News – Sheridan Media
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The SCSD#1 Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, April 14, at the Central Office in Ranchester.
The board heard a presentation from TRHS principal Wade Sanford about Tongue River High School.
Sanford said that there are currently 185 students in TRHS, and he said there are 39 seniors this year. He gave a rundown of ACT and WY-TOPP. “I’m excited about our ACT scores,” he added.
He talked about the Honor Society students are doing.
The TRHS student representative Erika Strutzman reported to the board about what was happening at Tongue River this past month, highlighting many of the school’s student activities.
Board chairman Clint Krumm asked each of the students this question.
Strutzman said,
“You’re hired,” Krumm told her.
Big Horn High School Student Representative Walker Mitchel gave a report on what was happening at BHHS this month. He added “Golf is swinging as Mr. Fuhrman put it.”
Krumm asked Mitchell the same question about activities. Walker had this comment.
In his superintendent’s report, Dr. Jeff Jones talked about the new state funding model, saying that Senate File 81 represents one of the most significant re-calibrations of Wyoming’s school funding model in recent years, bringing a significant increase in statewide investment while also introducing more prescriptive expectations for how districts operate.
It establishes an instructional “silo” that more narrowly defines how certain funds may be used and delays the transition to the state employee insurance plan by two years. While the increased investment in salaries is meaningful and long overdue, the overall structure of the model significantly reduces local flexibility and requires districts to more tightly align staffing with what the state formula funds in staff positions.
In Sheridan County School District #1, that shift has very real implications. When we compare our current staffing levels to what the new model actually funds, based strictly on brick-and-mortar enrollment (no online students), we are slightly over staffed in certified positions. Yet, that is the exact reality of the new funding model and in particular the “instructional silo” that prevents school districts from moving money around to meet the balanced needs of the school district. That authority once rested with the local school boards and is now dramatically reduced.
There were no audience comments for the board. Next meeting will be May 12 in Big Horn.
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Last modified: April 16, 2026