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 connected with 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

Important Due Dates for Transfer of Service 2025
It is important to note that the PI-5000 Portal closes on the due dates below.

September 12 - Part A District Transfer of Service Requests due (Documentation and requests entered after this date are subject to further questioning.)
September 19 - Part B Prior District Verification due
September 26 - Part C Requesting District (Part A District) TOS Revenue Limit Request Certification due

Each Transfer of Service request, verification, and certification must be submitted online by the due date. Amendments to specific parts can be made at any time up to the stated due date for that part. The district's application is considered complete when Part C (Summary) is submitted.

The PI-5000 TOS Portal is used for:

requests for a student who came to your district and identified in the student's record
- with a previously identified disability, as defined in §115.76(5)(a) and (b) ; and/or
- participating in a limited English proficiency program, as defined in §.115.955(7).

Please review the entirety of the Transfer of Service materials provided by DPI for an understanding of all eligibility requirements.

The Transfer of Service exemption provides additional levy authority to:

cover the increase in cost for Special Education services for a student with a disability.
cover the increase in cost for LEP services.

SPECIAL NOTES

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.

A student attending your school district under the Open Enrollment program is not considered 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 2025-2026 Revenue Limit Exemption

Walk through the Decision Tree for each student being considered for a Transfer of Service request to assist with determining eligibility. The Transfer of Service (TOS) Decision Tree for a 2025-2026 Revenue Limit Exemption guides the district in student based requests. See Transfer of Service General Information - Basic Guidelines for a written explanation of the six steps in the TOS Decision Tree.

District TOS Contact Information within the PI-5000

It is the responsibility of the districts to communicate with each other pertaining to discrepancies within the TOS request prior to the reporting deadlines. Contact information for each district can be found in the Contacts tab of the PI-5000 Transfer of Service Portal. The individuals listed for each school in the Contacts tab of the TOS portal have come directly from the PI-1500 District Contact Report, so it is important to keep the PI-1500 District Contact Report up to date.

See Step 7a and 7b under Authorizing Users and Granting Access (below) to understand how your district can ensure the proper contact names are listed in the PI-5000 TOS Portal.

Authorizing Users and Granting Access

Districts – Please confirm Users and their Access early in the TOS process so gaining access does not interfere with your district’s responsibility to meet the filing deadlines.

The TOS on-line application security is processed through the Application User Management (AUM) system, the same portal used for both Open Enrollment (OPAL) and Homeschool Reporting (HOMER) applications.

Only school district administrators are authorized to access the Transfer of Service-SPED and Transfer of Service-LEP applications by using the user ID and password they were issued through the AUM system. If any other district staff members are to have access to TOS applications, the district administrator is the only individual who can grant other users access into the portal. The district administrator and other staff members must work together to get the proper authorizations and notifications of TOS.

To authorize additional users for TOS, administrators must:

Sign into the user administration page at: https://sms.dpi.wi.gov/AUM. Only the district administrator’s ID and password can access this site.
If the person you are authorizing DOES NOT appear in your main list, click Add New User. If the person does appear in your main list, see step 5 below.
Enter the information for the new user. To provide access to Transfer of Service-SPED, check ‘Transfer of Service – Special Education’. To provide access to Transfer of Service-LEP, check ‘Transfer of Service – Limited English Proficiency’. Transfer of Service-SPED users are not automatically authorized to use Transfer of Service-LEP and vice versa.
Click Save. This screen is the ONLY page with both the new user’s ID and password. Print this page and give it to the PI-5000 Transfer of Service Portal user, who will need to keep it in a secure place. This is the only time their password will appear in writing. If it is forgotten, the password must be reset.
If the individual you are authorizing for TOS already appears on your main list, click Edit to the right of that person’s name. On the User Detail page, click on the appropriate TOS box (SPED, LEP, or both) to extend authority to the desired application and click Save. The staff member will use the same user ID and password to access each of the applications approved by the district administrator.
To reset a password, the district administrator will need to sign into the user administration page and click Edit to the right of the person’s name. Then click Reset Password. The AUM system will generate a new password for the specific end user. It is not possible for the district administrator to create a new password requested by the end user.
It is important to update the PI-1500 District Contacts Report under the Report Access tab so the user will receive the notifications sent by the PI-5000 Transfer of Service system.
1. To access the PI-1500 District Contacts, log into the School Finance Reporting Portal (SAFR), locate the PI-1500 Contacts Report and click on it. In the Select District User box, select a desired username. Click on the green Report Access tab if it is not already displaying. Check the box for Receive Info.
2. If the user does not appear in the Select District User box, the user will need to be added prior to granting or updating any access to information and reports. Adding a new user can be done by clicking the gray Add User button in the PI-1500 District Contacts Report. After the user has been added, reporting access can be granted (Step 7a).

Training Materials

Instructions for using the online application:

Directions for Completing Transfer of Service (TOS) sections: Includes:
- Assigning TOS access to school district staff members;
- TOS Part A instructions;
- TOS Part B instructions; and
- TOS Part C instructions.
Transfer of Service General Information - Basic Guidelines

Narrative Transfer of Service

This 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.

Narrative Transfer of Service Information and Application

Narrative Transfer of Service Decision Tree