Dear Superintendents,

Friday, Governor Mark Gordon signed Senate File 32, the K-3 Reading Assessment and Intervention Program bill.

Proclamation Signing

Last Monday, I was honored to accompany the governor and First Lady Jennie Gordon to Arp Elementary in Cheyenne to kick off National School Breakfast Week (March 7-11) with a proclamation signing. I’m proud to share in highlighting and celebrating these important efforts of schools all across Wyoming.

District Visits

With the closing of the legislative session, I am excited to hit the road and see what schools are doing around the state. Wrapping up three “in the field” visits last week to schools in Meeteetse, Powell, and Cody, I was inspired and I am edified by the incredibly committed leadership of these districts and I am amazed beyond words at the creative, cutting-edge work that the teachers and staff exhibit.

From the strong and caring sense of family at Cody High School’s Heart Mountain Academy (the students love it there), to the champion robotics program and multi-disciplinary art displays (no words can describe) at Powell schools, to the reading program and Special Education offerings at Meeteetse schools (one of Wyoming’s best kept secrets).

I look forward to spending time in your districts, classrooms and communities to see first-hand the great work being done at the local level.

Memos to be released today:

• 2022-027-Call-for-Educator-Committee-for-Math-and-ELA-Alignment-Study-PDF
• 2022-028-2023-Wyoming-Teacher-of-the-Year-Application-PDF
• 2022-029-2022-Perkins-Coordinator-Of-The-Year-Nominations-PDF

Sincerely,

Dear Superintendents,

As we enter the final week of the legislative session here at the Capitol, a couple of education bills have made it to Governor Mark Gordon’s desk and are awaiting his signature: SF31 – Absenteeism and truancy and HB30 – School finance-increase cash reserves. In addition to the bills moving through the session, this busy week saw many visitors make their way to the Capitol.

On Wednesday, a small group gathered in the governor’s official ceremonial conference room to commemorate the signing of his official Proclamation to “Take Your Elected Official to School Month.” As a tribute to both our students and our public servants, this proclamation highlights Governor Gordon’s commitment to education, public service and the link between each. Hopefully, it will result in many students – and educators – inviting their local elected official to attend school for a day!

And it is always such a delight to interact with the young people that come through the WDE almost every week. On February 25, there was a fine group of young men and young ladies in their sharp red blazers from SkillsUSA. Inquisitive, articulate and respectful, they persuasively advocated for the place of Career and Technical Education in our  schools, as well as the need to make it part of the required offerings at the high school level, rather than as an elective.

On Wednesday, I was honored to be joined by some of our legislative interns who wanted to know more about the role of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as they consider their own future in public service. How inspiring to meet such quality young people, who are already committed and invested in the future of their country.

The WDE Level Up program held it’s legislative training on Friday, which brought district Teachers of the Year, Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) winners, and Milken Award recipients.

Also, Wyoming’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, Brittney Montgomery, a first-grade teacher at Sweetwater County School District #2’s Harrison Elementary School in Green River, spoke to both the Wyoming House and Senate about how Wyoming students are the most important asset in the state, who are learning how to live in a digital world – and are being asked to do more at a younger age. She also spoke about teacher responsibility and burnout, and about finding a pathway to recruit more people to the profession. Her speech can be viewed in full here.

Memos to be released today:

• 2022-025-Wyoming-Advisory-Panel-for-Students-with-Disabilities-PDF
• 2022-026-Federal-Maintenance-of-Effort-and-Maintenance-of-Equity-Requirements-Presentation-PDF

Sincerely,

Brian Schroeder
Superintendent of Public Instruction

Dear Superintendents,

I had the honor of traveling with Governor Mark Gordon to Newcastle last week to celebrate Keeley Anderson, an intervention specialist at Newcastle Middle School, who was named as the national 2022 Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) awardee.

In planning this event, our amazing team here at the WDE was able to successfully keep this whole event tightly under wraps so it would be a complete surprise to Keeley, her family, the students and the teachers in Newcastle. What a thrill it was to see Keeley’s reaction (surprise, joy and tears!) and be able to give honor to whom honor is due. Keeley is a special person, truly one of our country’s unsung heroes, and we are grateful to her for the difference she is making in the lives of the students in Newcastle.

Learn more about the award here and watch U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s award video here.

Visiting Hulett School

Besides the Newcastle visit and the beautiful country we witnessed, we were able to interact with many hard-working leaders and classroom teachers at the nearby Hulett School.

One second grade teacher I met, Beth Marlatt, has been teaching 40 years, all in Hulett. She is, by all accounts, a local legend – and another one of those very special people working with our kids.

Hats off to the staff and student bodies of Weston County School District #1 and Crook County School District #1 Thank you for having us – it was a banner day up in the northeast part of the state!

Memos to be released today:

Dear Superintendents,

Week two at the WDE has been very eventful, what with the legislative session opening. We kicked off the week with the State of the State address on Monday, where Governor Mark Gordon recognized Wyoming’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, Brittany Montgomery, a first-grade teacher at Harrison Elementary in Green River:

The Legislature will begin their work on the budget next week. Currently, the budget contains a single-year external cost adjustment for educational materials and energy, which would equal a $10.4 million increase in the School Foundation Program for 2022-23.

Lastly, the WDE, along with several of our education partners, has created the K-3 Literacy Guidance Framework for teachers to use in their classrooms. Please share this framework widely with your individual educators: Literacy Guidance Framework

There are no memos this week.

