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Transfer of Service

Program Description

The Transfer of Service Exemption §121.91(4)(a)3) Wis. Stats. provides that a school district which assumes responsibility for a program or service from another governmental unit may request and be granted an exemption to the district revenue limit equal to the increased cost due to that program or service. If the service transferred is a student that requires Special Education or ESL services, the exemption will be reduced by the amount of categorical aid the district will receive the following year as determined by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). If the previous governmental unit was another Wisconsin school district, that district will need to report the amount equal to their reduction in costs. This reduction in costs will have no impact on the district's revenue limit calculations.

Click the appropriate links below for more information.

Points to Consider Before Submitting a Transfer of Service Request

Note: The Transfer of Service exception provides additional levy authority to cover the increase in Special Education cost for a child with a disability. The Transfer of Service process is not to be used to address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) needs for a new student, as ADA requirements are a general education responsibility.  The Transfer of Service exception also provides additional levy authority to cover the increase in cost for ESL services.

A student attending your school district under the Open Enrollment program does not become a district resident, so this student is not eligible for a Transfer of Service request (question #3 under part A. within the PI-5000 portal).

Decision Tree for 2023-2024 Revenue Limit Exemption

Note: Be sure to walk through the Decision Tree for each student being considered for a Transfer of Service request. The Transfer of Service (TOS) Decision Tree for a 2023-2024 Revenue Limit Exemption guides the district in student based requests. See Transfer of Service General Information - Basic Guidelines for a verbal explanation of the six steps in the TOS Decision Tree.

Important Due Dates for Transfer of Service 2023
 

  • September 15 - Part A Documentation and requests entered after this date are subject to the out of state survey.
  • September 22 - Part B Verification.
  • September 29 - Part C TOS Revenue Limit Request (summary).

The PI-5000 is used for requests for a student:

  • that came to your district with a previously identified disability, as defined in §115.76(5)(a) and (b) ; and
  • is participating in a limited English proficiency program, as defined in §.115.955(7).

Each request will need to be submitted online by the due date. Forms must be completed online with all appropriate verifications where required. The district's application is considered complete when Part C (Summary) is submitted. Amendments can be made at any time up to the due date.

District TOS Contact Information within the PI-5000

Districts can view another district's TOS contact information from within the PI-5000 portal by clicking on the green "Contacts" tab (seven from the left in the row of eight tabs), located below the bar on the screen.  The individuals per school district are from the PI-1500 District Contact Report.  

Granting access to the PI-5000 portal:  The 2023-2024 Year TOS on-line application security will continue to be processed through the Application User Management system https://sms.dpi.wi.gov/AUM.  The district administrators already have some familiarity with it, as it is used for both Open Enrollment (OPAL) and Homeschool Reporting (HOMER) applications. Complete directions can be found in the "Directions for Completing Transfer of Service Sections" below. 

Training Materials

Instructions for using the online application:

Narrative Transfer of Service

Transfer of Service request is between the school district and a local municipality, such as city or county. The actual request to DPI must be in a narrative format with both estimated costs and justification for the request.

Instructions for a Narrative Transfer of Service.

Transfer of Service Logs