Funding school facilities at local level will create inequities across state, some say

Feb. 21—CHEYENNE — Wyoming education representatives argued against funding school facility projects at the local level on Wednesday, saying this proposed amendment to the Wyoming Constitution would put smaller school districts at a disadvantage.

Senate Joint Resolution 5, "School capital construction-constitutional amendment," sponsored by Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, would move the financial responsibility for funding school facility projects from the state to individual school districts. Voters would have to approve the constitutional change during the 2026 general election for it to become effective.

The bill was advanced to the floor in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 4 to 1, with a sole "no" vote coming from Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie.

Scott, who is chair of the committee, said the state's ability to provide equal funding for school facility projects has been "jeopardized" since the state lost federal coal lease bonus funds. Since the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the state must provide equal access to quality education across Wyoming, Scott said this reallocation of funding has to be done through a constitutional amendment.

"My perception of what's wrong with the current system is that they gave us a pork barrel system for funding public schools," Scott said. "We have spent, if I remember our figures correctly, over $3 billion since that decision."

There is a provision in the bill that says the Legislature will provide funds "to relieve hardship," which Scott said would be in the scenario of a school facility lost to a tornado or fire.

Wyoming Education Association spokesperson Tate Mullen said this constitutional amendment would revert the state back to a system of inequity in school facility funding.

"To the good senator's point, this (amendment) does put it in the voters' hands — but that doesn't diminish the need for the state to provide that adequate and equitable education," Mullen said.

Not every community has the same means to provide adequate funding to repair or rebuild old school buildings, he added, and the state needs to provide a "baseline" of funding to help level the playing field.

In response to Mullen's comments, Scott said that funds pulled from the School Foundation Program Account should be focused on operation within school facilities, rather than strained to also support school construction projects.

"We do have an obligation to fund both, and there is a concern that it turns into a competition," Mullen said. "However ... that concern doesn't justify reverting back to a system that raises an equity issue."

Teton County School District Board of Trustees member Kate Mead pointed to the 3.1 million acres in the school trust land library, a source of revenue specifically set aside to fund the construction of school facilities.

"But our state has treated school trust lands that are owned by the children, really, as everybody's property," Mead said. "It is not."

Scott told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle these state trust lands have built a "tremendous trust fund" for Wyoming over the years.

"We could have sold them for $10 an acre in 1900. Thank God we didn't," Scott told the WTE. "That's a financial decision from one generation that robs the subsequent ones."

He added that funds from these lands are used to fund both school capital construction and also the operation of school facilities. Although the latter use of funds "isn't as sexy," Scott said it was more important.

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.