Wisconsin — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Suspension authority and its length are stated together: "The school district administrator or any principal or teacher designated by the school district administrator may suspend a pupil for not more than 5 school days or, if a notice of expulsion hearing has been sent under par. (c) 4. or (e) 4. or s. 119.25 (2) (c), for not more than a total of 15 consecutive school days" for the grounds the statute lists. (§ 120.13(1)(b)2.) A mandatory suspension applies to firearms: "The school district administrator or any principal or teacher designated by the school district administrator shall suspend a pupil under par. (b) if the school district administrator, principal or teacher determines that the pupil, while at school or while under the supervision of a school authority, possessed a firearm, as defined in 18 USC 921 (a) (3)." (§ 120.13(1)(bm)) Expulsion carries no stated numerical cap except for a firearm: "The school board shall commence proceedings under subd. 3. and expel a pupil from school for not less than one year whenever it finds that the pupil, while at school or while under the supervision of a school authority, possessed a firearm, as defined in 18 USC 921 (a) (3)." (§ 120.13(1)(c)2m.)
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- The statute names a state office and a two-step appeal chain: "The expelled pupil or, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian may appeal the expulsion to the state superintendent. If the school board's decision is appealed to the state superintendent, within 60 days after the date on which the state superintendent receives the appeal, the state superintendent shall review the decision and shall, upon review, approve, reverse or modify the decision. The decision of the school board shall be enforced while the state superintendent reviews the decision. An appeal from the decision of the state superintendent may be taken within 30 days to the circuit court of the county in which the school is located." (§ 120.13(1)(c)3.) The statute's own required notice content, though, names a different appeal body for the same decision: "That if the pupil is expelled by the school board the expelled pupil or, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian may appeal the school board's decision to the department." (§ 120.13(1)(c)4.h.) That discrepancy between "the state superintendent" (the operative appeal clause) and "the department" (the required notice content) is recorded, not reconciled, in the change log.
No address, phone number, or email for either office appears in the captured section; that absence is a finding. - Sources last checked
- Oct 27, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own statutes quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Wisconsin publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline: who may remove, suspend, or expel a student and how, the notice and hearing the statute requires, what continues during a removal, where the appeal routes run, and, because the statute assigns much of the detail to each school board, a map of the questions answered only in a district's own code of classroom conduct. The fullest single statement is Wis. Stat. § 120.13(1), captioned "School government rules; suspension; expulsion", as published by the Wisconsin Legislature's statute-text service. Wisconsin's own vocabulary appears throughout: the code of classroom conduct, the school district administrator, suspension and expulsion, and the independent hearing officer or panel a school board may substitute for its own expulsion hearing. District codes of classroom conduct add procedural detail this page does not carry; the delegation map below points at exactly those questions. Confirm applicability with the district and the state superintendent's office. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.
The framework, as the state writes it
School and classroom rules (§ 120.13(1)(a)). The school board's general rulemaking power is stated first: "Make rules for the organization, gradation and government of the schools of the school district, including rules pertaining to conduct and dress of pupils in order to maintain good decorum and a favorable academic atmosphere, which shall take effect when approved by a majority of the school board and filed with the school district clerk." Within that power sits the classroom-conduct code: "Subject to 20 USC 1415 (k), the school board shall adopt a code to govern pupils' classroom conduct beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The code shall be developed in consultation with a committee of school district residents that consists of parents, pupils, members of the school board, school administrators, teachers, pupil services professionals and other residents of the school district who are appointed to the committee by the school board." The code's required contents are quoted in the delegation map below.
Administrator and teacher rules (§ 120.13(1)(b)1.). "In addition to rule-making authority granted school boards under par. (a), the school district administrator, or any principal or teacher designated by the school district administrator, may make rules with the consent of the school board."
Suspension (§ 120.13(1)(b)2.–5.). The length limits are quoted in the docket. The statute lists the grounds: noncompliance with rules adopted under the code or by the school board; "Knowingly conveying any threat or false information concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made to destroy any school property by means of explosives"; conduct at school, or under a school authority's supervision, "that endangers the property, health or safety of others"; and off-campus conduct that endangers property, health, or safety at school or of a district employee or school board member. (§ 120.13(1)(b)2.a.–d.) "In subd. 2. c. and d., conduct that endangers a person or property includes making a threat to the health or safety of a person or making a threat to damage property." (§ 120.13(1)(b)2m.)
