School Directory

WISE

School Directory Management Portal User Guide for: County CDEB

Click the headers of the accordions below to navigate to different sections of this page:

Introduction

User Guide

Help Ticket

Introduction to the Newly Updated School Directory Management Portal

The School Directory (SD) Management Portal (formerly called the School Directory Update application) has been updated for your convenience and to give it a more modern look, matching its "sister" application, the Wisconsin School Directory Public Portal.

It is very important that you read, review, and edit the data as needed within every tile on the home screen of the SD Management Portal so that DPI has accurate and current data.

The tiles appearing on a home screen, and their sub-tiles/screens for a county Children with Disability Education Board (County CDEB), are listed within each accordion below.

NOTE: The person making changes to the School Directory Management Portal application must have the user role of “Directory Update." If you do not hold this user role, you must request it from your agency’s District Security Administrator (DSA) or your agency’s Application Administrator. Request access in WISEhome.

The "Opening" screen provides tips and general knowledge. Read over the information. Then, click Go to Home Page.

Screenshot of the Wisconsin School Directory Management Portal landing screen.

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User Guide

The Home Screen

“Application Open/Closed”

Each year the information submitted to DPI from the school Directory applications is used for a wide variety of purposes. Many people throughout the state create external data requests for Directory based information. Additionally, Directory information is compiled in over 80 reports that get submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

Screenshot of the School Directory Management Portal landing screen displaying agency name, school year, and application open/closed icon.

In order to process data as it changes from one school year to the next, the Wisconsin School Directory Management Portal application has to ‘close,’ meaning that it cannot accept submitted data for that time. This annual event usually takes place sometime between mid-December until about mid-January, when the application re-opens.

If you log into the application during a "closed" period, the icon that appears green and reads “Application open” in the screenshot above will instead be a red color and will state “Application closed.” While you will be able to log in and view the home screen, as long as the icon reads “Application closed”, users will not be able to make any data edits within the application.

If you have an urgent change to be made to your Directory information, but the application is Closed, please submit a Help Ticket. Select ‘School Directory - Updates” from the application drop-down list and explain your needs in the free-text field.

It is also important to note that when the School Directory Management Portal reopens (usually in January or February), that the Directory is then accepting information for the following school year. For example, when the School Directory Management Portal opens in February of 2027, it is open to accept data for the 2027-28 school year (even though February 2027 is still in the calendar time frame for the 2026-27 school year).

“Manage Data” Icon and the “Submit Review” Button

Follow all the steps provided within the user guide sections below. To edit and update information in the School Directory Management Portal, you need to click the purple pencil icon in the upper right corner of each tile that appears on your home screen. This is referred to as the "Manage" icon through the user guide. Clicking this icon brings you to screens where you can edit and update your School Directory data. 

Do not click the "Submit Review" button until you have reviewed and updated data on all tiles and screens within the School Directory Management Portal application. If you submit data that has not been reviewed, you will likely receive validation messages.

The Home Screen and Breadcrumbs as Navigation:

The home screen of the SD Management Portal displays tiles, each with a unique header. You must review each tile annually. You can periodically make smaller changes throughout the year during the application’s “Open” time frame. To edit information on any tile, click Manage. This opens a new screen. All screens are editable except for the basic information screen.

Screenshot of the School Directory Management Portal landing screen displaying agency name, school year, and application open/closed icon.

A message across the top of the home screen informs you of the progress of your data review. If you have not started your data review, the home screen indicates that your data has not been verified.

Screenshot of alert message informing users that they have not verified their school directory data for the current school year.

Once you begin your data review, the home screen message changes to indicate your progress.

Screenshot of submit review message.

To edit information on any tile, click Manage. This opens a new screen. All screens are editable except for the basic information screen.

The tile headers are used to create the "breadcrumbs." Breadcrumbs are a list of screen names, separated by a > (greater than) symbol. They appear across the top of every screen. Use the breadcrumbs to navigate through this application.

Screen example of using breadcrumbs to navigate through School Directory Management Portal.

Click a word in the breadcrumb trail to go to that screen. The breadcrumbs displayed are dynamic and change as you navigate screens. The breadcrumb path always starts from the home screen. Click Home to return to the home screen at any time.

The number of tiles appearing on the home screen depends on the type of agency accessing the SD Management Portal (i.e., public LEA, CESA, County CDEB, private school, State Agency Institute, or ICS Governance Board). For information on Agency Types that report through the School Directory Management Portal, visit the School Directory Management Portal: User Guide landing page.

