The Wyoming Department of Education has granted a waiver to a number of school districts in the state who cannot meet a classroom size mandate.
The state legislature passed a law in 2011 to require Kindergarten through 3rd grade classes to have an average student-teacher ratio of 16 to one. Interim Education Director Jim Rose says it’s been a challenge for districts to comply with the law.
“Some districts have hired additional staff, they are requisitioning space that wasn’t used for independent classrooms, K-3 classrooms before.”
But Rose says some districts just didn’t have the space in their schools, so the State Department granted a waiver to 22 school districts for the next school year.