Committee passes bill to clarify participation of non‑full‑time resident students in district activities
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The House Education Committee passed House Bill 23, clarifying that resident students who are not enrolled full time (including homeschool and partially enrolled students) may participate in district co‑curricular and extracurricular activities that are offered at the middle‑ and high‑school levels; the committee reinstated a clause specifying residency and considered but rejected expanding the measure to K–12.
Representative Jonathan Lolli, sponsor of House Bill 23, told the House Education Committee the bill was intended to resolve inconsistent district interpretations that had begun to exclude middle‑school students who are not full‑time enrolled from participating in district activities. "This bill represents an attempt to clarify that those types of activities that are sanctioned by the Wyoming High School Activities Association that are already being offered at the middle school level will continue to be offered and open to students who are not enrolled in the school, for example, homeschool students," Lolli said.
The sponsor asked the committee to reverse a prior committee deletion and reinstate the phrase specifying that a participating student be "a full time student in the district in which he resides," arguing the wording avoids unintentionally excluding students who are partially enrolled to take classes. After a motion by Representative Guggenmoss, seconded by Representative Straka, the committee adopted that standing amendment without debate.
Department of Education representative Dickie Shaner, speaking for Superintendent Degenfelder, said the superintendent supports the bill and agreed the committee may need to adjust language to protect partially enrolled students' rights. James Halverson, deputy state director for Americans for Prosperity, testified that AFP would oppose the bill as written but would support it if the committee removed the "6 through 12" language; Tate Mullen of the Wyoming Education Association said WEA would similarly support the bill with that change.
Bill Scarlett, a Teton County School District trustee (testifying for himself), warned districts often rely on memorandums with private schools to assure residency and require per‑participant reimbursement to offset costs; he also urged consistent academic eligibility standards for non‑public participants. Patricia McCoy of Moms for Liberty testified she supports the bill as a way to expand access to co‑curricular opportunities for students in alternative education pathways.
Representative Singh offered a conceptual amendment to broaden the bill to K–12 to include elementary students; proponents argued younger children could benefit, while opponents warned the change could produce unintended consequences for elementary programming. The committee rejected the broader K–12 amendment. The committee then voted by roll call to pass House Bill 23 as amended; the clerk recorded nine ayes and the bill passed the committee.
Next steps: House Bill 23 will move to the House floor with the committee amendment for further consideration.