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Wyoming session funds K‑12 with $393.7M for capital and maintenance; committee to monitor right‑sizing
Summary
Legislative staff told the Select Committee on School Facilities that the 2026 session appropriated $393.7 million for K‑12 capital construction and major maintenance, including $39.5 million effective immediately and about $354.2 million for the 2027‑28 biennium; the committee opened a broader interim review of enrollment declines and ‘authorized square footage’ calculations that drive funding.
Legislative Service Office analyst Matt Wilmot told the Select Committee on School Facilities that the 2026 budget session produced $393.7 million in appropriations for K‑12 capital construction and major maintenance. "In total, $393.7 million was appropriated … for the 2027‑28 biennium," Wilmot said, noting that $39.5 million of that amount was made effective immediately and roughly $354.2 million was allocated to the 2027‑28 biennium.
Wilmot broke the total into policy buckets: about $237.9 million was identified for major maintenance and roughly $155.85 million for capital construction projects, including component‑level work, charter school leases and safety and security projects. He emphasized that a sizeable portion — component projects and one‑time payments — was intended to finish outstanding work from the current biennium.
The committee heard that most of the final appropriations tracked closely with the recommendations the select committee made in October. Wilmot said there were only two notable adjustments at the end of the session: a $2.65 million supplement for Campbell County School District No. 1’s transportation facility and a $78,921 net‑zero accounting change in the State Construction Department’s operations budget.
Why it matters: committee members and agency staff told the panel that the state faces a longer‑term challenge of "excess" authorized square footage relative to enrollment, a difference that can depress per‑building maintenance funding even when physical facilities still require major repairs. That gap — and how the authorized‑square‑footage rules treat virtual ADM and enhancements such as pools or auditoriums — will drive the committee’s interim work.
Committee response and next steps: members asked staff to prepare additional historical analysis and policy options for the committee’s next meeting, including a review of the authorized‑square‑footage multiplier and whether the short‑term funding infusions (component projects) should be continued or restructured to reduce future capital costs. The chair asked LSO and the State Construction Department to return with more detail on the calculus that produced the 2.5% condition multiplier, the component project pipeline and district‑by‑district projections.
