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# Wyoming Panel Weighs $25.4 Million for School Meals and Officers
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-wyoming-2026-10-21-a/
- Published: 2026-10-22T03:26:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T03:26:34.000Z
- Description: Wyoming lawmakers are considering draft grants totaling $25.4 million for school meals and resource officers. The proposals follow a Supreme Court ruling that left both funding questions to legislative discretion.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Policy, Wyoming

Wyoming lawmakers are weighing draft school-finance bills that would direct $25.4 million toward student meal programs and school resource officers in the first year, reopening two funding questions that the state Supreme Court recently left to legislative judgment.

The Legislature’s [2027 committee-bill list](https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/committeeBills/2027?ref=theamericanquorum.com) shows the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration taking up the proposals during its Oct. 21–22 meeting in Casper. Both measures remain committee drafts marked “not approved for introduction,” so neither has yet become a bill before the full Legislature.

The [food-service draft](https://wyoleg.gov/InterimCommittee/2026/SSR-2026102127LSO-0193v1.0.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) would reimburse districts for 33% of qualifying student meal-program expenses from the preceding school year. It proposes a $19.4 million appropriation from the public school foundation program account for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2027\. If approved claims exceed available money, reimbursements would be reduced proportionally.

The [school-resource-officer draft](https://wyoleg.gov/InterimCommittee/2026/SSR-2026102127LSO-0227v1.0.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) would create a separate categorical grant for district payments made under agreements with law-enforcement agencies. The officer would have to be a certified peace officer employed by a law-enforcement unit, and only the portion of an agreement attributable to school services would qualify. That proposal carries a $6 million first-year appropriation, also subject to proportional reductions if statewide claims exceed the appropriation.

Both drafts would require districts to report qualifying prior-year costs by Aug. 15 and would direct the Department of Education to make payments by Oct. 15\. The department could review or audit the submissions and establish uniform accounting rules. Each draft says the categorical aid would be added outside the main school-foundation calculation rather than folded into the block-grant model.

The proposals arrive after the [Wyoming Supreme Court’s September school-finance ruling](https://wyofile.com/supreme-court-finds-wyoming-must-spend-more-on-teachers-strikes-down-other-funding-demands/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The court upheld findings that the state had failed to account adequately for teacher salaries and inflation, but it reversed lower-court mandates requiring funding for nutrition programs and school resource officers. That decision did not prohibit spending in those areas; it left lawmakers more discretion over whether and how to provide it.

The Department of Education’s [recalibration guidance](https://edu.wyoming.gov/transparency/2026-recalibration/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says the select committee remains active through Dec. 31 and is continuing work on mental health, safety personnel, nutrition and technology while addressing judicial decisions. The department estimates the broader 2026 recalibrated funding model increased school funding by about $114.1 million, or 8.6%, for the 2026–27 school year, subject to final data.

The two categorical-grant drafts therefore represent targeted additions rather than a replacement for the new statewide model. Their first-year appropriations total $25.4 million. Each also states an intent to double the initial amount in the Department of Education’s standard budget for the following two-year budget cycle, but that language would still depend on future legislative approval.

The committee can amend, advance or reject the drafts. Until it acts and the full 2027 Legislature approves funding, the figures remain proposals—not guaranteed payments to school districts.