Health and safety requirements

Wis. Stat. § 118.07
in effect
Sign in to generate a plain English summaryAsk Belisarius Agent
(1) Every school board and the governing body of every private school shall provide a standard first aid kit for use in cases of emergency. (2) (a) 1. Once each month, without previous warning, the person having direct charge of any public or private school shall drill all pupils in the proper method of departure from the building in case of a fire, except when the person having direct charge deems that the health of the pupils may be endangered by inclement weather conditions. At least twice annually, without previous warning, the person having direct charge of any public or private school shall drill all pupils in the proper method of evacuation to a safe location in case of a tornado or other hazard. At least twice annually, without previous warning, the person having direct charge of any public or private school shall drill all pupils in the proper method of evacuation or other appropriate action in case of a school safety incident. The public and private school safety drill shall be based on the school safety plan adopted under sub. (4). A safety drill may be substituted for any other drill required under this subdivision. The school board or governing body of the private school shall maintain for at least 7 years a record of each fire drill, tornado or other hazard drill, and school safety drill conducted. 2. Notwithstanding subd. 1., if a person having direct charge of a public or private school determines that providing previous warning of a drill required under subd. 1. is in the best interest of pupils attending the school, the person having direct charge of the public or private school may provide previous warning of the drill. (b) In each community having a recognized fire department, the person having direct charge of any public or private school shall annually file a report pertaining to such drills, on a form furnished by the department of safety and professional services, with the chief of the fire department. When no fire drill is held during any month, or when only one or no tornado or other hazard drill is held in a year, the person having direct charge of the school shall state the reasons in the report. (4) (a) Each school board and the governing body of each private school shall have in effect a school safety plan. (b) A school safety plan shall be created with the active participation of appropriate parties, as specified by the school board or governing body of the private school. The appropriate parties may include the department of justice, local law enforcement officers, fire fighters, school administrators, teachers, pupil services professionals, as defined in s. 118.257 (1) (c), and mental health professionals. Before creating or updating a school safety plan, a school board or governing body of a private school shall, in consultation with a local law enforcement agency, conduct an on-site safety assessment of each school building, site, and facility that is regularly occupied by pupils. The on-site assessment shall include playgrounds, athletic facilities or fields, and any other property that is occupied by pupils on a regular basis. (bm) A school safety plan shall include all of the following: 1. An individualized safety plan for each school building and facility that is regularly occupied by pupils. The individualized safety plan shall include any real property related to the school building or facility that is regularly occupied by pupils. 2. General guidelines specifying procedures for emergency prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. 3. Guidelines and procedures to address school violence and attacks, threats of school violence and attacks, bomb threats, fire, weather-related emergencies, intruders, parent-student reunification, and threats to non-classroom events, including recess, concerts and other performances, athletic events, and any other extracurricular activity or event. 4. The process for reviewing the methods for conducting drills required to comply with the plan. (c) The school board or governing body of the private school shall determine which persons are required to receive school safety plan training and the frequency of the training. The training shall be based upon the school district’s or private school’s prioritized needs, risks, and vulnerabilities. (cf) 1. In this paragraph, “interactive critical mapping data” has the meaning given in s. 165.88 (3m) (ac). 2. Upon the creation of a school safety plan under par. (a) and upon each review of a school safety plan under par. (d), a school board shall submit a copy of the most recent blueprints or interactive critical mapping data for each school building and facility in the school district to each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over any portion of the school district and to the office of school safety. Upon the creation of a school safety plan under par. (a) and upon each review of a safety plan under par. (d), a governing body of a private school shall submit a copy of the most recent blueprints or interactive critical mapping data for the private school and all of its facilities to each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the private school and to the office of school safety. (cm) Neither a school board nor a governing body of a private school may include in a school safety plan any of the following: 1. A requirement for an employee to contact a school administrator, school official, or any other person before calling the telephone number “911.” 2. A prohibition against an employee reporting school violence or a threat of school violence directly to a law enforcement agency. 3. A prohibition against an employee reporting a suspicious individual or activity directly to a law enforcement agency. (cp) Each school board and the governing body of each private school shall ensure that, at each school building regularly occupied by pupils, pupils are drilled, at least annually, in the proper response to a school violence event in accordance with the school safety plan in effect for that school building. The person having direct charge of the school building at which a drill is held under this paragraph shall submit a brief written evaluation of the drill to the school board or governing body of the private school within 30 days of holding the drill. The school board or governing body of the private school shall review all written evaluation submitted under this paragraph. A drill under this paragraph may be substituted for a school safety drill required under sub. (2) (a). (d) Each school board and the governing body of each private school shall review and approve the school safety plan at least once every 3 years after the plan goes into effect. (e) Before January 1, 2019, and before each January 1 thereafter, each school board and the governing body of each private school shall file a copy of its school safety plan with the office of school safety. At the time a school board or governing body files a school safety plan, the school board or governing body shall also submit all of the following to the office of school safety: 1. The date of the annual drill or drills under par. (cp) held during the previous year. 2. Certification that a written evaluation of the drill or drills under par. (cp) was reviewed by the school board or governing body under par. (cp). 3. The date of the most recent school training on school safety required under par. (c) and the number of attendees. 