Every time the “Manage” icon appears in this user guide, you will find a numbered list of tasks to complete on that screen:

To Manage:

  1. Pay attention to the “Manage Data” icon throughout this user guide.
  2. Start by updating the Basic Information screen.
Basic Information Tile
Screenshot of the basic information tile.

This is a view only tile. It does allow users to click the “Manage” button, but the information displayed on this tile must be edited at the school-level, using the CCDEB Schools Information Tile screen.

The information on this tile and its corresponding screen reflect agency-level information. 

Basic Information Tile Screen

This is a view only screen. Changes needed to the items bolded at the top (Agency Name, Legal Name, Agency Type, LEA Code, CESA, and County) must be requested through a Help Ticket. The person submitting this ticket must have the user role of “Directory Update” because this role indicates they have authority to request these changes. This is indicated by the message highlighted across the top of the dark gray section of the screen:

Screenshot of the basic information landing screen.

Low Grade and High Grade:

These values are set based on the parameters given from each of the schools within your agency. This is done on the Basic School Information screen by clicking in the fields for Low Grade and High Grade, and making your selection. Selections will be highlighted in blue.

Screenshot of the low grade/high grade section of the basic information screen.

NOTE: The lowest possible grade is four-year-old kindergarten. PK is not a grade level, as it is not defined as a grade by state statute 115.02.

Grades Offered: 

You’ll notice an expander icon for this section. It looks like a plus sign. The plus sign indicates there is more to see. Once clicked, the window expands and displays a list of all the grade levels offered across all the schools within your agency, again, based on the parameters given from each of the schools within your agency.

Screenshot of the Grades Offered section of the basic information screen.

To Manage:

  1. Make note of anything from this screen that is incorrect so that you can address it in another tile/screen. Annotating it now will be helpful, especially if you need to submit a Help Ticket later on.
  2. Click Home from the breadcrumbs and move on to the Address and Contact Person Tile on the home screen.
Address and Contact Person Tile
Screenshot of the Address & Contact tile.

The Address and Contacts tile is below the Basic Information tile on the home screen.

The information on this tile and its corresponding screen is agency-level information.

Update Address and Contact Tile Screen

This screen is editable. Changes need to be made to any and all fields that require updating.

Screenshot of the Update Address and Contact screen.

For the Contact Information section, remember to provide agency-level information for the following fields: Phone, Fax, Email, Web address.

  • For more details about these fields, please visit the Contact Information data element page.
  • NEW! for the 2026-27 School Year: A new data element is required in School Directory: Transcripts URL. 
    • Please provide a URL, or web address, for the website that provides information about how to obtain high school transcripts from your agency. 
    • NOTE: This data element only pertains to LEAs with 12th grade (i.e., graduating) students. If your LEA does not offer grades 9-12, this data element does not appear on your screen.
    • There is an optional contact that correlates to this data element, the Transcript/Graduation Record Contact.

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your contact information at the agency-level. This should be information for the Agency/Main Offices, or for the District Administrator:
    1. Phone, 
    2. Fax, 
    3. Email address, 
    4. Web address/URL for the agency webpage.
    5. Web address/URL for the agency webpage pertaining to obtaining high school transcripts (LEAs with grades 9-12 only).

NOTE: For County CDEB, the person listed here should be the CCDEB Administrator. This is the name of the person who will appear on the home screen Staff Contacts tile.

There are also three address types to manage on this screen: physical, mailing, and shipping.

For the Physical Address section, remember to provide agency-level information for the following fields: Prefix, Street Address, Location, City, State, Zip Code.

Notice the boxes at the end of the physical address section. Some County CDEB also use their agency-level physical address (e.g., "Central Office" or "Main Office" address) as the mailing address and the shipping address for the agency.

You may choose to check one, both, or neither of these boxes as they apply to your agency-level needs.

  • Mailing Address: check box available if same as physical address
  • Shipping Address: check box available if same as physical address

If both boxes are left unchecked, you will need to enter information for both the mailing and shipping address.

Screenshot of the agency level addresses screen.

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your addresses at the agency-level.
  2. Make sure you follow the details provided about location if your agency's location is in a difficult to locate area.
  3. Either click the buttons to make the mailing/shipping address the same as the mailing address or enter separate mailing/shipping address information.
  4. Save changes.
  5. Click Home from the breadcrumbs.
  6. Click Staff Contacts on the home screen.
Staff Contacts Tile
Screenshot of the staff contacts tile.

