School Directory Management Portal: User Guide Landing Page

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School Directory Annual Data Timeline

This timeline refers to both the Wisconsin School Directory Management Portal and the Wisconsin School Directiry Public Portal. This is due to the fact that the Management Portal pushes data to populate the Public Portal. They work together, but each have a unique timeline. 

1. The standard calendar starting January 1 and ending December 31
2. The DPI school year calendar, starting July 1, ending June 30. 

January/February, Regular Calendar Year

• School Directory Management Portal opens to collect data for the school year that begins in Spetember of that same calendar year. Visit the School Directory management Portal, Annual Required Updates webpage for details on the data that must be submitted and updated each year.  
  • (i.e., January 2024: SD Management Portal opens. Schools update information for the 2024-25 school year, which begins in September for the majority of WI schools.)

June 30, DPI Ends it's Former School Year

• Last day for School Directory Public Portal to display data for the ended school year.
  • (i.e., June 30, 2024: SD Public Portal displays data for the 2023-24 school year). 

July 1, DPI Starts it's New School Year Calendar

• School Directory Public Portal displays changes made in SD Management Portal.
  • (i.e., July 1, 2024: SD Public Portal displays data for the 2024-25 school year).

December, Regular Calendar Year

• School Directory Management Portal "closes," meaning that data for the current school year can no longer be entered. 
  • (i.e., December 2024: SD Management Portal closes and information pertaining to the 2024-25 school year can no longer be edited. If changes need to be made, you must hold the User Role of "Directory Update" and submit a Help Ticket so that a DPI Sutomer Services team member can make those changes for you.)

FAQs, Details, and Points to Note

1. Public schools are defined:
   1. As per §115.01, public schools are the elementary (grades 1-8) and high schools (grades 9-12) supported by public taxation. The school district is the territorial unit for school administration. School districts are classified as common, union high, unified and 1st class city school districts. A joint school district is one the territory of which is not wholly in one municipality. Each school district shall be known by the designation “School District of" followed by the name of the municipalities in which any high schools operated by the district lie.
2. Private schools are defined:
   1. A private school provides a private or a religious-based education program.  A private school must provide at least 875 hours of instruction each school year and a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and health, as well as meet other requirements in state law under Wis. Stat. s. 118.165 (1).   Additional information about private schools is available on the Private Schools – Information webpage. 
3. Independent Charter Schools are defined as: Charter schools are public, nonsectarian schools created through a business-like contract or "charter" between the charter governance board and the chartering authority or authorizer. Independent charter schools ("ICS"), sometimes referred to as 2r or 2x charter schools, are charter schools that are not authorized by a public school district. Each of the following have authority to authorize a charter school in Wisconsin:The common council of the city of Milwaukee
   • The chancellor of any institution in the Universities of Wisconsin (UW System)
   • Each technical college district board
   • Waukesha County Executive
   • College of Menominee Nation
   • Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
   • Universities of Wisconsin Office of Educational Opportunity 
   1. For additional information about ICS, please see the Independent (2r or 2x) Charter Schools webpage.
4. County Children with Disabilities Education Board are defined:
   1. As per §115.817, a county board of supervisors may determine to establish a special education program, including the provision of related services for children with disabilities, for school districts in the county. The program may provide for one or more special schools, classes, treatment or instruction centers for children with one or more types of disabilities.
   2. These agencies are often abbreviated as CDEB, CCDEB, or County CDEB.
5. Cooperative Education Services Agency (CESA) are defined:
   1. There are twelve CESAs in Wisconsin, each one covering a geographic region of the state. The purpose of these agencies is to provide cooperative educational services. Each CESA (pronounced, "see-suh") has a certain number of support staff who assist with Wisconsin Information System for Education (WISE) data reporting to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). CESA staff members collaborate closely with a number of DPI's teams (e.g., Customer Service Team (CST), Special Education Team). More information can be found on the CESA data element page.
6. State Agency is defined:
   1. There are a number of State Agencies in Wisconsin. The Department of Corrections (DoC) and the Department of Health Services (DHS) are the only state agencies to report information through the School Directory Management Portal because they provide education services to Wisconsin students.

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