4. The most recent date on which the school board or governing body reviewed and approved the school safety plan. 5. The most recent date on which the school board or governing body consulted with a local law enforcement agency to conduct on-site safety assessments required under par. (b). (4m) No school board, private school, or charter school may knowingly do any of the following: (a) Purchase or use free-flowing elemental mercury for any purpose. (b) Purchase or use a mercury-containing compound or an instrument or measuring device that contains mercury unless one of the following exceptions applies: 1. No reasonably acceptable, mercury-free alternative exists, in which case the school board, private school, or charter school shall use a compound, instrument, or measuring device containing the lowest mercury content available. 2. The purchase or use of the compound, instrument, or measuring device is required under federal law. 3. The only mercury-added component in the instrument or measuring device is a button cell battery. (c) Beginning January 1, 2012, store free-flowing elemental mercury or, unless one of the exceptions under par. (b) applies, store a mercury-containing compound or an instrument or measuring device that contains mercury. (4p) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), no school board, governing body of a private school, or operator of a charter school may assist a school employee, contractor, or agent to obtain a new job in a school or with a local educational agency, as defined in 20 USC 7801 (30), if the school board, governing body, or operator knows or has a reasonable suspicion to believe that the school employee, contractor, or agent committed a sex offense, as defined in s. 301.45 (1d) (b), and the victim was a minor or a pupil. (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply if any of the following apply: 1. The assistance is the transmittal of administrative and personnel files. 2. The information the school board, private school, or charter school knows or that is the basis of the school board, private school, or charter school’s reasonable suspicion has been properly reported to law enforcement and law enforcement has closed any resulting case or investigation without a conviction. (5) Each school board shall require every employee of the school district governed by the school board to receive training provided by the department in identifying children who have been abused or neglected, in the laws and procedures under s. 48.981 governing the reporting of suspected or threatened child abuse and neglect, and in the laws under s. 175.32 governing the reporting of a threat of violence. A school district employee shall receive that training within the first 6 months after commencing employment with the school district and at least once every 5 years after that initial training. (6) (a) 1. Each school board, governing body of a private school, and operator of a charter school shall, after receiving a report that alleges any of the following, notify the parent or guardian of each pupil alleged to be a victim, target, or recipient of the alleged conduct if the individual under subd. 3. or 4. who received the report determines there is reasonable cause to suspect that the alleged conduct occurred: a. Sexual misconduct, as defined in s. 948.098 (1) (d), by a school staff member, as defined in s. 948.098 (1) (c). b. That an individual who has been convicted of a serious child sex offense, as defined in s. 948.13 (1), has engaged in an occupation or participated in a volunteer position that requires the individual to work or interact primarily and directly with children in a manner that would be a felony under s. 948.13. c. That a sex offender, as defined in s. 948.14 (1) (d), has intentionally captured a representation of a minor pupil without the written consent of the minor pupil’s parent or guardian. 2. Notice required under subd. 1. shall be provided in person or by phone, including voicemail, and shall be provided by no later than one of the following, whichever is applicable: a. If the report is received on a school day before the end of regularly scheduled instruction, 5 p.m. on that day. b. If the report is received on a school day after the end of regularly scheduled instruction or on a day that is not a school day, by noon of the next calendar day. 3. For purposes of subds. 1. and 2. a. and b., a report is considered to be received by a school board or the operator of a charter school when it is received by an individual employed by the school district or operator of the charter school to whom any of the following applies: a. For purposes of the employment, the individual is required to hold a license issued by the department under s. PI 34.066 or 34.067, Wis. Adm. Code. b. The individual has been designated by the school board or operator of the charter school as a Title IX coordinator, as defined in 34 CFR 106.8 (a). 4. For purposes of subds. 1. and 2. a. and b., a report is considered to be received by the governing body of a private school when it is received by an individual employed by the governing body of the private school as an assistant principal, a principal, or an administrator, as defined in s. 118.60 (1) (ad), or by an individual who has been designated by the governing body of the private school as a Title IX coordinator, as defined in 34 CFR 106.8 (a). 5. Subdivision 1. does not apply to a report received by the school board, governing body of a private school, or operator of a charter school that alleges conduct by the pupil’s parent or guardian. (b) Each school board shall annually provide parents and guardians with information regarding their rights to access records regarding school employee discipline under subch. II of ch. 19. (7) (a) By September 1, 2026, each school board, governing body of a private school, and governing board of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall adopt a policy on appropriate communication between an employee or volunteer, when acting in the individual’s official capacity, and pupils enrolled in the applicable school district, private school, or charter school; pupils attending a school that is not under the control of the applicable school board, governing body, or governing board; and pupils attending a home-based private educational program. The school board, governing body of the private school, or governing board of the charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall include in the policy a range of consequences, the most serious of which is termination, for employees and volunteers who violate the policy. The school board, governing body of the private school, or governing board of the charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall specify that the policy applies to communications that occur during or outside of school hours and shall include in the policy standards for all of the following: 1. Appropriate content. 2. Appropriate methods of communication. (b) Annually, beginning in the 2026-27 school year, each school board, governing body of a private school, and governing board of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall provide to its employees training in identifying, preventing, and reporting grooming and professional boundary violations. The department shall develop and make available to public and private schools, at no cost, a training in identifying, preventing, and reporting grooming and professional boundary violations. A school board, governing body of a private school, or governing board of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) may provide to its employees the training developed by the department under this paragraph or a different training that the school board, governing body of a private school, or governing board of a charter school determines is sufficient to ensure compliance with its policy under par. (a).
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/118.07Fetched: 10/7/2026