The Staff Contacts tile displays the agency-level contact that was provided on the previous tile, the "Address and Contact Person" tile. This should be the person holding the role with the most authority within your school/ agency. For County CDEBs, the person listed here should be the CCDEB Administrator.

This tile brings you to the "Staff Contacts" screen. There are a number of mandatory contact types required by DPI. If you are missing any, you will see a notification on the home screen Staff Contacts tile.

Mandatory Contacts Tile Screen

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating. Address any notifications posted across the top of the screen for missing contact types.

Screenshot of the agency level mandatory contacts screen.
Screenshot of the combination of icons Indicating that this contact cannot be deleted.

For the Mandatory Contacts section, remember that this is still information required for the agency-level. Make sure you are not entering school-level contacts. However, in some smaller LEAs, there may be some overlap in positions (i.e., one person may hold multiple position titles). Based on state statutes and other regulations, DPI is required to collect contact information from various staff positions. Edit these positions to ensure you submit current, accurate contact information to DPI. You cannot delete these same contacts because they are required. As such, the edit icon is available, but the trash can ("delete") icon is not available. When a specific contact type, such as the District Administrator, displays these icons, it indicates that it is a required position.

Mandatory Contacts for a County CDEB Include:

NEW! for the 2026-27 School Year: A new, optional but highly recommended contact is available in School Directory: Transcript/Graduation Record Contact

  • This person is an agency-level contact and subject matter expert about the agency’s policies and procedures for obtaining high school transcripts (e.g., registrar, guidance counselors, assistant principals, records clerk in school business office, etc.).
  • This person should also be the person best able to help others use the resource link provided in the Transcripts URL data element.

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your mandatory contact information.
  2. Click the Manage icon to make changes.
  3. Click +Add Contact to add any missing mandatory contacts. Read the steps on how to add contacts below.

Add Contacts Screen

Each Agency Type has a specific list of mandatory contacts, as listed above. If your agency does not have anyone listed for a given mandatory contact, you will need to provide the information into the Directory. You can do this by clicking the “+ Add Contact” button. Once you click the “+ Add Contact” button from the Staff Contacts screen, the Add Contacts screen will display. This should be annotated in the breadcrumbs: Home > Staff Contacts > Add Contact.

To add a new contact, complete the following steps:

  1. Select the Contact Type for all required mandatory contacts, especially if they are missing.
  2. Select an appropriate Local Title. If your specific Local Title is not available in the list, please submit a Help Ticket to the Partner Support Team.
  3. Enter: First Name*, Last Name*, Middle Name, Gender, Suffix, Position Status*, Phone Number*, Phone Extension, Fax Number, and Email* for the current contact person. Items marked with an asterisk are required.
  4. For position Status, if the position is neither vacant nor an interim, leave that field blank.
  5. Below these fields there will be three buttons: Cancel, Clear, Add.
  6. Click the “Add” button to save the new Mandatory Contact.

To Manage:

  1. Add all required contacts.
  2. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to make sure your new contact appears in the listing.
  3. Repeat as needed until all mandatory contacts are listed.
  4. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to review the Other Contacts section.

Other Contacts

Below the list of mandatory contacts are additional positions that you can post as other contacts. Again, make sure you are adding agency-level contacts on this screen.

To Manage:

  1. Ensure all other contacts listed are accurate and current. 
  2. Edit or delete as needed for an accurate display of agency-level staff positions.
  3. OPTIONAL: Add additional other contacts.

NOTE: Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs and move on to the CCDEB Schools Tile when all Staff Contacts have been managed and updated to reflect current school year data.

CCDEB Schools Tile
Screenshot of the CCDEB schools tile.

The CCDEB Schools tile displays on the bottom row, below Staff Contacts on the home screen.

Notice the small number in brackets next to the header of the CCDEB Schools tile (e.g., [1]). This is the total number of schools within your agency. Each school within your agency will appear on the "Schools" screen when you click the "Manage" icon.

The home screen tile displays the names of the first six schools in the agency, listed alphabetically. If there are more than six schools within the agency, then underneath these six schools is an indicator of how many more schools exist that are not displayed on this tile (e.g., + 32 More). This number added to the six schools on display should add up to the total number of schools in your agency (e.g., 6 + 32 = 38 total schools).

Enter school-level/building-level data on the screens available from this tile. Each school needs to be updated each school year.

Click the "Manage" icon to view the "Schools" screen.

