Wyoming

Funding priorities for p-12 education

In 1995, the Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously declared the state's entire K-12 school finance system—including school capital construction—unconstitutional in Campbell County v. State (907 P.2d 1238). The Court stated that funding differences among school districts had to be cost based and not wealth based. To reach this goal, the Court mandated the Legislature to follow three steps:

• • Define the "basket" of education that every Wyoming child should receive, including adequate physical facilities;

• • Conduct a cost of education study to determine the actual cost of providing the basket in the various sizes and types of school districts, taking into account the needs of different kinds of students; and

• • Fund the basket with allowance for change over time.

A new school funding system was enacted during a special session in 1997. This mechanism seeks to ensure each Wyoming student receives an equal opportunity to receive a proper education (legislatively determined basket of education goods and services) by specifying the instructional and operational resources necessary to provide this basket. The model accomplishes this by systematically determining the competitive market costs of educational operating resources and aggregating these costs within each school district. A total revenue amount in the form of a "block grant" is provided to each school district to facilitate provision of the basket. The actual dollar amount of the block grant is a function of an interaction between the model components necessary for implementation of the basket and the characteristics of the schools and students within a particular district.

The model calculates a formula-driven number of employees for each school district based on the greater of the district's prior-year student enrollment or the average of the preceding three school years. Each district chooses the actual number of employees.

The formula-driven number of employees is the most important factor in determining the district's grant. The six other components of the formula are (a) regional cost adjustments to salaries, (b) inflation adjustments for salaries, materials, and energy, (c) prior-year special education costs, (d) pupil transportation costs, (e) the number, size, and location of statutorily-defined "small schools," and (f) qualification as a "small school district." If local revenue is less than the block grant, then the state funds the difference. If local revenue is more than the block grant, then the state "recaptures" the difference and allocates these funds as part of the funding provided to non-recapture districts.

Changes to funding formula for p-12

To adjust for inflation, the amounts allocated this year for employee salaries, educational materials, and energy were increased by $19.2 million in 2020-21. This external cost adjustment increased funding for professional staff by 1.488 percent, for nonprofessional staff by 2.091 percent, for educational materials by 5.857 percent, and for energy by 0.936 percent.

In previous years, funding for health insurance provided 100 percent of the insurance cost increase for the formula-driven number of employees. In 2020-21, the state provided 100 percent of the health insurance cost increase for the actual number of employees only and only 50 percent of the health insurance cost increase for the difference between the formula-driven and the actual number of employees. In 2020-21, the amount allocated for health insurance increased by $28.65 million. This compares to $32.5 million had the health insurance component not been modified.

In terms of capital funding, in 2020-21, the State provided one-time allocations of:

• • $76.5 million for major maintenance, and

• • $43.9 million for school construction projects.

Pressing state issues affecting p-12 education

Property taxes are the major source of local revenue for Wyoming school districts. This revenue comes in the form of a countywide 6 mill school levy, which is distributed to districts according to the district's percentage of county-wide ADM for the prior school year and revenues generated under the district-wide 25 mill school levy. Local revenue is subtracted from the Foundation Guarantee to determine if a school district receives an Entitlement payment from the State or if the State receives Recapture revenue...