Judges: BRONSON C. La FOLLETTE, Attorney General
Filed Date: 4/29/1977
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
DR. BARBARA THOMPSON, State Superintendent, Department of PublicInstruction
You have requested my formal opinion on the following questions:
"Under s.
121.17 and other applicable statutes, must a school district operating under Chapter 119 hold school for a certain minimum number of days in order to receive state aid? If the answer to the first question is yes, what is the minimum number of days a school district operating under Chapter 119 must hold school in order to receive state aid?"
Section
*Page 156"121.17 State aid withheld. (1) (a) The state superintendent may withhold state aid from any school district in which the scope and character of the work are not maintained in such manner as to meet his approval.
"(b) No state aid may be paid in any year under this subchapter to a school district which fails to meet the requirements under subs. (2) and (3)."
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[Subsection (2) relates to school districts other than ch. 119 districts.]
"(3) Unless the state superintendent is satisfied that failure to meet the requirements of this subsection was occasioned by some extraordinary cause not arising from intention or neglect on the part of the responsible officers, a school district operating under ch. 119 shall, for the full period during which school is in session during each year as provided by the rules of the board of school directors, employ teachers qualified under s.
118.19 and pay a salary of not less than $266 a month to each regular teacher and of not less than $10 a day to each qualified continuous substitute teacher."(4) Notwithstanding subs. (1) and (3), full state school aids shall be paid to districts that fail during an energy emergency, as defined in s.
340.01 (15s), to comply with the days of school required by that section." (Emphasis added.)
Chapter 119, Stats., applies only to cities of the first class. Sec.
". . . subch. I of ch. 121 . . . [is] applicable to the board of school directors and to schools in cities of the 1st class. . . ."
Subchapter I of ch. 121 is entitled "State Aid for Elementary and High Schools" and includes secs.
"School district standards. (1) A school district shall meet the following standards under criteria established by the department in compliance with sub. (2).
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*Page 157"(h) School shall be held and students shall receive actual instruction for at least 180 days with additional days included as provided in s.
115.01 (10)."
You advise that your question relates to a school district operating under ch. 119 which, according to the district's report, filed October 28, 1976, established 181 days as the full period during which school would be in session during the 1976-1977 school year. I assume that the 181 days was established by the board pursuant to sec.
Section
Section
However, sec.
BCL:JCM