Dear Superintendents,

Next week is Computer Science Education Week. On December 5, Governor Mead kicks off the week with a proclamation signing. This event will take place at the Governor’s Office at 1:45 and the public is invited to attend. I am very excited to participate in Hour of Code at several schools across the state on Monday and Tuesday. Over 100 schools in Wyoming intend to host this and other virtual events next week. It’s not too late to plan a celebration in your schools. For more information, steer your schools https://code.org/learn.

FEDERAL UPDATE

Final regulations for accountability under ESSA were published by the USDOE this week. Almost every concern Wyoming submitted during the comment period was addressed/remedied in the final regulations–good news. It is likely that these and all regulations will be analyzed on January 20 with the incoming presidential administration. Considering that these rules were mostly derived from a negotiated rulemaking process, I don’t anticipate they will change significantly.

A new U.S. Secretary of Education was named last week. Here is a link to one article about the new secretary, Betsy DeVos. She, and other political appointees will begin confirmation hearings after January 20.

Wyoming's Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, and State Treasurer hold their pot pies with State Superintendent Jillian Balow, a culinary arts student and their teacher, Mrs. Stutheit before the elected officials lunch.

Wyoming’s statewide elected officials were treated to lunch by Mrs. Stutheit’s culinary arts students on November 30

Elected officials and staff done hard hats for a tour of the Wyoming State Capitol building under renovation.

Tour of the Capitol Square Project–more at http://www.wyomingcapitolsquare.com/

Memos to be released: