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To:         WISEdata Choice school primary, secondary, and generic contacts and WISEdata public district primary, secondary, and generic contacts 
Date:        04/07/2024 
Subject:  May Demographics Snapshot on May 13, 2025 
 

Hello, 

 

DPI will conduct the WISEdata May Demographic Snapshot on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Central Standard Time. Please take this opportunity to review your student data to ensure your enrollment and demographic information is up-to-date and accurate for the snapshot. All data submissions and updates must be made by Tuesday, May 13 in advance of the snapshot.  Please be aware that some data may take a few days to go from your Student Information System (SIS) to WISEdata, so please allow ample time for data to move from system to system.  We recommend that LEAs proactively address issues well before the snapshot date. 

 

NOTE: Data cannot flow to DPI unless it is entered in your SIS. To resolve issues around data that is entered into the SIS that isn’t flowing to DPI, LEAs need to work with their vendor support staff to resolve data flow issues. You can also review the WISEdata Portal Home Screen mini tutorial.  

 

You may receive a Data Quality Alert in the WISEdata Portal to alert you to any specific data quality issues that you may need to address prior to snapshot. These alerts are anticipated to be viewable in the WISEdata Portal on April 17. Not all districts and schools will receive an alert. Shortly after April 17, the DPI Customer Services team will contact your district and school if you have a data quality issue. Please review the list of WISE Workshops happening virtually and in-person throughout April, noted at the bottom of this letter. 

 

The information captured in this snapshot will be used for state and federal accountability purposes this year as well as in future years. Specifically, the demographics and enrollments captured in this snapshot will be linked to the assessment results for required reporting.  

 

The following demographics will be captured in the snapshot from both Choice schools and public school districts: race/ethnicity, gender, grade level, disability status, EL status, economically disadvantaged status and food services eligibility. Additional demographics collected only by public school districts, include homeless status and parent in military. For additional information, review the "May Demographics Snapshot:  What's Collected?" section of the Snapshot Preparation Guidance webpage. 

 


Data Element Details and Resources 

 

Disability 
This consists of a collection of data elements, including Disability Status, Primary Service Provider, Student Special Education Program Begin and End Date, SSEPA Record. 

 

Economically Disadvantaged Status 
The two data elements for Economically Disadvantaged Status are Economically Disadvantaged Status and Food Services Eligibility. It is especially important that you submit the most up-to-date data for the two economically disadvantaged data elements.  

 

All schools participating in the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs (SBP) must obtain the most up-to-date food services eligibility data for the 2024-25 school year in order to correctly issue Summer EBT benefits to eligible students. Please work with your school/district’s Determining Official, as listed in the School Nutrition Online Contract, to ensure that data is being reported accurately and completely. See the following guidelines for reporting Food Services Eligibility: 

  • NSLP Pricing Schools (not participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)) 
  • Ensure that only students with access to at least one meal have their food services eligibility reported as free, reduced or paid.  
  • Students without access to meals while in attendance should be reported as having ‘unknown’ status. 
  • Continue conducting Direct Certification and processing Household Applications for Free and Reduced Priced Meals as outlined in the General Calendar of Program Requirements.  
  • Consult the DPI School Nutrition Team for assistance with determining free and reduced price meal eligibility by emailing DPIFNS@dpi.wi.gov.  
  • Ensure that only students with access to at least one meal have their food services eligibility reported as free, since all students with access to meals while in attendance receive their meals at no cost. 
  • Students without access to meals while in attendance should be reported as having ‘unknown’ status. 
  • Consult the DPI School Nutrition Team CEP Specialists for assistance at DPI.CEP@dpi.wi.gov.  
  • Schools not participating in the NSLP/SBP 
  • All students should have their food services eligibility status reported as ‘unknown’ since schools not participating in the USDA school nutrition programs do not determine eligibility for NSLP/SBP. 
 
 
Please take advantage of these resources for guidance on submitting Economic Status data:  
 
EL Status 
This consists of multiple data elements, including EL Status, ACCESS score, and ELP codes. Please take advantage of the Finding Prior year ACCESS Scores and ELP Codes mini tutorial for guidance.  
  • NOTE: Choice schools receiving Title III funding are required to report their EL data. This ensures compliance with federal guidelines and supports English learners effectively. Conversely, for Choice Schools not receiving Title III funding, EL data remains optional. 
Gender
 
Grade Level
This consists of a single data element: Grade Level. Remember that as of the 2024-25 school year, PK is not a grade. PK is a code, signifying students who: have not reached the age for first grade (aged 3, 4 or 5), and are not enrolled in K4 or KG, have an IEP, and receive primary educational services from the LEA/Agency. 
 
Homeless Status: Public Schools Only
This consists of a collection of data elements. For students with a Homeless Status of true there should also be a Student Homeless Program Association that includes Homeless Primary Nighttime Residence Type, Homeless Unaccompanied Youth, and Student Homeless Program Association Begin and End Dates. Visit the Programs data element page for more information on the Student Homeless Program Association Record. 
 
Parent in Military: Public Schools Only
This consists of a single data element, Parent in Military.  
 
Race/Ethnicity
 This consists of a single data element: Race/Ethnicity, composed of a two-part question. 
 
 
Other Helpful Resources and Snapshot Training
 
WISEdata Portal export files are a good resource to use when verifying student counts and demographic data. Some export spreadsheets that may be helpful are:  
  • Student Demographics,  
  • Student School Food Service Program Associations, and 
  • the Special Education Data Export for public districts.  
 
Public districts also have access to the WISEdash for Districts May Demographics Snapshot dashboard. Choice schools have access to the WISEdash Extracts, as a WISEdata Export. 
 
WISE Regional Workshops
This spring, DPI Customer Services is coming to an area near you to better assist you in preparing for the May Demographics Snapshot, year-end tasks, and provide one-on-one support. Registration is now open! 

 

Visit the WISEtraining, Slides and Videos webpage to access the current year’s slide deck. A recording of the April 22 virtual training will be uploaded after April 22.  

 

To stay in the loop on training events such as these, join the WISE Community! The Customer Services Team will post information here about DPI systems that affect our school users, notifications about upcoming events, timely reminders and reporting information. Members can also chat with each other – find out who uses your same SIS vendor tool and ask each other questions, get help on how to resolve errors and warnings, and maybe make some new connections! 

 

You can also subscribe to the WISE Insights monthly newsletter. This newsletter is published monthly and includes a section of upcoming dates and announcements, as well as news covering WISEid, WISEdash, WISEdata, WISEstaff, School Directory, and more WISE applications.  

 

If you have questions or issues at any point, please reach out to us by submitting a WISE Help Ticket. 

 

Thank you for your continued attention to data quality! 

 

 

Thank you, 
DPI Customer Services Team 

 

 

Keywords: WISEdata; snapshot; spring; May; demographics