Wis. Stat. § 119.61 — WI Code / Chapter 119 / Section 119.61
Surplus property.
Status: in_force

(1) In this section:

(a) “Education operator” means any of the following:

1. The operator of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) .

2. The operator of a private school.

3. The operator of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2) or (2m) that is not an instrumentality of the school district, as determined under s. 118.40 (7) .

4. An individual or group that is pursuing a contract with an entity under s. 118.40 (2r) (b) or the director under s. 118.40 (2x) to operate a school as a charter school.

5. A person that is pursuing a contract with the board under s. 118.40 (2m) to operate a school as a charter school that is not an instrumentality of the school district.

6. An entity or organization that has entered into a written agreement with any of the operators identified in subds. 1. to 4. to purchase or lease a building within which the operator identified in subds. 1. to 4. will operate a school.

(b) “Eligible school building” means a school building in the school district operating under this chapter that satisfies any of the following:

1. The school building has been designated as surplus, underutilized, or vacant on any resolution adopted within the previous 5 years by the board, and the board is unable to demonstrate that the school building is no longer surplus, underutilized, or vacant.

2. The school building has been unused or satisfies any condition qualifying the building as an underutilized school building for a period of 12 consecutive months, including the 12 months preceding July 14, 2015.

(c) “Underutilized school building” means a school building that satisfies any of the following:

1. Less than 40 percent of the capacity of the school building is used for instruction of pupils on a daily, school day basis if any of the following applies:

a. The school building is not part of an active expansion plan. In this subd. 1. a. , an “active expansion plan” is one in which the board can demonstrate to the common council that expansion of pupil enrollment will occur in the school year following the school year in which less than 40 percent of the capacity of the building is used in the manner described in subd. 1. (intro.) .

b. Pupil enrollment in the school has declined in at least 2 of the 3 school years immediately preceding the school year in which less than 40 percent of the capacity of the building is used in the manner described in subd. 1. (intro.) .

c. The school was placed in one of the 2 lowest performance categories on the accountability report published for the school under s. 115.385 (1) for the school year in which less than 40 percent of the capacity of the building is used in the manner described in subd. 1. (intro.) and all of the following apply: the school building is located within 5 miles of another school building of the school district; that other school building serves the same or similar grade levels; and no more than 60 percent of the capacity of that other school building available for the instruction of pupils is being used in that other school building.

2.

a. Subject to subd. 2. b. , the school building is not staffed on a full-time basis by a principal and instructional staff assigned exclusively to the school building.

b. A school building that is staffed on a full-time basis by instructional staff assigned exclusively to the school building is not an underutilized school building under this paragraph if the principal of the school also serves as the principal of another school.

3. The number of hours of pupil instruction offered in the school building in the previous school year was less than 80 percent of the number of hours of pupil instruction required to be scheduled under s. 121.02 (1) (f) .

(2)

(a) No later than 30 days after July 14, 2015, and annually thereafter, the board shall prepare an inventory of all school buildings in the school district operating under this chapter. The board shall sort the information in the inventory by the use of the building at the time the report is prepared and shall include all of the following for each school building in the district:

1. The total square footage of and the number of classrooms in the school building.

2. The portion of the total square footage being used for direct pupil instruction.

3. The number of pupils the school building can accommodate and the number of pupils receiving instruction in the school building.

4. The name of the principal and the number of full-time instructional staff assigned to the school.

5. For any school building not being used for direct pupil instruction, the manner in which the school building is being used, including whether the building is vacant or is being used for administration, storage, or professional development.

6. The duration over the past 36 months that the school building has been used in the manner identified under subd. 2. or 5.

7. Whether the board has designated the school building as surplus, underutilized, or vacant on any resolution adopted by the board within the previous 5 years.

8. Facility condition index information, including estimated short-term and long-term maintenance costs of the school building.

(b) The board shall submit a copy of the inventory required under par. (a) to the commissioner, the superintendent of schools, the city clerk, the department, and the joint committee on finance.

(c) In addition to the inventory required under par. (a) , the board shall annually notify the commissioner, the superintendent of schools, the city clerk, the department, and the joint committee on finance any time a change is made to the use of a school building.

