Overview
The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Title I, section 1111) introduced a new requirement for each local education agency (LEA) to report expenditures to their state education agency (SEA), which would in turn report that information to the U.S. Department of Education. Under this reporting requirement, expenditures are reported by school, by funding source (either with federal funds or with state or local funds), per-pupil. Its goal is to promote financial transparency and drive conversations about fairness and equity in resource allocation among schools. The School Financial Services (SFS) team has been working with the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials and other stakeholders to develop an online collection tool that will assist districts and other Wisconsin LEAs with meeting this requirement.
Implementation Plan
Statement on Implementation of the ESSA Fiscal Transparency Requirement April 12, 2019
DPI's plan for implementing School Level Reporting (SLR) is as follows:
- Summer 2018: Design and develop SLR collection tool with participation of WASBO workgroup.
- September 2018: Test SLR collection tool with members of WASBO workgroup.
- 2018-19 Fiscal Year Collections:
- November 1, 2018: Open SLR collection for 2018-19 budget reporting, due on December 14, 2018.
- July 2019: Open SLR collection for 2018-19 annual (year end actual) reporting, due on or about September 30, 2019.
- June 2020: Report 2018-19 annual SLR data to U.S. Dept. of Education.
- 2019-20 Fiscal Year Collections:
- November 2019: Open SLR collection for 2019-20 budget reporting, due on or about December 15, 2019.
- July 2020: Open SLR collection for 2019-20 annual (year end actual) reporting, due on or about September 30, 2020.
- June 2021: Report 2019-20 annual SLR data to U.S. Dept. of Education.
School Level Reporting Resources
- ESSA School Level Reporting Videos
A 3-part video series on ESSA School Level Reporting: - SLR Data Reporting Format Updated October 1, 2018
More detailed information on the data being collected and the expenditure categories that will be reported. - Frequently Asked Questions Updated February 25, 2019
Answers to some frequently asked questions from the field on ESSA School Level Reporting. - Help with Common SLR Issues Updated November 14, 2018
Advice on how to respond to error messages or address other common issues while completing the report. - "Preparing For School Level Reporting: How To Guide"
Document to assist LEAs and software vendors with preparing for the upcoming SLR budget collection in the fall of 2018. - DPI SLR Workbook (v. 2.1)
Excel workbook to assist LEAs with compiling their budgeted expenditure data for the upcoming SLR budget collection in the fall of 2018. - Financial Transparency and Reporting Readiness Assessment Tool
A tool, along with a facilitator's guide and webinar, available from the ESEA State Support Network, "to help districts and states understand the dynamics of school-level per-pupil reporting in their own district financial data." - Technical Information
Specification of the file upload format and sample report filters for Recommended Standard Exclusions. - SLR Presentation (2019 WASBO Accounting Conference) Updated April 1, 2019
Current version of the SFS team's PowerPoint presentation on SLR, particularly for business office staff. - 3rd Friday 2017 Enrollments by School Updated June 29, 2018
Enrollment data available for reference in comparing enrollments used for 2018-2019 SLR.