Mandatory firearm suspension (§ 120.13(1)(bm)). Quoted in the docket. The statute carves out an exception: "This paragraph does not apply to the possession of a firearm while legally hunting in a school forest if allowed under sub. (38)."
Expulsion (§ 120.13(1)(c)1.–2.). "The school board may expel a pupil from school whenever it finds the pupil guilty of repeated refusal or neglect to obey the rules, or finds that a pupil knowingly conveyed or caused to be conveyed any threat or false information concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made to destroy any school property by means of explosives, or finds that the pupil engaged in conduct while at school or while under the supervision of a school authority which endangered the property, health or safety of others, or finds that a pupil while not at school or while not under the supervision of a school authority engaged in conduct which endangered the property, health or safety of others at school or under the supervision of a school authority or endangered the property, health or safety of any employee or school board member of the school district in which the pupil is enrolled, and is satisfied that the interest of the school demands the pupil's expulsion." A second, narrower ground applies only to older pupils: "In addition to the grounds for expulsion under subd. 1., the school board may expel from school a pupil who is at least 16 years old if the school board finds that the pupil repeatedly engaged in conduct while at school or while under the supervision of a school authority that disrupted the ability of school authorities to maintain order or an educational atmosphere at school or at an activity supervised by a school authority and that such conduct does not constitute grounds for expulsion under subd. 1., and is satisfied that the interest of the school demands the pupil's expulsion." (§ 120.13(1)(c)2.)
Mandatory firearm expulsion (§ 120.13(1)(c)2m.). Quoted in the docket. The statute adds a reporting duty: "Annually, the school board shall report to the department the information specified under 20 USC 8921 (d) (1) and (2)."
Truancy carve-out (§ 120.13(1)(d)). "No pupil enrolled in a school district operating under ch. 119 may be suspended or expelled from school for truancy." (Chapter 119 is the statute governing city school districts operating under a separate governance structure, most prominently Milwaukee's.)
Independent hearing officer or panel (§ 120.13(1)(e)1.). The statute lets a school board substitute a different decision-maker for its own expulsion hearing, one school year at a time: "The school board may adopt a resolution, which is effective only during the school year in which it is adopted, authorizing any of the following to determine pupil expulsion from school under subd. 2. instead of using the procedure under par. (c) 3.:" — "An independent hearing panel appointed by the school board" or "An independent hearing officer appointed by the school board." (§ 120.13(1)(e)1.a.–b.) Where that resolution is in effect, the officer or panel "May expel a pupil from school whenever the hearing officer or panel finds that the pupil engaged in conduct that constitutes grounds for expulsion under par. (c) 1. or 2." and "Shall commence proceedings under subd. 3. and expel a pupil from school for not less than one year whenever that hearing officer or panel finds that the pupil engaged in conduct that constitutes grounds for expulsion under par. (c) 2m." (§ 120.13(1)(e)2.a.–b.) "This paragraph does not apply to a school district operating under ch. 119." (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.)
The published process
- Notice and hearing before exclusion
- Before any suspension, "the pupil shall be advised of the reason for the proposed suspension. The pupil may be suspended if it is determined that the pupil is guilty of noncompliance with a school board rule or a rule adopted under subd. 1., or of the conduct charged, and that the pupil's suspension is reasonably justified. The parent or guardian of a suspended minor pupil shall be given prompt notice of the suspension and the reason for the suspension." (§ 120.13(1)(b)3.) Before an expulsion decided by the school board itself, "Prior to expelling a pupil, the school board shall hold a hearing. Upon request of the pupil and, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian, the hearing shall be closed. The pupil and, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian may be represented at the hearing by counsel. The school board shall keep written minutes of the hearing." (§ 120.13(1)(c)3.) "Not less than 5 days' written notice of the hearing under subd. 3. shall be sent to the pupil and, if the pupil is a minor, to the pupil's parent or guardian." The required notice content includes "The specific grounds, under subd. 1., 2. or 2m., and the particulars of the pupil's alleged conduct upon which the expulsion proceeding is based" and "The time and place of the hearing." (§ 120.13(1)(c)4., 4.a.–b.) Where an independent hearing officer or panel decides instead, the same hearing and at-least-5-days notice requirements apply in parallel form. (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.–4.)
