LANDER — Last year, Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher ruled that the state of Wyoming had chronically and unconstitutionally underfunded key aspects of public education. One area that stood out as not receiving enough funding was school safety.
But when the Wyoming Legislature undertook school finance recalibration this past spring, it significantly altered how school funding works — in a way that didn’t necessarily mean that school safety won out.
While many districts saw an increase in the amount of funds they could put toward hiring and paying teachers, the funding silos imposed under the new model meant that many districts were faced with budgetary shortfalls in areas such as operations and athletics.
After months of work to try to find solutions to the problems that arose out of the funding model changes, Wyoming Department of Education Chief Operations Officer Trent Carroll told the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration last week, those concerns still persist.
“The reality is … (recalibration) pulled back the curtain for us on the operations portions of things — things we’ve been paying for that weren’t funded,” Johnson County School District 1 Superintendent Charles Oske said.
“We’re hearing from districts that they have challenges with budgeting for this next year with their operational expenditures because of the restrictions around the (instructional) silo,” Carroll explained. “In our rule-making process, we are approaching this in a way which we think aligns with the statute, but it also provides us with as much flexibility as we can find under the law. So if there’s an expenditure for an instructional purpose, we don’t want to unduly restrict the district from using money for that purpose.”
One of the areas the committee is considering allowing to be placed under the instructional silo is funding for school resource officers. In June, Lander Chief of Police Kelly Waugh testified to the committee that what SROs do goes far beyond simply acting as security.
“One thing that I don’t think you can wager or put on something is the number of lives that they’ve saved,” Waugh remarked. “If you think about the number of students that go to school every day because that’s the only thing they know, that’s where they feel safe, that’s where they really feel like they’re protected and home — these SROs are the bridge in that gap … As much as our students can’t learn if they’re not fed, accordingly they cannot learn if they don’t feel safe and protected.”
Beyond basic security, he explained, SROs also teach students, train staff, work on a variety of safety drills, offer counseling, coach students in both life and sports, and build ties with students to help them feel safe and supported at school.
Committee Chair Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, asked Waugh to submit the full list to school finance consultant Larry Picus, so he can fully understand the duties of SROs.
In August, Wyoming School Resource Officers Association President and Cheyenne Police Officer Manny Fardella echoed Waugh’s sentiment.
“We become part of a school family. To many, we become members, trusted people,” he told the committee.
Riverton currently has two SROs: Officer Tyler Larsen and Officer Christian Amos. Previously, the district had three SROs, but this year the district decided to eliminate one of its SRO positions.
Not every school or even school district has a SRO; funding for them hasn’t traditionally been included in the school funding model. But in 2025, Judge Froelicher ruled that “professional educators and school administrators unanimously agree SROs are an essential ingredient for a quality education,” and the state must therefore ensure there is funding in place to support that ingredient.
Picus estimates that 172.5 SRO positions are needed to meet Froelicher’s requirement that all Wyoming public school students have access to SRO services. The price tag for that would be $17.1 million annually — but not all of that funding necessarily will come out of school finance.
While the partnerships between districts and law enforcement vary, it’s often the case that the district will provide part or all of the salary for an SRO, while the officer’s home law enforcement agency continues to provide equipment and pay for training. Picus’ estimates place personnel costs around $15.8 million per year.
The committee requested that a bill concerning school safety funding be drafted based on Picus’ recommendations, with funding in place for personnel, but excluding equipment and professional development.
