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Published by
The Association of Wisconsin School Administrators
4797 Hayes Rd.,
Suite 103
Madison, WI 53704
Phone: (608) 241-0300
Fax: (608) 249-4973
Web: www.awsa.org |
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| Views expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect AWSA policy or advice. |
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| New Wisconsin Law Affecting
Pupil Records (cont.) |
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Under the new Act, when
school officials are denied access to records of either
law enforcement agencies or units, they may file a petition
with the court, and the court must, without notice
or hearing, inspect the desired records, and determine
whether the record should be released. The court must
use a balancing test in making its decision. The test
is whether the school district's legitimate educational
interests, including safety interests, is greater than
society's interests in protecting the confidentiality
of juvenile law enforcement records. If the court determines
the interests of the school are paramount, then the
court must order disclosure. School officials must then
provide a copy of the court's order to the law enforcement
agency that denied the initial request, the juvenile,
the parents, and the juvenile's attorney. Any of these
persons may request a hearing within 10 days by filing
a motion to set aside the order. If no motion is filed,
or if the court holds the hearing and rules that no
good cause exists to withhold the records, they will
be released to the school.
So far, this article has
dealt entirely with the release of law enforcement agency
and unit information to school officials. However, Act
292 added an important provision that governs the release
of information in the opposite direction. Section 118.125(2)(n)
was added to the pupil records statute and authorizes
a school board to disclose pupil records for the purposes
of providing services prior to adjudication, to a "law
enforcement agency, district attorney, city attorney,
corporation counsel, agency…intake worker…court
of record, municipal court, private school or another
school board if: 1) disclosure is pursuant to an interagency
agreement and 2) the person to whom the records are
disclosed certifies in writing that the records will
only be disclosed to those persons specifically authorized
by this subsection of the statute."
The laws surrounding the
sharing of pupil records are complicated and extremely
important. When faced with requests for release or sharing
of records that relate to any records other than directory
data, take special care to review the school district's
policy and Section 118.125, as recently amended. If
there is any uncertainty or confusion, consult with
the attorney for the school district. In the interim,
err on the side of caution and maintain the confidential
nature of the information. 
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| 2005 Principal
of the Year/Educational Services Administrator of the
Year Applications Available |
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Applications for the 2005
Wisconsin Principal of the Year and Educational Services
Administrator Recognition Programs, sponsored by the
AWSA and the DPI, are available online - click
here. These recognition programs are intended to
provide proper recognition to the many excellent administrators
in the state and the nation and to promote school and
community pride in our educational system. We urge you
to participate in this important effort.
Application deadline date: December 1, 2004
Applications available: Call the AWSA office
(608) 241-0300, or click
here
2004 Recipients:
Nancy Hackbarth, Principal, Rosenow Elementary School,
Fond du Lac;
Charlotte Hall, Principal, Kettle Moraine Middle School,
Dousman;
Martin Van Hulle, Principal, Pewaukee High School, Pewaukee;
Karen Farley Halverson, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum,
Learning & Student Achievement, Stevens Point School
District, Stevens Point
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Since the passage and signing of
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in January 2002, there has
been a great deal of attention given to those schools
where there is one or more sub-group that is in danger
of being included or have already appeared on the academic
warning list. The potential sanctions for this, both
real and perceived, can have a dramatic impact on a
school, district, or community. Our attention has been
focused on those students and groups of students below
or almost below the cut-off for meeting state standards.
