563, an Internet-based application accessed via the School Finance Reporting Portal, is used to collect the information.

Pupil Count and Transportation Info in DPI Regulatory Relief Package (August 7, 2020)

Click an appropriate link below for more information.

Pupil Count Portals

The PI-1563 Pupil Count Portal for September opens on Friday, September 15, 2023 and will be temporarily closed at the end of the day on Friday, September 29, 2023 for the calculation of general aids. The portal for the January 2024 count opens on the morning of Friday, January 12, 2024 and will be due at the end of the day on Friday, January 26, 2024 any reports submitted afterwards are automatically subject to a membership audit.. The Portal will be again closed for the following week.  Starting on Monday, February 5, 2024, school districts will need to follow the procedures outlined in the "Editing Pupil Count Data" section below to edit their membership reports.

Reminder: If it is necessary during the school year to edit the September - PI-1563 data and the edit includes 9th grade students, make the needed adjustments on those webpages where that data is collected. This data will impact your Personal Electronic Computing Device Grant if grant funding is provided.

The 2022-23 membership reports will be closed for any editing as of September 30, 2023.

Editing Pupil Count Data for 2022-2023

The PI-1563 portals remained open until the morning of January 27, 2023. They were then be closed for one week to determine which districts would be assigned membership audits in 2022-2023. Once the membership audit list had been announced for 2022-2023, access to the PI-1563 portals was granted in the following manner:

For Districts Required to Submit a Membership Audit

The School Finance Reporting Portal is open to districts selected for a membership audit. Districts are to make pupil count changes through the reporting portal on the PI-1563 reports by changing original data. The district’s auditor is not allowed to make the changes; rather, they may only print the "Audit Changes: Summary" and use it in their audit procedures.

Once the finance team receives the audited membership report from the district’s auditor, the PI-1563 report will be closed. If an amendment is required subsequent to the audit, follow the same procedures as "For Districts Not Required To Have a Membership Audit" detailed below. The district’s auditor must concur in writing to any changes made after the 2022-23 membership audit has been submitted.

For Districts Not Required to Have a Membership Audit

Any changes to the PI-1563 Pupil Count Report must be made by the district via the School Finance Reporting Portal.

If your district does not have a membership audit, send an email to dpifin@dpi.wi.gov or  Roger Kordus requesting the SFS team to open the portal along with an explanation of the changes that will be made:

  • which count date;
  • what changes are to be made;
  • why the changes are required; and
  • include your contact information.

You will be contacted as to when the reporting portal will be open for you to make an amendment to the appropriate report. After amending the PI-1563 report, please be sure to press the "submit" button so the changes are made official.

Alternate Count Date

There can be two basic scenarios--an unplanned situation or a planned event--that would result in a school district requesting an alternative count date for the statutory-required pupil counts: third Friday in September or the second Friday in January.

An unplanned situation, such as weather conditions or other unforeseen events that lead to the district not operating on the standard count date. The district will need to contact the SFS team and explain the situation. Please specify the alternative date that you are requesting. In most circumstances, the alternative date will be either the Thursday before or the Monday after the Friday count date. This request will be processed per Wis. Stat. §121.05(3).

A planned event, approved by the school board where the district is closed and no students will be receiving instruction. The district will need to contact the SFS team and explain the situation. This request will be processed per Wis. Stat. § 121.05(3m). State law dictates the alternative date will be the third weekday that follows the next school day on which school is in session. For example, school is closed on Friday and school resumes on the following Monday, the alternative count date will be on Thursday of that week.

If the standard pupil count date is the same day as the Board has approved a partial day such as an early release or testing at certain grade levels, the pupil count will be taken on the third Friday in September or the second Friday in January and the district will use the “Before and After” rule regarding any student not present on the standard pupil count date:

If any pupils are absent but considered enrolled on the count date, they can still be counted if they have been present for instruction at least one day during the school year prior to the count date, at least one day during the school year after the count date, and have remained a resident during the time of absence. Students reported in the "absent" column must have returned to school in order to be included in the PI-1563 Pupil Count Report. If the student returns after the initial submission of the report, the report should be amended to include the student in the pupil count. (Source: Instructions for the PI-1563 Workbook and Pupil Count Report Revised 01/17)

Residency

Clarification Regarding Residency - Constitutional Requirements, Compulsory Attendance and Fiscal Implications For Students Living Away From Their Parents. Additional information is available on the Residency, Tuition and Tuition Waivers webpage.

When a school district needs to determine if a property is with their district (as it relates to a student's residency), the following websites are possible resources:

My Vote Wisconsin can be used for addresses where the school district is shown for school board elections. Click "What’s on my Ballot". Enter address and click search. Scroll down to see if there is a school board election with the school district name.

County Clerk or County Assessor websites:

For questions about Sections I and II--including FAPE and compulsory attendance requirements--contact the Special Education Team at (608) 266-1781. For questions about Section III Fiscal Implications, contact the School Finance Team at (608) 267-9114.

Guidelines for Counting

To assist districts in accurately completing the pupil count report, the SFS team has developed guidance on counting pupils. The PI 1563 Pupil Count Report Workbook Form is structured similarly to the Internet-based reporting program and new users are recommended to use this spreadsheet prior to entering the portal application.

Counting students who have been granted "Senior Rule" status per Wisc. Stat. §121.84(1)(b) and § 121.84(4)(a) will continue to be counted as a resident of that school district where the student continues to attend, per Wisc. Stat. §121.84(1)(d).

All non-resident, part-time, home-schooled pupils will be collected from within the PI-1563 in step five. Remember that step five will collect data on NON-RESIDENT, part-time, home-schooled pupils and step three will continue to collect data on RESIDENT, part-time, home-schooled pupils.

Reconciliation of Pupil Counts

All districts are required to explain (reconcile) membership changes that occur between the September and January counts. The process involves identifying and documenting the specific membership additions and subtractions that have happened in each category (e.g. 4YK - 524.5 hours) between the two count dates. The completed reconciliation is to be kept on file at the district office and available for DPI and your independent auditor upon request. Supporting documentation should also be kept on file and available upon request.

Note: The online tutorial Pupil Count Reconciliation is now available and details the 'why' and 'how to' of reconciling the September pupil count to the January pupil count.

Use the following Excel files to complete the reconciliation. Remember that the January PI-1563 Membership Report has to be submitted for January data to appear in this spreadsheet.