Sincerely,

Brian Schroeder
Superintendent of Public Instruction

Dear Superintendents,

On Friday afternoon, Wyoming’s 23rd Superintendent of Public Instruction, Brian Schroeder, took the Oath of Office, and sending this weekly update is my final duty as interim superintendent before returning to my work as Chief Policy Officer.

In the speech he gave shortly after taking the Oath of Office, Superintendent Schroeder said his goal is to make a difference for students, teachers, and parents. He added that his objective is to give Wyoming the most dynamic Department of Education in the nation, saying, “We can lead the way in this field, therefore, we should.”

Superintendent Brian Schroeder takes the Oath of Office from Chief Justice Kate Fox.

Memos to be released today:

Kari Eakins
Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction

Dear Superintendents,

Governor Mark Gordon announced this past Thursday the appointment of Brian Schroeder as Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the press release, Schroeder said, “I am honored and humbled beyond words at this incredible opportunity to serve the students, teachers and parents of Wyoming. I’ll do my best to help strengthen education for the future of our state.”

Here is a link to the full press release from the Governor’ Office.

We look forward to welcoming Superintendent Schroeder to the WDE.

On the memo front, memo 2022-014 contains some much anticipated information regarding Title I eligibility and allocations in light of the lack of National School Lunch Program data due to the USDA waivers. As always, the excellent staff at the WDE is available if there are any questions.

Memos to be released today:

• 2022-012-Douvas-Memorial-Scholarship-Call-for-Applications-PDF
• 2022-013-WySLICE-Summer-2022-Teacher-Recruitment-PDF
• 2022-014-Meal-Pattern-Flexibility-In-The-Summer-Food-Service-Program-and-The-School-Lunch-Program-PDF
• 2022-015-Chapter-41-Virtual-Education-Rules-Public-Comment-PDF
• 2022-016-Secondary-Perkins-Coordinator-Training-PDF
• 2022-017-Time-Sensitive-2020-21-Postsecondary-Readiness-Review-PDF

Kari Eakins
Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction

Dear Superintendents,

The graduation rate for the Class of 2021 was released on January 19. The 82.4% grad rate marked the eighth consecutive year of improvement in Wyoming and is a testament to the hard work of students, teachers, and staff.

Here is a link to the press release about graduation rates.

The path to this important milestone has had a few more bumps in it over the last two years. Congratulations to all and thank you for your dedication to Wyoming students.

Memo to be released today:

2022-011-2022-23 Hathaway-Success-Curriculum-Course-Verification-and-8th-Grade-Unit-of-Study-PDF

Kari Eakins
Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction

Dear Superintendents,

Memos to be released:

Kari Eakins
Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction

CHEYENNE – “I am honored, and deeply humbled, to announce that Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin has asked me to serve as Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. With a focused drive to lead on the front lines of educational transformation in this country, I have accepted. Therefore, I announce my resignation from the office of Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Serving as State Superintendent for the last seven years has been the greatest honor and challenge of my life.

“Governor-elect Youngkin made educational transformation the centerpiece of his campaign. There is no more serious time to be in K-12 education governance than now, and Virginia is on the cutting edge of this battle for the future of our public schools. The work we will do to restore parents’ voices in education, push for innovation and student success, enhance school choice, and to eliminate political ideology from the classroom will set a new tone in Virginia and the nation. We have made great progress on these very items during my tenure in Wyoming.

“As State Superintendent, I made parent voice a priority by including parents in our policy making decisions, such as state standards review committees. We pushed through the Capitol inertia to pass historic Computer Science education requirements for K-12 public schools, greatly enriching and modernizing the curriculum delivered to our students. I have always been an advocate for school choice, and at times, chosen to place my own children in private school. I supported groundbreaking legislation during the 2021 session of the Wyoming legislature to substantially increase the opportunity for charter schools to form in our state. And when it comes to politics in the classroom, I’ve made my position crystal clear that partisan politics and radical theories should not be forced upon our children.

“I started my teaching career in the small town of Hulett, Wyoming, population 386. From there I have built a 25-year career in education and politics, serving as a national literacy consultant, an executive in state government, a policy advisor in the governor’s office, and now the elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. I have served in leadership positions of national education organizations and led through COVID-19 with the highest percentage of students learning in-person in the nation. I am ready and more motivated than ever to engage at this critical time in our nation’s history serving alongside Governor-elect Youngkin as he leads Virginia through this historic opportunity to reset and restore public education with parents and students as the priority.”

– END –

High-resolution photo of Jillian Balow

We are ringing in the new year with seven memos. Stay warm.

Memos to be released on Monday:

• 2022-001-Release-of-2020-Census-Data-for-Local-Educational-Agencies-for-Fiscal-Year-2022-Title-I-Part-A-Allocations-PDF.pdf
• 2022-002-2022-District-Teachers-of-the-Year-PDF
• 2022-003-See-Me-Teach-CTE-PDF
• 2022-004-Microsoft-TEALS-Program-for-2022-23-School-Year-PDF
• 2022-005-American-Rescue-Plan-Homeless-I-Grant-Application-PDF
• 2022-006-Chapter-10-Rules-Proposed-Performance-Standards-for-Math-and-Science-PDF
• 2022-007-Verification-Due-WDE949-Credits-Earned-PDF