Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 118 - General school operations.
118.134 - Race-based nicknames, logos, mascots, and team names.

118.134 Race-based nicknames, logos, mascots, and team names.
(1) Notwithstanding s. 118.13 and except as provided in sub. (3m), a school district resident may object to the use of a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name by the school board of that school district by filing a complaint containing a number of signatures of school district electors equal to at least 10 percent of the school district's membership, as defined in s. 121.004 (5), with the state superintendent. A signature on a complaint is valid only if the signature is obtained within the 120-day period before the complaint is filed with the state superintendent. The state superintendent shall do all of the following:
(a) Notify the school board of the receipt of the complaint and direct the school board to submit, if applicable, any of the information under sub. (1m) (a).
(b) Except as provided in sub. (1m), refer the complaint to the division of hearings and appeals for a contested case hearing. The division of hearings and appeals shall schedule a hearing on the referred complaint with reasonable promptness.
(1m)
(a) The state superintendent may determine that no contested case hearing is necessary if, no later than 10 days after being notified of the receipt of the complaint, the school board submits evidence to the state superintendent that demonstrates all of the following:
2. A federally recognized American Indian tribe that has historical ties to this state has entered into an agreement with the school board under which the tribe grants approval to the school board to refer to, depict, or portray the tribe or American Indians, in general, in a specific nickname, logo, or mascot or to use the name of the tribe or American Indians, in general, as a team name in the specific manner used by the school board.
3. The use of the nickname, logo, mascot, or team name that has been approved by a tribe under subd. 2. is the use to which the school district resident objects in the complaint filed under sub. (1).
(b) If the state superintendent determines that a contested case hearing is not necessary, the state superintendent shall notify the school district resident who filed the complaint under sub. (1) and the school board of his or her decision in writing. A decision under this paragraph is subject to judicial review under ch. 227.
(2) At the hearing, the school district resident who filed the complaint under sub. (1) has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name promotes discrimination, pupil harassment, or stereotyping, as defined by the state superintendent by rule.
(3)
(a) The division of hearings and appeals shall issue a decision and order within 45 days after the hearing. If the division of hearings and appeals finds that the use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name does not promote discrimination, pupil harassment, or stereotyping, the division of hearings and appeals shall dismiss the complaint. Except as provided in pars. (b) and (d), if the division of hearings and appeals finds that the use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name promotes discrimination, pupil harassment, or stereotyping, the division of hearings and appeals shall order the school board to terminate its use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name within 12 months after issuance of the order.
(b)
1. In this paragraph, “ extenuating circumstances" includes circumstances in which the costs of compliance with an order issued under par. (a) pose an undue financial burden on the school district and circumstances in which the work or the requirements for bidding a contract to complete the work required to bring the school district into compliance with the order issued under par. (a) cannot be completed within 12 months after the issuance of the order.
2.
a. If, at the hearing under sub. (2) or after a decision and order have been issued under par. (a), the school board presents evidence to the division of hearings and appeals that extenuating circumstances render full compliance with the decision and order within 12 months after the issuance of that decision and order impossible or impracticable, the division of hearings and appeals may issue an order to extend the time within which the school board must terminate its use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name. Except as provided in subd. 2. b., the extension may not exceed 24 months and shall apply only to those portions of the decision and order to which extenuating circumstances apply.
b. The division of hearings and appeals may extend the time granted to a school board under subd. 2. a. if the school board presents evidence to the division of hearings and appeals that compliance with a portion of the decision and order issued under par. (a) may be accomplished through a regularly scheduled maintenance program and that the cost of compliance with that portion of the decision and order exceeds $5,000. The extension granted under this subd. 2. b. may not exceed 96 months and applies only to that portion of the decision and order with which compliance will be accomplished through the regularly scheduled maintenance program and that costs more than $5,000.
(c) Decisions under this subsection are subject to judicial review under ch. 227. The venue for a proceeding to review a decision under this section is the circuit court in any county in which territory of the school district is located.
(d) No school district is required to comply with a decision and order issued under this subsection before December 21, 2013, to terminate the use of a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name.
(3m) A pupil attending a public school in a nonresident school district under s. 118.50 or 118.51 may not file a complaint under sub. (1) in which the pupil objects to the use of a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name by the school board of the nonresident school district.
(3r) A school district may not be a member of an interscholastic athletic association that prohibits the use of a nickname, logo, mascot, or team name on the basis that the nickname, logo, mascot, or team name is race-based unless the use of the nickname, logo, mascot, or team name violates a decision and order issued under sub. (3) on or after December 21, 2013.
(4)
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), the state superintendent shall promulgate rules necessary to implement and administer this section.
(b) The state superintendent may not promulgate a rule that creates a presumption that a nickname, logo, mascot, or team name is race-based or promotes discrimination, pupil harassment, or stereotyping.
(5) Any school board that uses a race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name in violation of sub. (3) shall forfeit not less than $100 nor more than $1,000. Each day of use of the race-based nickname, logo, mascot, or team name in violation of sub. (3) constitutes a separate violation. The state superintendent may not assess or collect a forfeiture under this subsection for a use that violates a decision and order issued under sub. (3) before December 21, 2013.
History: 2009 a. 250; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 115; 2013 a. 151 s. 28; 2015 a. 55; 2015 a. 197 s. 51.

