News – Sheridan Media
Four Wyoming Legislators, Representatives Laurie Bratten, Marilyn Connolly, Ken Pedergraft, and Tom Kelly attended the legislative roundtable held by Sheridan County School District #2 on Monday, November 17.
SCSD#2 Superintendent Scott Stults opened the meeting with a thank you to the representatives who attended the discussion.
It starts with relationships, and the kids and the staff have to know that SCSD#2 cares about them. “Why are we here?” Stults said. “It’s not for paycheck; it is rather to make a difference in the lives of our kids. We do what we do because of our kids.”
He talked about re-calibration, and they had an opportunity to hear what the professional judgment panels said about funding. They also had an opportunity to share information at the re-calibration with the community as well. He presented a quick slide show about the school and the fact that they are finding many successes.
Stults said the factor that has 6x the impact on student learning is teachers, and a school principal is strongly behind that. He added that they have not seen a large increase in teacher’s salaries for several years.
Scott also talked about class size, and he said that Dr. Lawrence O. Picus, whose firm helps the legislature and education community determine necessary resources for funding education had a presentation to the community in October about the evidence based funding model.
Currently, Stults said, the student to teacher ratio in SCSD#2 schools is: K-5 16:1, and 6-12 is 21:1. Picus is recommending 15:1 and 4-12 to be 25:1.
Class size matters, Scott said. Having class size 25:1 in a fourth grade class room it is very difficult to provide the quality of education needed.
He added that data drives their decisions. They look at WYTOPP and ACT assessments, and then they adjust and make the necessary interventions to provide that support to students.
Stults also felt that Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes were important to SCSD#2 students, giving them ‘hands on’ education in many fields, and it starts at the Junior High level. This is not funded in the model, so SCSD#2 supplements the CTE classes in Junior High out of the general fund. Dr. Picus was not in favor of funding Junior High CTE classes.
Stults then opened the floor to conversations. Representative Marilyn Connolly had this comment.
Representative Ken Pedergraft first congratulated head coach Jeff Mowry and his staff with the Football program at SHS. Then he added about funding.
He asked Stults how much it costs to hire a teacher, including benefits. Business manager Brandon Finney said that the full cost, which included insurance and retirement contributions was over $70,000 a year.
Pendergraft said that, as he sees it, using the numbers of 20 students per class, and saying that the state pays well in excess of $20,000 per student, they have $400,000 revenue for each classroom.
He had this exchange with Stults
Stults added that Sheridan receives around $16,000 per student. Some of the monies have been used for CTE classes, he said they also pay for five elementary counselors, which again they are not funded in the model.
Pendergraft said that is the type of questions that the legislators are being asked. He also asked ‘how much is enough?”
Trustee Airen Wydell talked about the Food Group, which helps to feed around 800 youngsters, and wondered about state funding for that. Several kids in Sheridan County are on free or reduced lunches.
“We never get matched for what we spend to feed kids breakfast and lunch. You can’t learn if you’re hungry,”” she said.
Representative Bratten observed,
Pendergraft felt that feeding kids was not the responsibility of the state.
Tom Kelly, House District 30, talked about the voucher program lawsuit, and added this about teacher salaries.
SCSD#2 Trustee Doug Moore had this question.
He wondered why some of the principal could not be used if the state was short on funds. The legislators agreed to look into the various questions raised, and urged people to continue to contact them, either email or text them with their concerns.
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Last modified: November 19, 2025