Wyoming’s once-every-five-years redo of the school-funding formula is deep into the weeds—and still missing answers to some of the biggest questions. After two days of hearings this month, lawmakers and their hired experts left key pieces unresolved, including what counts as an adequate salary for school employees and how to pay for school resource officers and nutrition programs, both of which have lived outside the state model until now, Gillette News Record reports.
The recalibration is required by the constitution to keep a “complete and uniform” public school system. To get there, the Legislature brought in Picus, Odden and Associates to study what Wyoming districts actually need and to translate that into a bill before the 2026 session. Consultants walked lawmakers through early findings on September 4–5, but the headline was what they didn’t have yet—most notably recommended salary levels for the people who run schools every day.
That landed poorly with district leaders who have been waiting months for clarity. Johnson County Superintendent Charles Auzqui called the presentation “a little disappointing,” noting that the effort kicked off half a year ago and crucial details won’t surface until October.
“That’s when it gets real,” he told his board.
The courts are shaping the debate, too. Earlier this year, 1st Judicial District Judge Peter Froelicher ruled the state hasn’t been adequately funding K–12, specifically calling out the lack of support for school nutrition and school resource officers. Lawmakers say they won’t just cut-and-paste the ruling into statute, but they can’t ignore it either.
On school safety, the committee wrestled with a basic question: does every campus need a sworn officer, or is there a smarter way to pay for safety? Sen. Chris Rothfuss floated a broader “school safety” category that districts could spend on an SRO if that makes sense—or on upgraded access control, cameras, or other security needs if it doesn’t. He argued the research doesn’t crown SROs as a gold standard for learning or safety, and a flexible bucket would better match local realities. Auzqui liked the idea, saying districts already pour money into building security and could also support police presence by covering overtime at high-traffic events, strengthening ties with local law enforcement without mandating a single model.
Food service is another unaddressed hole. Wyoming doesn’t fund it at the state level, and Picus, Odden and Associates confirmed what districts have known for years: meal programs cost more to run than they bring in, even with federal reimbursements. Nearly every district has been backfilling the gap from its general fund, which Judge Froelicher flatly rejected as incompatible with a quality education. In Johnson County, for example, the district budgeted a $400,000 transfer this year just to keep the lunch line running. Consultants pushed lawmakers to pick a direction—cover meals for all students, reimburse districts for losses, or ignore the court and leave food service out of the model—but the room didn’t settle on a path. Auzqui said he’d start by having the state shoulder salaries and benefits for nutrition staff—often the biggest cost—so districts can focus on maximizing federal revenue and food sales.
The biggest political and fiscal lift may still be salaries. The current model’s base teacher salary—about $39,000 last school year before add-ons for education, experience, duties and regional costs—has fallen far behind the market, district leaders told lawmakers. Johnson County board chair Travis Pearson put it bluntly: “$70,000, I believe, is the right answer” for a base. He said he’d struggle to advise his own kids to go into teaching given the cost of college and the pay on offer. A 2024 report to the Legislature underscored the gap, finding Wyoming teaching wages at about 81% of comparable professions. Nearly every district already pays above the model using their block grants—Johnson County’s base is $49,000—but many do it by cutting elsewhere or growing class sizes, trade-offs Auzqui opposes. The consultants plan to bring actual salary recommendations in October.
Two other court-ordered pieces—annual inflation adjustments and regional cost factors—are still in progress. The firm signaled it will return next month with options for both, and it didn’t shy from a sore point: in recent years the Legislature has sometimes skipped inflationary bumps or let them expire after a year or two, eroding purchasing power for staff, utilities and classroom materials.
More analysis is coming on school nutrition, technology services, and central administration, and the calendar is tight. The Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration meets again Oct. 28–29 and Jan. 22–23, aiming to craft a bill before the 2026 session opens Feb. 9. Public comment will be available in Casper and via Zoom; details are posted on the committee’s page on the Legislature’s website.
For now, the big questions remain stubbornly open. What does a fair, competitive paycheck look like in Wyoming’s schools? How should the state underwrite safety when one district needs an officer and another needs hardened doors? And who pays to feed kids in a system the courts say can’t function without it? October’s meeting will need to start putting hard numbers next to those answers.
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