The Riverton School Board has formally voted to oppose two legislative proposals being considered by the Wyoming House of Representatives, County 10 reports.
The board voiced concerns about House Bill 100, which would permit school districts and charter schools to hire administrators and teachers without certification from the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board, and House Bill 199, which proposes changes to the Education Savings Account (ESA) program.
The board assigned Trustee Lori Morrow to draft a letter to local legislators and potentially testify against HB 100 during the ongoing legislative session. The bill would allow school districts to employ personnel without state-issued teaching certifications, a move that some trustees argued undermines professional education standards.
The board also opposed HB 199, which would shift ESA program funding from the state’s public school foundation account and expand eligibility beyond lower-income families. The bill proposes increasing funding for each participating student to $7,000 annually, up from $6,000, and removes assessment requirements for ESA students.
Critics, including Trustee Carl Manning, raised concerns about public funds being allocated to private educational entities with minimal oversight. Manning emphasized that once homeschools accept state funding, they essentially become state agencies that should be subject to appropriate control and accountability.
Superintendent Jodi Ibach warned that the lack of reporting requirements for homeschool families could pose risks to children’s safety and educational development. She noted that public schools often bear the responsibility of catching up undereducated students who re-enter the system.
“It’s unfair to the children not to provide some sort of accountability … so that we can make sure (our) children are educated,” Ibach said.
The board also expressed concerns about the financial implications of HB 199. Wyoming School Boards Association Executive Director Brian Farmer told the House Education Committee that the public school foundation account, projected to hold $118 million at the end of the biennium, could be drained to just $30 million if HB 199 is implemented at an estimated cost of $45 million per year.
Farmer warned that this depletion could lead to a structural deficit in the school foundation program. Lander resident Michelle Escudero and former Fremont County educator Vicki Swenson echoed these concerns during public testimony, likening the reallocation of funds to diverting road maintenance budgets to private contractors.
Though lawmakers proposed amendments to fund the ESA program through the state general fund and incorporate more accountability measures, most of those amendments failed. The only accountability amendment that passed requires ESA students to be “assessed on academic progress,” but some legislators argued the language remains vague.
Despite these objections, HB 199 was approved on third reading in the House on January 29 and has moved to the Senate for further consideration.
