Wyoming literacy law sparks concerns ahead of July deadline
School district leaders: unclear rules, expanded requirements may be impossible to implement on time
CASPER — A new law passed by the 2026 Wyoming Legislature is raising concerns for Natrona County school board members.
Senate File 59 takes effect July 1, but without state guidance in place, Natrona County School District trustees warned Monday the timeline may be too tight to implement its requirements.
The Wyoming Language and Literacy Program requires additional yearly professional development for nearly all employees, a new reading framework, more screenings and diagnostics across more students and possibly summer reading programs.
"Do they hear that this is unmanageable for a July 1 start?" Trustee Thea True-Wells asked.
Trustee Michael Stedillie responded by questioning whether legislators care.
District Superintendent Angela Hensley said the superintendents group and others have made efforts to raise concerns over the changes, including through public comment on the emergency rule changes.
Charlotte Gilbar and Nicole Rapp, both executive directors of school improvement for the district, informed the board Monday on the changes the district will need to make in the coming months.
"There are laws that are passed, and then we count on rules and guidance to come and help us know how to implement," Hensley said. "And so, again, a lot of this information we are looking at the emergency rules that were recently submitted... Any implementation of this magnitude is going to take us some time to do well."
What's changing
The district already conducts three annual literacy screenings for kindergarten through third grade under Chapter 56 rules from prior legislation, Gilbar said.
Under the new requirements, screening will expand to students in grades four through 12 who are not meeting grade-level proficiency.
"What is unclear in the emergency rules is how they're identifying grade level proficiency," Gilbar said. "We don't know how that's going to be determined, and so we don't know what the impact specifically is going to be on assessments for four-12 within our current system."
Gilbar said the district will also be required to administer an annual dyslexia screener for students in kindergarten through second grade.
The screening tool must be vetted by the Wyoming Department of Education and placed on an advisory list, which has not yet been published.
The district may also be tasked to provide new trainings to teachers on how to administer the screener if a new system is needed.
Gilbar said students identified by the universal screener as needing additional support must have an individualized reading plan written within 30 days.
"A screener is given fall, winter, and spring. The majority are going to be identified in the fall, [so] think about what that mass individualized reading plan looks like at a district at our size possibly," she said.
The district was previously allowed to create group reading plans for students with similar needs. Gilbar said the new statute and rules appear to prohibit that approach.
If at least 60% of district students are not meeting grade-level proficiency, the district must offer a summer literacy camp, she said.
Nicole Rapp took over to explain the expanded professional development requirements.
Rapp said the education department previously helped fund literacy professional development for K–3 educators under Chapter 56 rules.
"I say a worry that we have at this point is in these Chapter 57 rules that have come out, we're not really hearing this same level of support," Rapp said. "And so the requirements are greatly expanded, but we're not so sure that same level of support will be there."
Rapp said the new requirements will take up 20% of the district's allotment for professional development.
The requirements for literacy-specific professional development include the following:
■ Seven hours annually for K-5 teachers.
■ Seven hours annually for 6-12 literacy teachers.
■ Nine hours annually for special
■ One hour and a half annually for classified support staff.
■ Two hours annually for 6-12 teachers in other content areas.
■ Two hours annually for administrators.
Each of those expanded categories would have different areas of focus for the professional development, Rapp said.
Another big lift of the district will be the new requirement to evaluate according to the state criteria all resources and materials used in instruction, including teacher-made materials.
"We will now need to review supplementary and even teacher-created materials with a state established evidence based criteria rubric," Rapp said. "It is a really, really big lift for our teachers. As you heard, they're [already] vetting in their own ways, making sure they're using quality materials. This would include all materials we're using for students to be vetted through the state criteria."
This story was published on June 11, 2026.
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