(3)

(a) If, within 60 days after receipt of the inventory required under sub. (2) (a) or of a notice under sub. (2) (c) , either the commissioner or the superintendent of schools submits a letter of interest regarding an eligible school building, the common council shall immediately proceed to add the commissioner or the superintendent of schools, respectively, as an agent of the board on any existing lease for the eligible school building between the common council and the board.

(b) If, no more than 60 days after providing the commissioner and the superintendent of schools with a copy of the inventory under sub. (2) (a) or of a notice under sub. (2) (c) , neither the commissioner nor the superintendent of schools has submitted a letter of interest under par. (a) , the city clerk shall post a public notice on the city’s Internet site. The city clerk shall include in the public notice under this subsection the address of and the information specified under sub. (2) (a) 1. and 8. for each school building identified on the inventory under sub. (2) (a) , or on the notice under sub. (2) (c) , that is an eligible school building. The city clerk shall include in the public notice a request for and instructions for submitting letters of interest from persons interested in purchasing an eligible school building.

(4)

(a) The common council may designate a person to act as the agent of the city with respect to the sale of an eligible school building. Except as provided in par. (e) , only education operators may purchase an eligible school building. An education operator may submit a letter of interest as provided in the public notice under sub. (3) to notify the common council or its agent of its interest in purchasing an eligible school building.

(b) Upon receipt of a letter of interest under par. (a) or sub. (3) (a) , the city clerk shall update that portion of the city’s Internet site containing information about the eligible school building to indicate that a letter of interest has been received and that other interested education operators may, within 28 days from the date of the update, submit a letter of interest to notify the common council or its agent of its interest in purchasing the eligible school building. If, at the end of the 28-day period, no other letters of interest in purchasing the eligible school building have been received, the city shall proceed under par. (c) . If, within the 28-day period, one or more other letters of interest in purchasing the eligible school building have been received, the city shall proceed under par. (d) .

(c) Except as provided in par. (d) , no later than 60 days after the first business day after the end of the 28-day period under par. (b) , the common council or its agent shall do all of the following:

1. Determine whether the prospective buyer is an education operator under sub. (1) (a) .

2. Make information about the eligible school building available and show the eligible school building to the education operator.

3. Consider the financial capability of the education operator.

4. Negotiate a reasonable purchase price and terms with the education operator. The common council may not require the education operator to make a payment in lieu of property taxation or to pay a similar fee as a condition of the sale of the eligible school building. The purchase price shall be based upon either of the following:

a. The purchase price paid for other comparable school buildings sold within the previous 5 years, with adjustments to the purchase price made by taking into consideration the useable square footage, age, condition, and location of the eligible school building and any other pertinent information about the eligible school building and the school building or buildings used for purposes of comparison.

b. An appraisal prepared for the eligible school building that includes the purchase price paid for comparable buildings, if available.

5. Complete the sale of the eligible school building in accordance with standard city practices. The common council or its agent may condition closing on any of the following:

a. Proof of financing for the purchase and any improvements proposed for the eligible school building.

b. Inclusion of a reversionary clause permitting the common council to recapture a building that remains unoccupied 24 months after the date of closing due to a failure of the purchaser to complete improvements proposed for the eligible school building.

(d) If, within 28 days after an education operator submits a letter of interest under par. (a) , at least one other education operator submits a letter of interest under par. (a) or (b) , the common council shall, within 50 days after the other education operator submits a letter of interest, initiate a competitive, request-for-proposal process and shall identify members of a committee to select the most suitable buyer of the eligible school building. Once the most suitable buyer is selected, the common council shall proceed with the selected prospective buyer as required under par. (c) 1. to 5. In evaluating proposals submitted under this paragraph, the committee selected by the common council may not consider the organizational status of the education operator nor the type of school proposed to be located in the eligible school building, but shall consider all of the following:

1. The nature of any improvements proposed for, and the amount of any investment in, the school building.

2. The quality of the design proposed for the school building.

3. The fiscal capability of the education operator.

(e) Any person may submit a letter of interest to purchase a school building that has qualified as an eligible school building for more than 24 consecutive months. Upon receipt of a letter of interest under this paragraph, the common council shall proceed with the prospective buyer as required under par. (c) 2. , 3. , 4. , and 5.

(5) If any eligible school building is sold as provided in this section, the net proceeds of the sale shall be deposited into the school operations fund under s. 119.46 .

History: 2015 a. 55 ; 2017 a. 366 .