Legislation prioritizes school choice, parental rights

During the 2024 Wyoming Budget Session in Cheyenne Feb. 12 to March 8, the House and Senate worked on a number of bills related to public education in Wyoming, with legislation ranging from solidifying parental rights to supporting school choice.

PARENTAL RIGHTS

Senate File 09, Parental rights in education, passed into law without Governor Mark Gordon’s signature on March 5, 2024.

SF 09, a Joint Education Committee bill, will, “open the door to better communication between schools and parents,” said Representative Martha Lawley (R-HD27, Worland), who was a supporter of the bill and serves on the House Education Committee.

As stated in the bill, school districts will be required to, “Notify a student’s parent or guardian as soon as practicable if there is a change in the student’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well‑being.”

The bill goes on to state, “Procedures adopted […] shall reinforce the fundamental right of parents and guardians to make decisions regarding the care and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his well‑being with his parent or guardian or to facilitate discussion with the parent or guardian.”

SF 09 will also require school districts to gain individual parental permission to teach lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity, and to provide parents the option of consenting to or declining routine specific health care services to their child.

Lawley on the bill said, “To understand the importance of this bill, it is helpful to know that the U. S. Supreme Court has long recognized that parents have a Constitutional right to direct the care and upbringing of their children, including their education.”

“SF 09 helps both schools and parents understand how they work together to keep parents informed so the parents can decide what they want their children to participate in and what they do not want their children to participate in,” said Lawley.

Rep. John Winter (R-HD28, Thermopolis) said, “This bill began as a weak, campaign-bill so some could claim they protected parental rights.  The bill was greatly improved with multiple successful amendments.”

In his letter about the bill sent to the Senate and House, Gordon said, “When I review Senate Enrolled Act 0008 [SF 09], and consider it alongside existing established laws that already protect the rights of parents, I have to question if this law is really necessary at this time.”

Gordon goes on to bring up the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) as existing laws that he believes are sufficient in protecting parental rights.

“In short, I am concerned that this act may lead to unintended consequences and place restrictions on school districts impeding their ability to effectively manage educational processes in our public schools,” said Gordon.

Lawley, who said she found Gordon’s statement to be, “unpersuasive,” is thankful the bill became law.

“During our committee hearings we heard feedback from school officials and made changes to the bill to accommodate concerns. We also had testimony from a few Wyoming school districts who are already doing much of what the bill requires,” she said.

Washakie County Schools District No. 1 Chief Operations Officer Charlie Cauffman said, “Some of the impacts are still undetermined as they go forward and make rules at the State Education Department,” said Cauffman.

Cauffman echoed Gordon’s comments on how this legislation is redundant due to existing legislation. “We try a lot to make sure that we communicate with parents on anything that happens, and we have a lot of policies even within our own district, making sure that we are open with parents and what happens with their students,” he said.

Cauffman acknowledged that the incident in Sweetwater County School District #1 related to parental rights was unfortunate and should not have happened, but felt as though all school districts in Wyoming should not be subject to more legislation due to another district’s actions.

(According to a story in the Rock Springs Rocket Miner, Sean and Ashley Willey sued Sweetwater County School District No. 1 for concealing information regarding the social transition of their child. The lawsuit alleges violation of the Willey’s First and 14th Amendment rights of free exercise of religion, free speech, and parental rights under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 based on the school district’s providing gender altering care and using a male name and pronouns with their daughter without notifying the parents.)

EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

House Bill 166, a bill from Representative Ken Clouston (R-HD32, Gillette), is a personal version of an Education Committee bill that failed introduction in the House.

HB 166, Education Savings Accounts, passed out of the House and Senate and now waits for Gordon’s approval. Gordon has until Friday, March 22, to sign the bill, let it pass into law without his signature or to veto the bill.

If passed into law, HB 166 would allow families with children receiving non-public school education to receive funding. The amount received would be determined by comparing household income to federal poverty levels.

Funding could go toward tuition, textbooks and other instruction materials, school uniforms and other expenses approved by the state superintendent of public instruction.

According to Lawley, who supported this bill, HB 166 supports parents in Wyoming who feel as though public education may not be the best choice for their children. Lawley noted that funding for the Education Savings Program would come out of the General Fund, which is separate from funding designated for public schools.

Cauffman on the bill said, “The biggest concern I had with that bill is, how are they going to police it? We are accountable for every dollar that we spend, and I’m curious about how that’ll be done on the homeschool side of pieces. But I understand what they needed to do, and we’ll see how that affects us down the road.”

The bill states that the state superintendent of public instruction will establish a certification process for education service providers and maintain a list of certified providers.

According to the Wyoming Legislature website, the bill contains appropriations from the General Fund to the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) in the amount of $880,000, and to the Education Savings Accounts Expenditure Account in the amount of $40 million.

The WDE additionally anticipates spending $200,000 each fiscal year in, “contractual services costs to a third-party to assist the WDE in administering each ESA,” according to the Wyoming Legislative Service fiscal note on the bill.

OTHER LEGISLATION

Senate File 61, Education-charter school amendments, was a personal bill sponsored by Senate President Ogden Driskill (R-SD01, Devil’s Tower), and was vetoed by Gordon on March 7.

Co-sponsor Lawley said that during the last legislative session, a bill was passed that created charter school opportunities in Wyoming, and that charter schools are part of the public education system.

“This session we addressed a few matters that were not included in last year’s charter school legislation. SF 61 was the cleanup bill to address the schedule for transfers of funds and the designation of charter school as LEA (Local Education Agency) for purpose of applying for education grants,” said Lawley, who supported the bill in an effort to create choice within the public education system.

Gordon in his veto letter said, “It has become apparent that this legislation, while purporting to augment charter school operations, may inadvertently cause several significant challenges.”

According to Lawley, the Senate overrode the Governor’s veto, but the House fell one vote short. This bill was also co-sponsored by Senator Ed Cooper (R-SD20, Ten Sleep).

Lawley additionally said that an External Cost Adjustment (ECA) was passed, which is an adjustment in funding for Wyoming public schools based on inflation. The ECA is part of the 2025-26 budget, but the appropriation would be effective in 2024.

“The Legislature had not given public schools an External Cost Adjustment in several years. This has created a challenge for schools in this time of high inflation,” said Lawley.

Lawley added that there is pending litigation by the Wyoming Education Association against the Legislature, which was filed in 2022 after the ECA was eliminated from the 2023-24 budget.

Around $58 million in funding was approved, according to Lawley.