- Services during exclusion
- For suspension, "A pupil suspended under this paragraph shall not be denied the opportunity to take any quarterly, semester or grading period examinations or to complete course work missed during the suspension period, as provided in the attendance policy established under s. 118.16 (4) (a)." (§ 120.13(1)(b)5.) Continued education or services during or after an expulsion: not stated in the section reviewed (§ 120.13(1) was searched in full).
- The record made, and the appeal route
- "Upon the ordering by the school board of the expulsion of a pupil, the school district clerk shall mail a copy of the order to the pupil and, if the pupil is a minor, to the pupil's parent or guardian." From there, the statute's own text names two different appeal officers for the same decision. The operative clause: "The expelled pupil or, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian may appeal the expulsion to the state superintendent. If the school board's decision is appealed to the state superintendent, within 60 days after the date on which the state superintendent receives the appeal, the state superintendent shall review the decision and shall, upon review, approve, reverse or modify the decision. The decision of the school board shall be enforced while the state superintendent reviews the decision. An appeal from the decision of the state superintendent may be taken within 30 days to the circuit court of the county in which the school is located." (§ 120.13(1)(c)3.) The mandatory notice content the same subsection requires instead tells the pupil: "That if the pupil is expelled by the school board the expelled pupil or, if the pupil is a minor, the pupil's parent or guardian may appeal the school board's decision to the department." "That if the school board's decision is appealed to the department, within 60 days after the date on which the department receives the appeal, the department shall review the decision and shall, upon review, approve, reverse or modify the decision." "That the decision of the school board shall be enforced while the department reviews the school board's decision." "That an appeal from the decision of the department may be taken within 30 days to the circuit court for the county in which the school is located." (§ 120.13(1)(c)4.h.–k.) The same pairing recurs for the independent-hearing-officer route: the operative clause names "the state superintendent" (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.), while that route's required notice content again names "the department." (§ 120.13(1)(e)4.j.–m.) Both pairings are recorded as the state's own text states them; the page reconciles neither.
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- The disability layer (evaluations, the IEP team, manifestation determination, services during removal, and the dispute routes) lives on this site's Wisconsin special education page. The classroom-conduct code the statute assigns to each school board is itself tied to that federal layer: "Subject to 20 USC 1415 (k), the school board shall adopt a code to govern pupils' classroom conduct beginning in the 1999-2000 school year." (§ 120.13(1)(a))
The four rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state's own statutes, or record that a question is not answered in them.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From Wis. Stat. § 120.13(1) as retrieved Sep 3, 2026.
On suspension length: "not more than 5 school days or, if a notice of expulsion hearing has been sent under par. (c) 4. or (e) 4. or s. 119.25 (2) (c), for not more than a total of 15 consecutive school days". (§ 120.13(1)(b)2.)
On the post-suspension conference: "The suspended pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian may, within 5 school days following the commencement of the suspension, have a conference with the school district administrator or his or her designee". (§ 120.13(1)(b)4.)
On the administrator's finding after that conference: "The administrator, or the administrator's designee, shall make a finding within 15 days of the conference." (§ 120.13(1)(b)4.)
On notice of an expulsion hearing: "Not less than 5 days' written notice of the hearing under subd. 3. shall be sent to the pupil and, if the pupil is a minor, to the pupil's parent or guardian." (§ 120.13(1)(c)4.; the same 5-day minimum applies to the independent-hearing-officer route under § 120.13(1)(e)4.)
On mandatory firearm expulsion length: "for not less than one year". (§ 120.13(1)(c)2m.)
On review of the school board's own expulsion decision, appealed as the operative clause states it: "within 60 days after the date on which the state superintendent receives the appeal, the state superintendent shall review the decision". (§ 120.13(1)(c)3.) The same subsection's required notice content states the same 60-day window naming a different reviewer instead: "within 60 days after the date on which the department receives the appeal, the department shall review the decision". (§ 120.13(1)(c)4.i.)