Schools Screen

This screen displays all of the schools associated with your agency, displayed across two panels. The panel on the left side of the screen provides a search bar and a school type code. The panel on the right displays all of the schools in alphabetical order. Notice also that a number appears at the bottom of the results, indicating the total number of schools (e.g., 1 of 1 displayed).

To locate a school, you can scroll through the alphabetical listing on the right side of the screen. The search bar, however, allows you to locate a specific school in your agency by typing the name. This helps larger school agencies find a specific school more quickly.

You can also use the School Type filter to locate all the schools of each type (elementary, combined elementary/middle, middle school, high school). Clicking the school type from the left panel will display all of those school types in the right panel, alphabetically. When using this search method, a number will appear at the bottom of the results, indicating how many of the total schools belong to the type you searched (e.g., when this agency clicks the high school type, search results display 9 of 38, meaning this agency has 9 high schools).

Screenshot of the Schools screen.

To proceed with your data management of each school, you must edit this building-level data one school at a time. Locate the school you want and click on its hyperlinked name from the panel on the right. Notice how the breadcrumbs expand on the screen that now displays building-level data for the school you have selected (e.g., Lakeland School).

Screenshot of the School Basic Information landing screen.

This school-specific screen displays the following tiles:

  • School Basic Information
  • Address
  • Staff Contacts

The data displayed on these tiles is all school building-level information.

Click the "Manage" icon on the School Basic Information tile to view that screen.

School Basic Information Screen for a Selected School:

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating.

Screenshot of the "edit" School Basic Information screen.

The top eight fields are view only. If changes need to be made to the items bolded at the top (School District/Agency Name, Legal Name, Agency Type, LEA Code, CESA, and County), this must be requested through a Help Ticket. The person submitting this ticket must have the user role of “Directory Update” because this role indicates they have authority to request these changes.

Use the drop-down menus to provide current and correct building-level information for the following data elements:

  • Low Grade/High Grade - Low grade/High grade data element page
    • These selections must be reviewed for the current school year. 
      • Read the Educational Service section for information on reporting PK.
      • NOTE: PK is no longer listed in the Low Grade, High Grade drop downs. The removal of PK from the grade level list was done so because PK is not a grade level, as defined by state statute 115.02.
      • The lowest possible grade is four-year-old kindergarten.
    • Independent Charter Schools are excluded from providing services to students who meet PK criteria. Select No for the question, "Does your school offer this service?"
    • Visit the Educational Service (PK) data element page for more details on PK.
    • Visit the Grade Level Placement data element page for more details on PK.
  • Grades Offered - Grades Offered data element page 
    • Same as the view only, Basic Information screen, the Grades Offered section has an expander icon that looks like a plus sign. The plus sign indicates there is more to see. Once clicked, the window expands and displays a list of all the grade levels your independent charter school offers.
    • Click the checkboxes to select or unselect grades for this specific school.

To Manage:

  1. Submit a Help Ticket if any of the following are incorrect on your screen:
    1. School District, Legal Name, Agency Type, LEA Code, CESA, and County
  2. School Type: Make a selection from the drop-down menu. 
  3. Virtual: Make a selection from the drop-down menu.
  4. Low Grade, High Grade: Adjust low grade and high grade.
  5. PK Educational Service: No should be the default setting on the radio button.
  6. Grades Offered: Adjust grades offered.
  7. Save changes.
  8. Click the School Name from the breadcrumbs and move on to the Address tile.

School-specific Update for Address and Contact Screen:

This screen is editable. If there is only one school within your county CDEB agency, clicking the manage button on this tile will take you back to the agency-level Address and Contact Person screen, which you have already edited, earlier in this user guide. Otherwise, if there are multiple schools within your county CDEB, make changes to any and all fields that require updating for each school. 

For the Contact Information section, remember to provide building-level information for the following fields: Phone, Fax, Email, Web address. As explained above, if there is only one school, the building-level information may be the same as the agency-level information.

For more details about these fields, please visit the Contact Information data element page.

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your contact information.
  2. Provide contact information for the front office of the school building, or its equivalent if there is no front office.

There are also three address types to manage on this screen: physical, mailing, and shipping.

For the Physical Address section, remember to provide information specific to the school named in the breadcrumbs. Complete all of the following fields: Prefix, Street Address, Location, City, State, Zip Code.

For more details about these fields, please visit the Address data element page.

Notice the boxes at the end of the physical address section to repeat the physical address as either or both the shipping and mailing address. You may choose to click one, both, or neither of these boxes as they apply to your school building-level needs.

