The ongoing discussions about public school education continues to be divisive and difficult. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) provides these model school board policies as an addition and alternative to the limited options that school boards have access to. WILL offers these model policies with goals of increasing parents’ rights and involvement, creating transparency, optimizing student academic achievement and improving school governance.
MODEL SCHOOL BOARD POLICIES
Right to Review Instructional Materials and Related Documents
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Transparency
Right to Review Professional Development Training Materials
This model policy clarifies that parents have the right to access, upon request, all District training materials used for professional development.
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Transparency
Parent, Family, and Community Engagement
This model policy confirms that parents and legal guardians have the ultimate responsibility for their children and recommends activities to be implemented to encourage cooperation between parents and the school. It also encourages engagement between the District and the community.
KEYWORDS: Governance, Parents Rights
Controversial Issues
This model policy defines what is considered to be a “controversial issue” in an instructional program, discusses the acceptable context for discussing controversial issues, expands on student rights currently established by federal law, and encourages parents to continue to direct the upbringing of their children, in accordance with the United States Constitution.
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Transparency
Survey Notice and Opt Out
This model policy prohibits students from being required to participate in surveys or evaluations that reveal certain information without prior written parental consent. For surveys that would require such information but are not mandated, it requires parental notice and the opportunity to opt their child out of participating.
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Transparency
Student Gender Identity
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights
Employee Expression in Non-School Settings
KEYWORDS: Governance, Transparency
Review and Update of District Policies
KEYWORD: Governance
Assessment of Educational Goals
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Wisconsin
Student Discipline
KEYWORDS: Parents Rights, Transparency, Wisconsin
Board Superintendent Communications
KEYWORDS: Governance, Wisconsin
Access to Student Records
KEYWORDS: Parent Rights, Wisconsin
Human Growth and Development
This model policy allows the School Board to determine whether the District will provide instruction in human growth and development, indicates what must be included in such a program, and requires any instruction in such a program to be age-appropriate. It also requires the District to provide parental notice related to what human growth and development instruction will be used in the grade level of their child, permits parental inspection of instructional materials, and requires notice to parents that they may opt their child out such instruction.
KEYWORDS: Parent Rights, Transparency, Wisconsin
Personnel Evaluation and Training
KEYWORDS: Governance, Transparency, Wisconsin

AEI | EMPOWER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS WITH POLICY SOLUTIONS
WILL Director of Education Policy, Libby Sobic, is the author of Empower School Board Members With Policy Solutions, a new publication from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Sobic highlights a number of the model school board policies WILL released in June 2022, part of the Restoring American Education initiative.
ADDITIONAL SCHOOL BOARD RESOURCES
Below are some additional publicly available school board resources from other organizations. Please contact us with suggestions for new sources, or if any of these links no longer work.
Civics Alliance
A compilation of general school board resources.
FreedomWorks
An organization building a grassroots movement of school board members.
Contact Zach Laba, BEST Outreach Coordinator at zlaba@freedomworks.org for more information.
Independence Institute
Colorado-based organization that creates materials for local school board candidates and elected officials.
Arizona Coalition of School Board Members
An Arizona-based membership organization for school board members and interested community members offering alternative resources that promotes student success and parental rights.
For More Information

Libby Sobic
Director of Education Policy
libby@will-law.org

Cory Brewer
Associate Counsel
cbrewer@will-law.org