On the further appeal to court: "An appeal from the decision of the state superintendent may be taken within 30 days to the circuit court of the county in which the school is located." (§ 120.13(1)(c)3.; again stated as an appeal from "the department" in the required notice content at § 120.13(1)(c)4.k.)
On review of an independent hearing officer's or panel's order: "Within 30 days after the date on which the order is issued, the school board shall review the expulsion order and shall, upon review, approve, reverse or modify the order." (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.) The order is enforced in the meantime: "The order of the hearing officer or panel shall be enforced while the school board reviews the order." (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.)
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the district, the state superintendent's office, and their processes to determine.
Assigned to district policy by the quoted provision
The statute writes the frame and expressly hands several questions to each school board. Each entry below is a question a district's own documents answer, with the delegating text quoted. No district's code of classroom conduct is captured or quoted here.
The code of classroom conduct itself. "Subject to 20 USC 1415 (k), the school board shall adopt a code to govern pupils' classroom conduct beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The code shall be developed in consultation with a committee of school district residents that consists of parents, pupils, members of the school board, school administrators, teachers, pupil services professionals and other residents of the school district who are appointed to the committee by the school board. The code of classroom conduct may provide different standards of conduct for different schools and may provide additional placement options under s. 118.164 (3)." (§ 120.13(1)(a))
What counts as removable classroom behavior. The code must include "A specification of what constitutes dangerous, disruptive or unruly behavior or behavior that interferes with the ability of the teacher to teach effectively under s. 118.164 (2)." (§ 120.13(1)(a)1.)
Additional grounds for removal from class. The code must include "Any grounds in addition to those under subd. 1. for the removal of a pupil from the class under s. 118.164 (2)." (§ 120.13(1)(a)2.)
How a removed pupil's placement is decided. The code must include "The procedures for determining the appropriate educational placement of a pupil who has been removed from the class and assigned a placement by the school principal or his or her designee under s. 118.164." (§ 120.13(1)(a)3.)
How parents are notified of a classroom removal. The code must include "A procedure for notifying the parent or guardian of a minor pupil who has been removed from the class under s. 118.164 (2)." (§ 120.13(1)(a)4.)
Additional local rulemaking. "In addition to rule-making authority granted school boards under par. (a), the school district administrator, or any principal or teacher designated by the school district administrator, may make rules with the consent of the school board." (§ 120.13(1)(b)1.)
Whether expulsions are decided by the board itself or by an independent officer or panel. "The school board may adopt a resolution, which is effective only during the school year in which it is adopted, authorizing any of the following to determine pupil expulsion from school under subd. 2. instead of using the procedure under par. (c) 3.:" an independent hearing panel or an independent hearing officer, each appointed by the school board. (§ 120.13(1)(e)1., 1.a.–b.)
Records access, as stated in the sources
The one records provision in this subsection concerns suspension, not expulsion: where the administrator or the administrator's designee finds "that the pupil was suspended unfairly or unjustly, or that the suspension was inappropriate, given the nature of the alleged offense, or that the pupil suffered undue consequences or penalties as a result of the suspension, reference to the suspension on the pupil's school record shall be expunged." (§ 120.13(1)(b)4.) Expungement of an expulsion record, general inspection of discipline records, and any correction procedure: not stated in the section reviewed (§ 120.13(1) was searched in full); Wisconsin's pupil-records statute, Wis. Stat. § 118.125, likely governs general access but is not captured in this review. Federal records rights under FERPA are not restated here.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Wis. Stat. § 120.13(1) (school government rules; suspension; expulsion) | docs.legis.wisconsin.gov | history not isolated to subsection (1) in this capture; retrieved Sep 3, 2026 |
| Wis. Stat. § 118.164 (removal of pupils from class), cross-referenced by § 120.13(1)(a) | cited in the section above | capture pending |
| Wis. Stat. § 119.25 (expulsion of certain pupils; option), cross-referenced by § 120.13(1)(b)2. and (d) | cited in the section above | capture pending |
