Wyoming Acts of the 63rd Legislature, General Session (2015)
SF 10, Chapter 30
AN ACT relating to government administration; eliminating the position of a director of the department of education; transferring specified duties to the state superintendent in accordance with Powers v. State, 2014 WY 15, 318 P.3d 300 (Wyo. 2014) and Powers v. State, No. 180-673 (1st Jud. Dist. Ct. Apr. 18, 2014); accordingly conforming law; specifying application; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
9-1-513. School finance audits and management studies.
(b) The school finance section within the department established under subsection (a) of this section shall:
(i) Conduct periodic audits of each school district pertaining to data required to be submitted to the department of education under law and by rule and regulation of the director of the department of education state superintendent of public instruction for purposes of implementing and operating the "school finance system" as defined under W.S. 21-2-203(a). Audits under this paragraph shall include audits of systems supporting data collection and shall be performed on each school district at least once within each three (3) year period;
(c) School districts and the department of education shall provide access to all data and other information and shall cooperate with the school finance section as necessary to implement this section and to conduct audits and reports required under this section. In addition, each district shall within thirty (30) days following receipt of a copy of the audit or report, file a written response to each audit or report conducted on that district with the department. The director state superintendent shall on behalf of the department of education and within thirty (30) days following receipt of a report or audit on the department, file a written response to the report with the department of audit.
21-2-104. State department of education established; personnel; facilities.
There shall be a separate and distinct state department designated as the state department of education which shall be under the supervision of the director state superintendent and consist of the director state superintendent and such divisions, staffed by personnel and provided with facilities the director state superintendent determines necessary to assist him in the proper and efficient discharge of his respective duties. as approved by the governor. The director shall serve as the chief administrative officer of the department. All duties of the state department of education shall be under the control of the director.
21-2-105. Delegation of duties of state superintendent.
The director state superintendent may delegate ministerial and nondiscretionary duties within the state department of education.
ARTICLE 2
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION AND DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
21-2-201. General supervision of public schools entrusted to state superintendent.
(a) The general supervision of the public schools shall be entrusted to the state superintendent as prescribed by law who shall be the administrative head and chief executive officer of the department of education.
21-2-202. Duties of the state superintendent.
(a) In addition to any other duties assigned by law, the director state superintendent shall:
(i) Make rules and regulations, consistent with this code, as may be necessary or desirable for the proper and effective administration of the state educational system and the statewide education accountability system pursuant to W.S. 21-2-204. Nothing in this section shall be construed to give the director state superintendent rulemaking power in any area specifically delegated entrusted to the state board; or the state superintendent;
(ix) Print and distribute to local boards of trustees, local school administrators and other persons and agencies within or without the state the school laws, regulations, forms, necessary reports of the state board, state committee, state superintendent, the director and state department. The director state superintendent may require the payment of reasonable costs of publication, handling and postage by persons or agencies outside the state requesting publications and shall deposit all payments into the general fund;
(x) Promulgate rules for the acceptance and disbursement of federal funds apportioned to the state for school lunch, milk and other commodities distribution programs. For purposes of these programs, the director state superintendent may enter into agreements, employ personnel, direct disbursement of funds in accordance with federal law to be used by districts to operate the programs along with funds from gifts and the sale of school lunches or other commodities, assist in the training of personnel in the programs and accept gifts in connection with the programs. Districts shall maintain records and report to the director state superintendent in accordance with rules promulgated under this paragraph, but accounts and records need not be preserved more than five (5) years. The director state superintendent shall audit and conduct reviews and inspections of accounts, records and operations of programs to ensure effective administration and compliance with applicable law and rules. To the extent funds are available, the director state superintendent shall conduct studies to determine methods to improve and expand school lunch programs and to promote nutritional education in the schools, including appraising nutritive benefits of school lunch programs. For school lunch program funds, the director state superintendent shall utilize a revolving account with a balance of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) to cover any operating expenditures incurred by the school lunch division of the department under 7 U.S.C. section 1431, the United States department of agriculture commodity program offered to the state and accepted by the participating schools and institutions. The schools and institutions shall be billed for their share pro rata of transportation and allied charges with the receipts to be used in replenishing the revolving account. If the United States department of agriculture removes all commodities from this program, the revolving account shall be discontinued and the balance shall be transferred to the general fund;
(xix) Serve as the director of the state agency to accept all federal funds for aid to education, except as provided in W.S. 21-2-307 and 21-2-601, and as the agency to administer or supervise the administration of any state plan established or federal funds subject to federal requirements. Each acceptance is restricted in its effect to the specific situation involved. The director state superintendent may:
(H) Take any other action as may be necessary to secure the benefits of the federal statute to the schools of this state. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as conferring any authority to the director state superintendent with respect to the University of Wyoming or the various community colleges of the state;.
(xx) In cooperation with the state board, the Wyoming community college commission, University of Wyoming, public service commission, department of transportation, department of enterprise technology services, public libraries, school district boards of trustees, classroom teachers and other appropriate groups identified by the director superintendent, develop and implement a statewide education technology plan which shall address staff training, curriculum integration and network connectivity in and between schools, communities and between the state and the world, and which shall have as its goal the provision of equal access to educational instruction and information. The statewide technology education plan may include telecommunications services provided by the department of enterprise technology services pursuant to W.S. 9-2-2906(g). Not later than January 10 of each year and with the assistance of participating agencies, an annual report on the status of the statewide education technology plan shall be prepared and issued by the director state superintendent;
(xxx) Effective school year 2012-2013 and each school year thereafter, in consultation and coordination with local school districts, by rule and regulation establish a program of administering a standardized, curriculum based, achievement college entrance examination, computer-adaptive college placement assessment and a job skills assessment test selected by the director state superintendent to all students in the eleventh and twelfth grades throughout the state in accordance with this paragraph. The examinations and tests selected by the director state superintendent shall be administered throughout the United States and shall be relied upon by institutions of higher education. The college entrance examination shall at a minimum test in the areas of English, reading, writing, mathematics and science for all students in grade eleven (11). The...
