Sheridan school district shares concerns with legislators regarding literacy standards

SHERIDAN — Sheridan County School District 2 officials expressed some frustration Monday to local legislators regarding a bill passed in 2022 that requires school districts to use specific literacy screening and intervention tools as outlined by the Wyoming Department of Education and implement professional development delivered or approved by the department.
"SCSD2 truly believes — and it's really grounded in evidence — that teachers, not programs or assessments, make the difference in learning for our students," said Kristie Garriffa, assistant superintendent for curriculum and assessment at SCSD2.
Garriffa said the current draft rules would require the district to purchase a screening tool that is different from the one currently used. 
The draft rules dictate that screening should not take more than 10 minutes per student, and Garriffa said the SCSD2 screening tool does not fit that requirement. The manner in which students are assessed would also shift significantly under the drafted rules, she said.
"The intent of this legislation is truly admirable and aims to increase the learning for all Wyoming students, and this is a goal that we at SCSD2 share," Garriffa said. "Every child deserves a high quality education, especially in the area of literacy. However, the proposed rules will require high performing districts like ours to dismantle effective systems rather than focus on our own areas for improvement."
Both Garriffa and SCSD2 Superintendent Scott Stults told legislators the need to address literacy across state is clear, but legislation and rule-making such as this frustrates high-performing districts like the one in Sheridan.
"We have a whole state to run, obviously you guys are an outlier because you're good at everything," Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Parkman, said Monday. "So when we make votes it's not punishing you guys but trying to help lift up the people that have not been succeeding." 
Beyond sharing concerns with local legislators during a roundtable discussion Monday, SCSD2 administrators said they intend to submit feedback to the WDE during the public comment period for the draft literacy standards.
Legislators, school board members and staff also discussed achievements of the district, which continues to score the highest or among the highest on assessments such as Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP) and the ACT. Schools within the district have also earned recognition as Blue Ribbon Schools and as top schools in the state by niche.com.
Stults also touched on education funding in the state and said while money isn't the final determining factor when looking at success, it does allow districts to recruit high-quality teachers and be flexible in what works.
The Wyoming School Foundation Program, according to the WDE, provides a guaranteed level of funding to every Wyoming public school district. This block grant is based on a number of factors, the most important of which is the number of students enrolled in the district in the prior year.
"We feel like we know best where the money is spent and that it isn't earmarked for specific things, and you have to spend it on X, Y or Z," Stults said of the block grant. "That we're allowed that pot of money to put it where we absolutely feel like it's making the biggest difference in our students' learning."
Stults also encouraged the legislators to consider an external cost adjustment for school districts to look at salaries.
 
This story was published on Nov. 22, 2022.