Recalibration of funding for Wyoming schools forces ‘blind’ budget for Albany County school district

LARAMIE — Uncertainty surrounding proposed changes to Wyoming’s school funding system is forcing Albany County School District 1 to adopt its next budget without currently knowing how much state funding the district will receive.

During ACSD1 meetings March 4 and this past Wednesday, administrators and trustees discussed the growing uncertainty tied to the changes in Wyoming’s school funding model during the recent recalibration approved during the budget session of the Wyoming Legislature, a first in about 15 years, and its potential impacts on salaries, insurance, facilities funding and extracurricular programs.

“This might be the shortest budget discussion ever because my answer is ‘I don’t know,’” ACSD1 Chief Financial Officer Trystin Green said during the March 4 meeting. “I spent the last two days with 45 of the 48 business managers and we don’t know. Between the 45 of us, we can’t figure out who’s right and who’s wrong. We can’t all come to the same interpretation and we’re not all being told the same thing from the legislators. It might be the easiest budget yet because we just have to let the cards fall where they fall.”

Green said she cannot replicate the models others are using to reach the projections being discussed. She further explained that she can produce one model that meets one target and another that reaches a different target, but not both at the same time. 

She added that if projections fall short, the district would withdraw from its reserves, review where her projections were wrong and make adjustments for the following year. 

“We’ve got a healthy enough reserve that we should be able to ride this wave for a year and we will pull from reserves,” Green said. “… We’ll be lucky to know the final stance of all of these bills by the end of March. I won’t have a model out from the Wyoming Department of Education, which is the final say so, until maybe July. So, we will pass a budget blind.”

The recalibration process is required every five years in Wyoming in order to adjust the state’s funding for education. She noted that the model calculates how much each district receives based on student enrollment, staffing, salaries, benefits and other categorical expenses.

This year, lawmakers proposed changes that would significantly alter how districts claim funds, including creating a separate categorical grant for salaries and benefits. These adjustments could affect statewide districts’ operating budgets and reserves.

ACSD1 Board of Trustees Vice Chair Carrie Murthy asked what could further make this year so different from previous years. 

Green clarified: “The Wyoming Legislative Service Office has taken the existing model and dumped it on its head to create a whole new model. They’ve created a silo for a categorical grant for funding of salaries that can cover the underfunding or benefits, but that’s unclear. We not only have to wait for a model from WDE, we also have to wait for rules regarding how they’re going to manage that categorical grant and what can and cannot go into it.

“… There is confusion on health insurance. Personally, the only thing good about it is that, to me at this point, they removed the mandate that we go to the state, but that came with some monkeying on the reimbursement side of it. So you have a staff member who works a seven-hour day, full-time for that position for us. But since WDE is the one that does that FTE (full-time equivalent) calculation, they consider a seven-hour and a half day full-time. So now all of a sudden, a full-time member, what I consider a full-time member, is only going to get 0.9% of the health insurance reimbursement.”

Green also expects continued pressure on operational costs. 

She told trustees the district already spends significantly more on athletics and activities than it receives from the state. The shortfall, estimated at about $900,000 this year, could grow to roughly $1.4 million next year if proposed funding changes take effect.

Maintenance funding is another area of concern. Under the new model, the amount of building square footage districts can claim for major maintenance funding would be reduced, limiting available funding for repairs and improvements. Green said that reduction could push districts to rely more heavily on voter-approved bonds to pay for facility projects that might previously have been covered through maintenance funds.

Despite the uncertainty, Green emphasized the district’s financial reserves should allow it to absorb short-term discrepancies between projected and actual funding if necessary. A preliminary budget will likely be developed using existing formulas and adjusted once the final state funding model becomes more clear and available.

Trustees also received an update Wednesday evening from the board’s finance committee, which has been reviewing potential funding scenarios and evaluating how legislative changes could affect the district’s budget.

“We’ve also been working on the facilities and looking at costs to try and make sure we get all our ducks in a row so we can present the board with the best ideas as far as the sale of the properties and the build on (old Beitel Elementary School),” Trustee Steve Gosar said on behalf of the committee. “We’re spending most of our time trying to figure out the funding model and how that’s going to impact our budget this year.”

Trustee Janice Marshall noted that during the March 10 meet-and-confer session, discussions focused on the uncertainties of the recalibration bill and its potential impact on salaries and health insurance. Employee groups were asked to provide input ahead of another follow-up meeting scheduled for March 31, when updated insurance cost projections, including a projected 7% increase, are expected.

This story was published on March 14, 2026.