| Wis. Stat. § 118.16(4)(a) (attendance policy governing suspension make-up work), cross-referenced by § 120.13(1)(b)5. | cited in the section above | capture pending |
| Wis. Stat. § 118.125 (pupil records), governing general discipline-record access | not cross-referenced in the captured section; identified in this review as the likely governing statute | capture pending |
| Ch. 119 Wis. Stat. (city school districts, incl. Milwaukee), carved out under § 120.13(1)(d) and (e)3. | cited in the section above | capture pending |
| 18 USC 921(a)(3) (federal firearm definition incorporated by § 120.13(1)(bm) and (c)2m.) | cited in the section above | capture pending |
| Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction rules or guidance on pupil discipline | — | not located in this review; capture pending |
| District codes of classroom conduct adopted under § 120.13(1)(a) | each school board | never captured; see the delegation map |
Change log
Sep 3, 2026 · Deepened to full depth (discipline-layer). Re-captured first-party under the existing recipe tools/recipes/wisconsin-discipline.json (unchanged; recipe digest 2046fbb29570): Wis. Stat. § 120.13 from the Wisconsin Legislature's statute-text service, by curl, scoped to the full document as before. The refreshed capture verified byte-for-byte consistent with the baseline page's existing quotations (zero fidelity failures against the new capture before this pass began), and supplied enough additional text — the full independent-hearing-officer-and-panel track at § 120.13(1)(e), and the required notice contents at (c)4. and (e)4. — to build the full page. Built: 01 the framework route by route (school and classroom rules, administrator/teacher rules, suspension, mandatory firearm suspension, expulsion on both grounds, mandatory firearm expulsion, the ch. 119 truancy carve-out, and the independent-hearing-officer election); 02 the published process with its four hoisted rows, the timelines block, the district delegation map (six delegated questions), and records access. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) the statute's own text names two different appeal officers for the identical decision — the operative appeal clauses at § 120.13(1)(c)3. and (e)3. name "the state superintendent," while the same subsections' mandatory hearing-notice content at (c)4.h.–k. and (e)4.j.–m. instead names "the department" for the identical 60-day review, pendency, and 30-day court-appeal sequence; both are quoted and neither is reconciled; (2) services during exclusion are stated for suspension (the make-up-coursework right at (b)5., tied to the attendance policy at s. 118.16(4)(a)) but not stated in this section for expulsion; (3) discipline-record expungement is stated only for a suspension found unfair, unjust, or inappropriate (b)4.; expungement of an expulsion record and general inspection or correction of discipline records are not stated in this section, and Wis. Stat. § 118.125 (pupil records) is identified as the likely governing statute but was not captured in this review; (4) ch. 119 school districts (most prominently Milwaukee) are carved out of both the truancy suspension/expulsion bar (§ 120.13(1)(d)) and the independent-hearing-officer track (§ 120.13(1)(e)3.); (5) §§ 118.164, 119.25, 118.16(4)(a), and 118.125, ch. 119 generally, and the federal firearm definition at 18 USC 921(a)(3), remain cited or implicated by the captured section but are not separately captured; no Department of Public Instruction discipline guidance was located in this review. Capture pending: all of the above. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Sep 1, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/wisconsin-discipline.json: Wis. Stat. § 120.13 from the Wisconsin Legislature's statute-text service, by curl, scoped to the full document because the section publishes no narrower address for subsection (1) alone. Findings recorded: (1) Wisconsin states a short suspension of up to 5 school days, extendable to 15 consecutive school days once an expulsion-hearing notice has been sent, plus a mandatory suspension and a mandatory minimum one-year expulsion specifically for firearm possession; (2) no numerical cap on an ordinary (non-firearm) expulsion is stated in the captured text; (3) the appeal route runs from the school board to the state superintendent (60-day review, decision enforced pending review) and then to circuit court within 30 days, with a parallel department-appeal and independent-hearing-officer track under § 120.13(1)(e) not fully carried on this baseline page; (4) no address, phone number, or email for the state superintendent's office appears in the captured text; (5) the classroom-conduct code itself is delegated to each school board; (6) §§ 118.164, 119.25, and the federal firearm definition at 18 USC 921(a)(3) are cited by the captured section but not yet captured separately. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.