Structure Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations

Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations

Chapter 118 - General school operations.

118.001 - Duties and powers of school boards; construction of statutes.

118.01 - Educational goals and expectations.

118.015 - Reading instruction.

118.016 - Assessments of reading readiness.

118.017 - Foreign language instruction.

118.019 - Human growth and development instruction.

118.02 - Special observance days.

118.025 - Arbor day observance.

118.03 - Textbooks.

118.035 - School uniforms.

118.04 - Summer classes.

118.045 - Commencement of school term.

118.05 - School conservation camps.

118.06 - Flag, pledge of allegiance, and national anthem.

118.07 - Health and safety requirements.

118.075 - Indoor environmental quality in schools.

118.076 - Lifesaving skills instruction.

118.08 - School zones; crossings.

118.09 - Safety zones.

118.10 - School safety patrols.

118.105 - Control of traffic on school premises.

118.11 - School fences.

118.12 - Sale of goods and services at schools.

118.123 - Reports and records; forfeitures.

118.125 - Pupil records.

118.126 - Privileged communications.

118.127 - Law enforcement agency information.

118.13 - Pupil discrimination prohibited.

118.133 - Participation in interscholastic athletics and extracurricular activities.

118.134 - Race-based nicknames, logos, mascots, and team names.

118.135 - Eye examinations and evaluations.

118.14 - Age of pupils; phase in of 4-year-old kindergarten.

118.145 - Admission to high school.

118.15 - Compulsory school attendance.

118.153 - Children at risk of not graduating from high school.

118.155 - Released time for religious instruction.

118.16 - School attendance enforcement.

118.162 - Truancy committee and plan.

118.163 - Municipal truancy and school dropout ordinances.

118.164 - Removal of pupils from the class.

118.165 - Private schools.

118.167 - Private school determination by state superintendent.

118.169 - Pupil identification.

118.17 - Indigent children.

118.175 - Pupils without parents or guardians; report required.

118.18 - Teacher reports.

118.19 - Teacher certificates and licenses; administrator and pupil services professional licenses.

118.191 - Experience-based licensure for technical and vocational education subjects.

118.1915 - Licensure for Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instructors.

118.192 - Professional teaching permits.

118.193 - Licenses based on reciprocity.

118.194 - Initial license to teach; Montessori.

118.195 - Discrimination against handicapped teachers prohibited.

118.196 - Teacher development program.

118.197 - Initial license to teach; alternative preparation programs.

118.20 - Teacher discrimination prohibited.

118.21 - Teacher contracts.

118.22 - Renewal of teacher contracts.

118.223 - Collective bargaining.

118.225 - Teacher evaluations.

118.23 - Populous counties; teacher tenure.

118.235 - Lunch period for teachers.

118.24 - School district administrator.

118.245 - Referendum; increase in employee wages.

118.25 - Health examinations.

118.255 - Health treatment services for children with special physical or mental health treatment needs.

118.257 - Liability for referral to police.

118.258 - Electronic communication devices prohibited.

118.26 - Claim against school district.

118.27 - Gifts and grants.

118.28 - Community action agencies.

118.29 - Administration of drugs and emergency care.

118.291 - Asthmatic pupils; possession and use of inhalers.

118.292 - Possession and use of epinephrine.

118.2925 - Life-threatening allergies in schools; use of epinephrine.

118.293 - Concussion and head injury.

118.2935 - Sudden cardiac arrest; youth athletic activities.

118.295 - Suicide intervention; civil liability exemption.

118.30 - Pupil assessment.

118.301 - Alternative pupil assessments.

118.305 - Use of seclusion and physical restraint.

118.31 - Corporal punishment.

118.32 - Strip search by school employee.

118.325 - Locker searches.

118.33 - High school graduation standards; criteria for promotion.

118.34 - Technical preparation programs.

118.35 - Programs for gifted and talented pupils.

118.38 - Waivers of laws and rules.

118.40 - Charter schools.

118.42 - Low-performing school districts and schools; state superintendent interventions.

118.43 - Achievement guarantee contracts; state aid.

118.44 - Achievement gap reduction; state aid.

118.45 - Tests for alcohol use.

118.46 - Policy on bullying.

118.50 - Whole grade sharing.

118.51 - Full-time open enrollment.

118.52 - Part-time open enrollment.

118.53 - Attendance by pupils enrolled in a home-based private educational program.

118.55 - Early college credit program.

118.56 - Work based learning programs.

118.57 - Notice of educational options; accountability report performance category; pupil assessments.

118.60 - Parental choice program for eligible school districts and other school districts.