An Act to create 118.07 (6) of the statutes; Relating to: posting the child abuse and neglect reporting hotline in school buildings. (FE)
Summary
AB244 would require school boards, operators of independent charter schools, and governing bodies of certain private schools participating in Wisconsin choice or special needs scholarship programs to post a sign in a conspicuous public area of each school building. The sign must display the telephone number for the local county or state agency responsible for receiving and investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. The bill creates a new subsection in the school statutes to establish this posting requirement.
The measure is aimed at improving visibility and access to child abuse and neglect reporting information for students, staff, and visitors in school settings. It applies to public schools, charter schools, and private schools that participate in specified state-funded choice programs, but it does not create a new reporting hotline or change the underlying child abuse investigation process; it only requires posting the existing contact information. The bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Impact
AB244 would amend Wisconsin statutes by creating s. 118.07 (6), adding a new school-building posting mandate. Affected entities include school boards, independent charter school operators, and private school governing bodies in parental choice and special needs scholarship programs. The practical effect would be to require schools to display the local child abuse and neglect reporting contact number in public areas, reinforcing awareness of existing reporting channels under s. 48.981 without changing investigative authority or reporting duties themselves.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been generally favorable in concept, as reflected by its straightforward child-protection purpose and lack of recorded opposition in the available committee or vote history. Its framing suggests a low-conflict, informational safeguard intended to make reporting resources more visible in schools. However, the bill did not advance to enactment and ultimately failed to pass under Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Contention
No committee transcript or recorded vote history is available, so specific objections are not documented in the provided materials. Potential points of contention likely would have centered on the scope of the mandate—particularly its application to private schools participating in state choice programs—and whether a posting requirement meaningfully improves child safety enough to justify compliance obligations. Any debate would also likely have focused on whether schools should be required to post state or county hotline information in all buildings and whether the requirement should extend beyond public schools.