From:	DPI Open Enrollment
Sent:	Friday, January 05, 2018 4:22 PM
To:	Danfield, Jennifer L.  DPI
Subject:	Reminder - January School Board Action and Alt Apps Submitted after 
January Board Meeting

To – District Administrators and Open Enrollment Coordinators

From – Jen Danfield, Open Enrollment Consultant

Subject – Reminder: January School Board Action and Alternative Applications Submitted after 
January Board Meeting

A reminder that Wisconsin law and Administrative Code requires every school board to 
designate, for the following school year, the number of open enrollment regular education 
spaces, by grade, and the number of open enrollment special education spaces, by program or 
services, in the district using the criteria specified in its policy under s. PI 36.04(2). [Wis. Admin. 
Code § PI 36.06(5)(a) and Wis. Stat. § 118.51(5)(a)1]. After the regular and special education 
space determinations have been made at the January board meeting, the nonresident district 
should include the details of the decision in its board minutes. This will permit parents and 
others to see what action the board has taken to be in compliance with state law and 
Administrative Code. The board minutes should not simply make reference to the board passing 
a motion related to open enrollment space. 

The following resources are available on our open enrollment website that may be of assistance 
as needed:

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/open-enrollment/pdf/qa-16-17-oe-changes.pdf

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/open-enrollment/pdf/oe-bulletin-16-10-special-ed-
space-determinations.pdf

https://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment/resources/training 

In addition, Administrative Code states that a nonresident school board may not approve an 
alternative application submitted after the January school board meeting for a current school 
year if the board limited the number of spaces available for applications submitted under the 
regular application procedure for the following school year [Wis. Admin. Code § PI 36.04(7)]. 
This means if a nonresident school board, at a January board meeting, limits the number of 
regular education or special education spaces available for regular application period open 
enrollment applications for the following school year, the school district may not approve any 
alternative applications for the current school year that are submitted after the January board 
meeting. 

For example, if a nonresident school board limits the number of regular education or special 
education spaces available for the 2018-19 school year, the nonresident district cannot approve 
any alternative applications for the 2017-18 school year that are submitted after the January 
board meeting in which the space limitations were set and approved by the nonresident school 
board. 

Jen Danfield
School Administration Consultant
Public School Open Enrollment
Department of Public Instruction
608-264-6707 or 888-245-2732, option 2, then 3
Jennifer.Danfield@dpi.wi.gov