From:	DPI Open Enrollment
Sent:	Thursday, December 14, 2017 9:56 AM
To:	DPI Open Enrollment
Subject:	Act 59 Open Enrollment Changes 

To – District Administrators and Open Enrollment Coordinators
 
From – Kari Gensler Santistevan, Open Enrollment Consultant

Subject – Act 59 Open Enrollment Changes 

2017 Wisconsin Act 59 (2017-19 Budget) includes some changes related to open enrollment 
including adjustment to the per pupil payment for both non-special education and special 
education open enrolled pupils as well as the restoration of part-time open enrollment.  

Aid adjustments

Non-special education pupils: An increase of $307 to the per pupil payment for the 2017-18 
school year and an estimated increase of $317 for the 2018-19 school year. This includes an 
additional $100 per year (through 2020-21) above any increase provided under the current 
indexing method. For the 2017-18 school year, the OE aid transfer amount is $7,055 per pupil 
and for the 2018-19 school year, the estimated OE aid transfer amount is $7,372 for non-special 
education pupils.  Wis. Stat. 118.51(16)(a)3.c

Special education pupils: An increase of $207 to the special education per pupil payment for the 
2017-18 school year and an estimated increase of $217 for the 2018-19 school year. For the 
2017-18 school year, the OE aid transfer amount is $12,207 per pupil and for the 2018-19 
school year, the estimated OE aid transfer amount is $12,424 for special education pupils. 

In addition, starting in the 2019-20 school year, for pupils who are open enrolled for the second 
or subsequent year, the payment would be either the per pupil payment amount under the 
indexing method or the actual costs to the nonresident district, up to $30,000, if the 
nonresident school district had submitted to the Department a financial statement indicating 
the actual cost to the school district of providing a free and appropriate education to the pupil 
in the previous school year. Please see  Wis. Stat. 118.51(12) and Wis. Stat. 118.51(17)(b)3 or 
the Department’s Condensed Summary of 2017 Act 59 (page 6) for more details.

We will send out procedural guidance regarding the new process once the necessary 
information is available. 

Part-time Open Enrollment Restored

Effective with the 2018-19 school year, the part-time open enrollment provisions that existed 
prior to the creation of the Course Options program created under 2013 Act 20 have been 
restored.  Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, a pupil enrolled in a public school in the high 
school grades may attend public school in a nonresident school district for the purpose of 
taking a course offered by the nonresident school district.  A pupil may attend no more than 2 
courses at any time in nonresident school districts.  Wis. Stat. 118.52

This change to the open enrollment law will require action by your school board under Wis. 
Stat. 118.52 (4), (5), and (6). 

It should also be noted that the Course Options program will be eliminated as of the 2018-19 
school year, and replaced with the Early College Credit Program.  Wis. Stat. 118.55 

For additional information on the Early College Credit Program please see the Department’s 
Condensed Summary of 2017 Act 59 (page 6). 

The Part-time Open Enrollment application and brochure will be available on the DPI Open 
Enrollment webpage in January 2018.  


Kari Gensler Santistevan 
School Administration Consultant 
Public School Open Enrollment 
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 
P.O. Box 7841 
Madison, WI  53707-7841 
kari.genslersantistevan@dpi.wi.gov 
(608) 267-9196