Private School Choice Program:

The state of Wisconsin offers three different programs that allow eligible students to attend a participating private school in grades four-year-old kindergarten (K4) to 12. The private school, on behalf of the student’s parent or guardian, receives a state aid payment for each eligible student. The program applicable to our school and location is formally called: Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (WPCP).

Student Eligibility:

Each year, all students must apply at dpi.wi.gov/choice. Student eligibility is based on a combination of student residency, income, and age. Generally, students must also be applying to certain grades or have met a prior year requirement.

Residency:

All students must provide documentation that they meet the residency requirement specific to the program each year. To be eligible for the applicable program, students must reside in Wisconsin and outside the city of Milwaukee and the Racine Unified School District

Income Eligibility:

New Choice students must provide income documentation showing that the family income does not exceed the income limits in the table below.

For each additional member add $11,308
* If the student’s parents/legal guardians are married, their income is reduced by $7,000 when determining income eligibility for the program (i.e. married family income minus $7,000 is the amount married families compare to the table).

Continuing students applying to the Choice program and students on a Choice waiting list in the prior year applying to the same Choice program are not required to provide income documentation.

Age:

Students ages 4 through 20 on or before September 1 are eligible to apply for the Choice program. Additionally, a student must be at least the following age on or before September 1: 4 years old for 4K, 5 years old for K and 6 years old for grade 1.

Application Grade or Prior Year Attendance Requirement:

Students applying must (1) be applying to grades 4K, K, or 1st Grade, OR (2) meet one of the following requirements for the 2023-24 school year: (a) attended a public school in Wisconsin; (b) attended school in another state; (c) were not enrolled in school (includes homeschooled students for the entire 2023-24 school year); (d) participated in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program ; (e) are on a WPCP waiting list, OR (3) are applying to our applicable program and are on any prior year waiting list in 2015-16 or later due to a school district enrollment cap.

Other Choice Program Information

Payment of Allowable Fees:

Choice schools cannot charge a Choice student fees for registration or application to the Choice program, books, teacher salaries, buildings, maintenance, equipment or computers. A Choice school may charge a Choice student reasonable fees for certain personal use items.

Special Education Services:

A Choice school may not discriminate against a student with special needs during the admissions process or elsewhere. However, the Choice school, as a private school, is only required to offer those services to assist students with special needs that it can provide with minor adjustments. Parents should contact the public school district in which Trinity Lutheran School is located for more information on the services provided to students with special needs enrolled in the public schools and the services, if any, that school district provides to those students enrolled in private schools.

Application Process

Parent Application Process Step 1: Online Parent Application:

Each year parents must complete the online parent application at dpi.wi.gov/choice.

A valid email is required. Parents will receive a confirmation email after they submit an application with directions regarding the supporting documentation parents must provide to Trinity Lutheran School to complete the application process.

Parents may only apply during the open application period which is February 1 - April 18

Step 2: Supporting Documentation:

Parents must provide the supporting documentation during the open application period, as directed in the online parent application and the confirmation email, or their application is ineligible.

Residency Documentation:

All parents must provide residency documentation directly to Trinity Lutheran School during the open application period.

Income Documentation:

Parents of students that participated in any Choice program in the prior year and students on a Choice waiting list in the prior year applying to the same Choice program are not required to provide income documentation. 

Parents of new students must show they are income eligible by either (1) providing their social security numbers or taxpayer identification numbers and having the Department of Revenue determine whether the student is income eligible OR (2) using the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Income Determination method by answering a series of income questions in the online parent application. Parents must provide income documentation directly to our school.

Step 3: Notification of Acceptance or Nonacceptance to the Choice Program

For the 2022-23 school year, state law mandates that no more than 7% of the pupil membership of a public school district participate in the WPCP. The DPI will conduct a random drawing, which includes certain required preferences, of all eligible applications. The DPI will notify parents via email in the summer of students chosen in the WPCP random drawing and students on the WPCP waiting list. Parents of students chosen in the random drawing must confirm with the school their acceptance and indicate whether or not their students will attend the school. If the school finds a student’s application ineligible, the school must notify the parent of non-acceptance by the first weekday of June 

Helpful Resources:

The “Application Process Presentation” and “Online Parent Application Print Screens” at dpi.wi.gov/choice are helpful resources to assist parents in completing the application process. Parents are encouraged to contact Trinity Lutheran School directly at (715) 257-7559 with any questions regarding the application process or status of their application.

Other Application Information:

Schools cannot use grades, test scores, or other factors besides eligibility for the program in admitting Choice students.

Frequently Asked Questions:*

Q.1 Can the Choice school require fundraising and school service of the Choice parent?

A.1 A school may not impose any penalties on a parent or student in the Choice program for failure to engage in fundraising (which would include any required service to the school).

Q.2 Is a student in the Choice program, required to participate in religious activities or instruction?

A.2 No. If a Choice student’s parent submits to the student’s teacher or the school’s principal a written request that the student be excused from any religious activity, the teacher and school must honor that request.

Q.3 Are there statutory procedures regarding student suspensions and expulsions that a private Choice school is required to follow?

A.3 Yes. State law requires private Choice schools to have procedures in place regarding student suspensions and expulsions. Parents should ask Trinity Lutheran School to provide a copy of the procedures the school has in place for imposition or appeal of suspensions or expulsions.

*The “Frequently Asked Questions” document at dpi.wi.gov/choice has answers to several questions for parents to learn about the Choice program.

2022-23The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, marital status or parental status, sexual orientation, or disability