Wyoming House debates limits on school-year boundaries, adopts local-option amendment

Cheyenne — The Wyoming House spent a prolonged session on Feb. 20 debating Senate File 72, the Summer Vacation Preservation Act, which would set Labor Day and Memorial Day as default calendar boundaries and allow districts to adopt a shorter school year. Lawmakers debated amendments over whether the measure would remove local control or simply encourage a later start to the school year.

The measure drew repeated concern from lawmakers representing rural districts and from members who said teachers and administrators oppose making calendar changes by statute. Representative Yin, sponsor of a second-reading amendment, framed her change this way: "this amendment... remove that restriction that forces a school board to go to the State Board of Education and ask for an exemption." She said the amendment aimed to preserve local flexibility for districts that already operate outside the Labor Day–Memorial Day window.

Supporters said the bill would encourage family time and provide scheduling predictability; opponents warned of…