RCC Placement Type

RCC Placement Type: Special Education (RCC)

NEW for the 2025-26 School Year and Onwards: RCC data elements

The RCC statute, Wis. Stat. § 115.81., applies to county or state agency placements in RCCs. The LEA continues to be responsible for FAPE in both county and IEP team placements.

Parents may also privately place their child in an RCC.

RCC Placement Type is a required data element on the sSEPA record that should align with the student’s Educational Environment.

RCC Placement Type data element indicates the entity/party/person(s) who placed the student in the RCC Possible values include:

• County placed
• Parent placed
• IEP team placed
• (NULL) Missing placement type

USES: DPI as the State Education Agency (SEA) must monitor Residential Care Centers (RCCs) under state law (Wis. Stats. § 115.762(3)(g)). Placement in RCCs affects enrollment records based on entry and exit dates, which can affect an LEAs ability to count a child on a count date (e.g., third Friday of September, or October 1 Child Count). Enrollment records contain numerous data elements collected in the December Student Snapshot. RCC data elements are a part of Reading Drives Achievement: Procedural Compliance Self-Assessment (RDA:PCSA). Collection of RCC and Shortened Day data is necessary for implementing the department’s compliance monitoring system required under state and federal special education law. Additionally, these data elements will also be included in one of the DPI annual snapshots, however, these new data elements will not be ‘snapped’ until 2026.

FAQs, Details, and Use Cases

1. Rules for reporting to WISEdata: FAPE accountability for students placed in an RCC are detailed on the DPI Special Education Team's Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) Responsibility document. The LEA who is FAPE responsible should submit:
   1. An enrollment to WISEdata,
   2. A sSEPA record,
   3. All other data, which technically also includes roster. However, realistically, there may not be any roster to report. Most students placed in RCCs attend the RCC’s educational program, and it may not be feasible or even possible for the LEA to obtain roster data. If that is the case then the LEA may acknowledge the resulting WISEdata Portal warning.
2. Student Placed by County or State Agency:
   1. This can apply to either in-state or out-of-state RCC placements. 

      • For out-of-state RCCs: When a Wisconsin county or LEA places a student in an out-of-state care facility, if the student’s parent continues to reside in Wisconsin, federal guidance establishes that the Wisconsin LEA responsible for FAPE before placement in the out-of-state RCC continues to be responsible for ensuring FAPE.

   2. The facility must be included on the official list maintained by DCF.
   3. The LEA who was FAPE responsible before placement in RCC remains responsible unless the student is placed in an RCC from a DHS facility or a DOC type 1 juvenile correctional facility or prison. In this case, the LEA where the RCC is located is responsible for FAPE.
   4. The student's IEP reflect the need for an RCC placement.
   5. The Responsible LEA must submit the student’s sSEPA Record including:  
      • For in-state: RCC placement type as “County”
      • For out-of-state: Out-of-state RCC Name, city and state.
3. Student Placed by IEP Team:
   1. The LEA who was FAPE responsible before placement in RCC remains responsible. This would be considered an out-of-district IEP team placement in a private school. Guidance for LEA responsibilities in a private placement is in Information Update Bulletin 22.01.
   2. These responsibilities apply whether the facility is within Wisconsin or out of state.
   3. The student's IEP reflect the need for an RCC placement.
   4. The Responsible LEA must submit the student’s sSEPA Record including: 
      • For in-state: RCC placement type as “IEP”
      • For out-of-state: Out-of-state RCC Name, city and state.
4. Students Placed by Parent:
   1. Considered a private parental placement. 
   2. The LEA where the school of origin is located remains FAPE responsible (unless a best interest determination determines otherwise).
   3. Students placed in out-of-home care are presumed to remain in their school of origin. The school of origin is the public school where the student was enrolled or most recently enrolled in at the time of placement.
   4. The LEA (school of oriigin) exits the student using the TNC exit type and
   5. No longer tracks attendance and enrollment for the student
   6. (i.e. no longer submits student data to WISEdata).
5. Students without IEPs:
   1. While students without IEPs may also attend a residential care facility during the school year, Wisconsin state law does not require data submission for these students. When a student without an IEP is placed by a county or state agency, the LEA must follow Wis. Stat. § 115.81(3)(b)2 to:
      • Review the student’s records,
      • Create a status report, and
      • Consider evaluation for special education services if there is reasonable cause to suspect the student has a disability.
   2. If the LEA concludes the student does not have a disability:
      • the LEA exits the student using the TNC exit type and
      • No longer tracks attendance and enrollment for the student
        • (i.e. no longer submits student data to WISEdata).
6. Missing Required Placement Type Information:
   1. If an LEA submits a sSEPA record for an RCC placement, whether the placement is in-state or out-of-state, but does not include the RCC placement type (i.e., county or IEP), this will result in a WISEdata Validation Error 7498.
   2. Likewise, if an LEA submits a sSEPA record for an RCC placement, whether the placement is in-state or out-of-state, that includes only the RCC placement type (i.e., county or IEP), but is also missing the other required RCC data elements (e.g., ID, name, city, state) this will also result in a WISEdata Validation Error 7498.
   3. sSEPA records containing information for both in-state and out-of-state RCC placements will trigger WISEdata Validation Error 7499.

Resources

• Children in Residential Care Centers: Information for Educators webpage
• DPI Special Education Team webpage for Students in Residential Care Centers
• Duties of the Responsible Local Education Agency (LEA) for Children in RCCs webpage
• Parentally Placed Private School Children with Disabilities bulletin (Items #5)
• State Tuition webpage
• Students in a Residential Care Center, Uncommon WISEdata Situations webpage
  • Content about WiSFiP/Pupil Count Pilot reporting is also on the Uncommon webpage.
• sSEPA Record data elements
• Wis. Stats. §115.81: This statute describes RCCs and defines the various responsibilities LEAs and counties/state agencies have for county/state RCC placements.
• Wis. Stats. §11762(3)(g): This statute describes DPI's duty to monitor RCCs.

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