Laramie County School District No. 2 declines to act as ESA service provider for 2025–26

Laramie County School District No. 2 officials told the board on June 9 that the district will not register to be a service provider under the state's new Education Savings Account (ESA) Scholarship Act for the 2025'1 school year, except for Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) sanctioned activities.

The decision follows guidance from the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) and concerns about enrollment, student records and statutory reporting. "If they're an ESA student, we are not allowed to enroll them. FAPE does not apply," said Justin (staff member), who briefed the board on WDE guidance and district practice. Justin referred to FAPE as free appropriate public education under federal special-education law and said the district would still have federal child-find obligations but not the state-level FAPE requirement for ESA students.

Board members were shown WDE language that distinguishes WHSAA-sanctioned activities from other classes and programs. Justin explained that WHSAA-sanctioned activities would continue "business as usual," but non-WHSAA classes and extracurriculars would require a services contract and could not receive district credit. "If a district does accept an ESA kid, there cannot be any credit given for a class and all reporting the kid would be excluded from the district data. A transcript cannot be given," Justin said.

Justin described how ESA payments are disbursed and how that interacts with district billing: parents receive approximately 25% of the ESA once a quarter (payments in July, Oct. 1, Jan. 1 and March 1 were cited as the schedule in his example). He said districts that contract to provide non-WHSAA classes must publish fee schedules and that, per state guidance, students who accept ESA funds cannot be enrolled in the district while receiving the scholarship.

District staff noted operational complications, including how to record ESA students in PowerSchool for emergency accounting and attendance without counting them in enrollment figures used for state funding formulas. Justin said that because transcripts and official district reporting would exclude ESA-funded coursework, students who later seek reenrollment could face transcript review and uncertain credit transfer: "They took Algebra 1 with us, and they don't get any credit for it," he said, describing a hypothetical student who homeschooled with ESA-funded classes and later wanted to return to the district.

After summarizing guidance and operational concerns, Justin said the district's administrative team recommended not being a service provider for the coming school year. "Our plan is to not file to be a provider, and let parents know that if their families are taking the scholarship for the 2025'6 school year, outside of WHSAA-sanctioned activity or athletic, they wouldn't come to our district," he told trustees. He added that the district's decision could be revisited if state guidance changes.

Trustees asked about statutory authority and enforcement; Justin said the guidance came from WDE and that some parts were described to the group as statutory interpretations but he did not cite a specific state statute during the briefing. Board members also discussed whether the district should post a notice on its website informing families of the decision and links to state guidance. Justin said superintendents' surveys showed at least 20 districts had already committed not to be providers for the year, while a few districts were still considering it.

The board did not take a formal, recorded vote on the policy in the meeting; the presentation and the administrative recommendation were recorded as discussion and district direction. The district indicated it will communicate its stance to families and may adjust if the WDE issues further clarification.