A Guide to Third Friday of September and Second Friday of January

Membership Counts in Your School District

What is a Membership Count?

Membership Counts

• All Wisconsin public school districts are required to complete a membership count two times per school year
• Third Friday of September (TFS)
• Second Friday of January (SFJ)
• The count is a headcount of all actively enrolled students and looks at whether or not they were in attendance on the count date
• Information is further broken down by grade level and residency status

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Membership Counts

• This information is reported in the PI-1563
• Accurate reporting ensures reliable data for:
• Budgeting
• State Aid Calculations
• Open Enrollment
• Student Information
• Errors can result in loss of funds and a Membership Audit

Membership Count Stakeholders

• Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
• Open Enrollment Coordinator
• Current Year Tuition Waiver (CYTW) and Additional Year Tuition Waiver (AYTW) Coordinator
• Enrollment Secretaries
• Responsible for accurately entering and maintaining residency status and special program membership

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Membership Count Stakeholders cont’d

• Attendance Secretaries
• Responsible for generating the TFS and SFJ reports in Skyward and reviewing information for accuracy and exceptions
• Provide notes for all exceptions and recommended count exclusions
• Enter grade level membership count into the Daily Membership Count Worksheet and submit the sheet to the Data & Assessment Specialist in District Office
• Special Education Administrative Assistant
• Provides listing of all students who have an IEP and are tuitioned out
• Assists with Early Childhood category breakdowns
• Assists with IEP status confirmation of Open Enrolled students

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Membership Count Stakeholders cont’d

• Data and Assessment Specialist
• Reviews school-based submissions
• Disaggregates data according to DPI-determined categories (e.g. Resident Addition, Resident Reduction, Non-Resident Addition, Non-Resident Reduction)
• Completes Open Enrollment Count Reporting in OPAL
• Verifies Residents Enrolled Out
• Verifies Non-Residents Enrolled In
• Verifies Disability Status of all Open Enrolled Students
• Enters reporting in DPI’s portals
• School Finance Portal and WISEfinance

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Membership Count Timeline & Tasks:

The Week Before

• Enrollment Secretary in conjunction with Attendance Secretary
• Review Non-Res In tab in Skyward special programs for accuracy
• Are the previous year’s Tuition Waivers end dated?
• Do new Open Enrollment students have an entry date?
• Is the non-resident district code correct in the E/W tab?
• Is the student’s residency status set to ‘No’ in the General Profile?
• Resources
• Open Enrollment Master List (2025-2026)
• Tuition Waivers Master List (2025-2026)

Viewing Residency Status in Skyward

Student > Student Profile > General > Profile

Viewing District of Residence Code in Skyward

Student > Student Profile > Entry/With

Editing District of Residence Code in Skyward

Student > Student Profile > Entry/With > Edit

• You can search for School District codes by clicking the *Res Dist link and using the CTRL+F search feature

Verifying Non-Res In Tab in Skyward

Student > Student Profile > Special Programs > Non-Res In

• In this example, the student was granted a CYTW on 5/31/2023. The waiver was correctly end-dated at the end of the school year.
• The student was then given a second record to reflect ongoing status as a student attending via Open Enrollment.

Verifying Residency in Skyward

• If residency information is not accurate, the student will not be correctly identified by Skyward in the Membership Count Report
• The following need to be up-to-date:
• Residency Status (Yes/No)
• District Code
• Non-Resident Program (e.g. CYTW, Open Enrollment)

Membership Count Timeline & Tasks:

7-10 Days Before Count

• Special Education Administrative Assistant
• Review Early Childhood enrollments with Early Elementary School Attendance Secretary
• Confirm tuition-out students with an IEP with both Data & Assessment Specialist and Attendance Secretary in applicable building(s)

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Membership Count Timeline & Tasks:

The Week Of…

• Data & Assessment Specialist
• Send email to each building’s attendance secretary with instructions and updated count worksheet
• Enrollment Secretary
• Continue processing all enrollment, withdrawal, and residency changes
• Confirm any non-special education tuition-out students with Attendance Secretary and Data & Assessment Special

Membership Count Timeline & Tasks:

After TFS and SFJ

• Do not generate the Skyward report until attendance has been taken on the Monday afternoon following the count.
• Rationale: A student who is absent on the count date can still be counted if they attend school before and after the count date. The Skyward report has search parameters that encompass this.

Generating the Membership Report in Skyward

Federal/State Reporting > Wisconsin State Reporting > Reports > PI-1563 Pupil Count Report

1. Name your template
2. Enter the correct grad year ranges
3. Enter 051 for the low range in ‘Percent Enrolled’
4. Set ‘Student Status’ to ‘Active’
5. Verify the correct schools have been checked
6. Verify the correct calendars have been checked

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Generating the Membership Report in Skyward

Federal/State Reporting > Wisconsin State Reporting > Reports > PI-1563 Pupil Count Report

Steps Continued…

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7. Enter the Count Date

8. Enter the first day of school

9. Enter the current date

10. Select Graduation Year as your ‘Sort By’ method

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Once your template is complete, select ‘Save and Print’

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Interpreting the PI-1563 Report

Column Headings

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1. Student Name
2. Student Grade
3. Student Entity
4. Percent Enrolled (should be 1.0)
5. Primary Disability (if Column 6 is set to Y, otherwise empty)
6. Special Education Status (Y/N)

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Interpreting the PI-1563 Report Cont’d

Column Headings

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7. Count Date Attendance Record

8. Present on Count Date (YES/NO)

9. Present Before Count Date? (YES/NO)

10. Present After Count Date? (YES/NO)

11. Can Student be Counted? (YES/NO)

12. Omitted Reason (related to residency additions/reductions)

13. Enrolled In/Out Type (related to residency additions/reductions)

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Interpreting the PI-1563 Report Cont’d:

Grad Year Totals

1. Total number of active students in Grad Year
2. Total number of students who can be included in count
3. Total number of students who can be included in count in the ‘Present’ category
4. Total number of students who can be included in count in the ‘Absent’ category

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Entering Grade Level Totals in the Worksheet

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• (3.) 192 students were present on the count date.
• (4.) 17 students were absent on the count date but present prior to and after the count date
• (2.) 209 students can be counted for grade 12
• (1.) There were a total of 210 active students in Grade 12
• A detailed note should be provided describing why the one student was not included in the count total

Documentation to Submit to Data & Assessment

• Count Form (Excel Worksheet)
• Include notes on any students not being included in the count
• Skyward PI-1563 Report for supporting documentation
• Attendance verification documentation for outplaced students

Questions?

Please contact the Data & Assessment Specialist

• extension xxxx
• xxxx@xxxx.org