Legislative Roundtable at SCSD#2

On Monday, November 25, Sheridan County School District #2 held a Legislative Roundtable with several Wyoming State Legislators to discuss school concerns.

The SCSD#2 Board Members, as well as recently elected board members Jim Tomlinson and Doug Moore, attended the roundtable discussion. Legislators included Barry Crago, Ken Pendergrast, Tom Kelly, Laurie Bratten and Marilyn Connoly.

Super Stults said “This is a great opportunity for us as a school district and trustees to connect with you.”

“We appreciate this opportunity,” Stults said. He added that he is always available if any legislators need to touch base with him.

One of the first items addressed was the Career and Technical Education CTE Programs at SCSD#2 and Assistant Superintendent Kristie Garriffa gave a presentation on the CTE program.

Stults said that when he took over the role as superintendent, he knew that the school needed to do better in educating the CTE kids.

He added that he was thankful for the funding from the state, which allows SCSD#2 to offer the classes they do.

Another topic discussed was teacher salaries. He said that to hire and retain quality teachers, the school has to pay a living wage, especially in Sheridan where housing and rent is expensive.

He talked about another bill that was vetoed last year and would be a part of the conversation in legislature again this year, and that was repealing the “Gun Free School Zones.”

He felt that there could be more funding for School Resource Officers to help keep kids safe as well, and it allows students to form relationships with the SROs and the police.

Funding was discussed, and Senator-elect Crago asked SCSD#2 Business Manager Brandon Finney about the school’s cash reserve as Crago said of all the items on the list it was probably the one that they could do something about. He said it is a problem that all the school districts face, is cash flow.

Finney said the 30% cash reserve was working better than the 15% and explained about the funding.

After the presentations, the group broke into smaller round tables to discuss the presentations and what concerns they had with the funding, school safety and teacher salaries.

Stults added that he thought the round table went really well, and he said he appreciates their support and that their partnership with the legislators is great.