  • Mailing Address: check box available if same as physical address
  • Shipping Address: check box available if same as physical address

If both boxes are left unchecked, you will need to enter information for both the mailing and shipping address.

Screenshot of the school level contact information screen.

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your addresses.
  2. Make sure you follow the details provided about location if your school’s location is in a difficult to locate area.
  3. Either check the boxes to make the mailing/shipping address the same as the mailing address or enter separate mailing/shipping address information.
  4. Save changes.
  5. Click the School Name from the breadcrumbs and confirm that everything in the Address tile is displaying correctly.
  6. Move on to the Staff Contacts Tile.

School-specific Staff Contacts Screen:

This screen is editable. If there is only one school within your county CDEB agency, clicking the manage button on this tile will take you back to the agency-level Staff Contacts screen, which you have already edited, earlier in this user guide. Otherwise, if there are multiple schools within your county CDEB, make changes to any and all fields that require updating for each school. Add any missing contact types indicated by notifications posted across the top of the screen.

Screenshot of the combination of icons Indicating that this contact cannot be deleted.

For the Mandatory Contacts section, remember that you are now entering school building-level contact information. Based on state statutes and other regulations, collecting contact information from various staff positions is required of DPI. These positions can and should be edited to ensure you submit current and accurate contact information to DPI.

These same contacts cannot be deleted because they are required. As such, the edit icon is visible, but the trash can (‘delete’) icon is not available. When a specific contact type, such as the District Administrator, displays these icons, it indicates that it is a required position.

Mandatory Contacts for a County CDEB:

To Manage:

  1. Review the accuracy of your mandatory contact information.
  2. Click the purple edit icon to make changes.
  3. Click the “+Add Contact” button to add any missing mandatory contacts.

Add Contacts Screen

When clicking the “+ Add Contact” button from the Staff Contacts screen, the Add Contacts screen will display. This should be annotated in the breadcrumbs: Home > Schools > Name of Selected School > Staff Contacts > Add Contact.

To add a new contact, complete the following steps:

  1. Select the Contact Type for all required mandatory contacts, especially if they are missing.
  2. Select an appropriate Local Title. If your specific Local Title is not available in the list, please submit a Help Ticket to the Partner Support Team.
  3. Enter: First Name*, Last Name*, Middle Name, Gender, Suffix, Position Status, Phone Number,* Phone Extension, Fax Number, and Email* for the current contact person. Items marked with an asterisk are required.
  4. For position Status, if the position is neither vacant nor an interim, leave that field blank.
  5. Below these fields there will be three buttons: Cancel, Clear, Add. 
  6. Click the “Add” button to save the new mandatory contact.

To Manage:

  1. Add all fields for the required contact.
  2. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to make sure your new contact appears in the listing.
  3. Repeat as needed until all contacts are listed.
  4. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to review the Other Contacts section.

Other Contacts

Below the list of mandatory contacts are additional positions that you can post as other contacts. Again, make sure you are only adding school building-level contacts on this screen.

To Manage:

  1. Ensure all other contacts listed are accurate and current.
  2. Edit or delete as needed for an accurate display of agency-level staff positions.
    • OPTIONAL: Add additional other contacts.
  3. Return to the School-specific screen (e.g., Lakeland School) to review that the CCDEB Administrator's (primary contact person): name, school phone number, and email address all appear accurately in the Staff Contacts tile.

NOTE: Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs and return to the home screen when all Staff Contacts have been managed and updated to reflect current school year data.

Return to Home Screen: Submit Review Button

Across the very top of the home screen is an instructional message.

It reads:

Data has not been verified for the 202X-2X+1 school year. Review the data on all tiles and subsequent screens, make changes as needed, and save your changes. Areas with missing mandatory data will display an error message. When done, click the Submit Review button to mark that your data has been managed.

Clicking this “Submit Review” button indicates to DPI that you have reviewed (updated and saved) all data for the current school year. You have clicked every tile from the home screen and gone through every screen, saving changes as updates along the way.

Clicking this “Submit Review” button means it’s time to celebrate Data Quality! Woo Hoo!!

Once you click this button, you can still make changes with the SD Management Portal as needed until the application closes (typically, at the end of each calendar year). The application opens again within a few weeks of the closing.

For more information, visit the School Directory Management Portal: Annual Required Updates webpage.

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Didn't Find What You Needed?

The Partner Support Team is here to help!

Please submit a Help Ticket so we may better assist you.

Choose “School Directory - Updates” from the Application dropdown, and one of our dedicated support staff will reach out to you.

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