The city of Mills has approved $35 million in education revenue bonds for Wyoming Classical Academy, clearing a required step in the charter school's facilities plans. The city's vote came on Sept. 22, 2026. The school is growing, and its new building in Mills, which is nearing completion, was designed with expansion in mind. The bonds will pay for a new section of the building for high school students. For families in Wyoming following the school's growth, this approval moves its high school expansion forward.
Wyoming school districts are weighing how to respond to the expanded education savings account (ESA) program, which no longer has income limits and offers $7,000 per student. Johnson County School District No. 1 Superintendent Charles Auzqui says districts must decide whether to register as ESA providers and charge tuition, and whether ESA-funded students may join district activities or pay to do so. State law currently bars districts from enrolling ESA students, so becoming a provider is one way to offer them courses. Auzqui says there is no time limit in statute, so his district will take its time and follow the school board's lead. Some have raised concerns that the program could erode public school funding over time.
The future of Wyoming's education savings account program remains uncertain after a judge heard arguments last Monday on whether the case should be brought to an end. According to the Casper Star-Tribune, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to prove they would be sufficiently harmed by a pair of laws establishing the accounts. The article does not say when the court will make a final decision on the case. For families in Wyoming who use or are considering education savings accounts, the case is worth following as further court updates come out.
Sundance Times (Wyoming News Briefs) · Thu, Oct 29, 2026
The Wyoming Department of Education will open the 2026-27 Supplemental ESA Program Application at 9 a.m. Oct. 27 and close it at 9 p.m. Oct. 29. Students must live in Wyoming and cannot be enrolled in a public school. Pre-kindergarten students must be 4 by Aug. 1, 2026, and households must have income at or below 250% of the federal poverty guidelines, about $80,375 for a family of four. Kindergarten through 12th-grade students must be at least 5 by that date and cannot turn 21 before it. Approvals are first-come, first-served, and siblings of active ESA students get priority if parents complete a required form within 24 hours of applying. There will be no waitlist for this round.
Gov. Mark Gordon has opted Wyoming into President Donald Trump's federal tax-credit scholarship program, which is set to launch Jan. 1. Taxpayers who donate to qualified nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organizations can receive federal tax credits, and those groups then provide scholarships for education costs such as tuition, tutoring and supplies. Nonprofits seeking approval can apply through the Wyoming Department of Education, with applications due Dec. 1 to participate in 2027. Students must be eligible to enroll in a public K-12 school and come from a household with income at or below 300% of the area median gross income, adjusted for family size, though eligibility does not guarantee a scholarship. Critics say public money spent on private schools erodes public school funding, while supporters say it gives families needed flexibility.
Wyoming families received their first $7,000 education checks this month under the state's new private school voucher program, which the Wyoming Supreme Court allowed to proceed this spring amid ongoing litigation. The checks can cover private or charter tuition or homeschooling costs. In Teton County, 262 students were accepted, and local schools report a mixed picture. Classical Academy says enrollment is up and credits the vouchers, while Teton Science Schools and Jackson Hole Christian Academy expect little immediate effect, and the Teton County School District has been notified of only one family moving to homeschool with the funds. Teton Science Schools hopes the program will help next year.
Wyoming's Steamboat Legacy Scholarship, a universal school choice program offering up to $7,000 per student for private school tuition or other non-public education services, has begun paying out, with roughly 3,400 students approved as of Wednesday, according to the Department of Education. A 2025 court injunction halted the program, but the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed it in May. A lawsuit by the Wyoming Education Association and nine parents, which argues the program violates the state constitution, remains pending before Judge Peter Froelicher, who has indicated he may rule within 60 days. Families with applications still awaiting final status should note the Sept. 15 deadline. With funding available for 4,200 spots, some families remain uncertain how long the program will last.
Wyoming families using the state's new Education Savings Account program say they are in limbo. Some saw funds appear in their Odyssey accounts, only to have them frozen or removed, while others are still awaiting final approval. The Department of Education points to a pending lawsuit and start-up challenges. It reports that 4,461 of 4,915 applications for 2026-27 have been approved or determined eligible, for 4,200 available spots allocated first-come, first-served. Odyssey is expected to finish final document verification by Tuesday, after which families will be placed in their appropriate status.
Three Republican candidates for Wyoming's superintendent of public instruction, Steve Harshman, Chad Auer and Tom Kelly, largely agreed at a Laramie forum on July 16, including that state standards and testing need to be pruned back. They differed on local control, the state's new school funding bill and literacy law, and the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship, a universal program offering up to $7,000 per child to reimburse private school tuition, charter school tuition or homeschooling. Harshman called the program a clear violation of constitutional language, while Auer said he sees a constitutional problem and would respect the court's ruling. Voters decide party nominees on Aug. 18, and the winners will face Libertarian Ryan Shollenberger in November.
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