Wyoming Homeschool Laws Spark School Pushback Over Sports and Activities Access
New legislation boosts homeschool freedoms and funding, but some districts respond by seeking to limit extracurriculars for non-enrolled students, prompting legal and political clashes.
WYOMING — As two new homeschool-friendly laws take effect in Wyoming – one eliminating curriculum oversight (HB46) and another providing $7,000 annual education savings accounts for alternative schooling (HB199) – some public school districts are moving to restrict homeschool students from participating in pre-high school sports and activities.
According to reporting from Clair McFarland of the Cowboy State Daily, Wyoming law requires school districts to let homeschool students participate in sanctioned high school sports and activities.
“It doesn’t require districts to open middle school or junior high school level activities to those students,” the Daily article states. “Many traditionally have kept that avenue open, however.”
Districts like Carbon County and Washakie County are considering limiting access to only those activities mandated by law, which currently only applies to high school level programs. Critics, including parents and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, accuse these districts of retaliating against the homeschool movement and using children as political leverage.
Homeschool mom Micaela Davison shared her thoughts with the Daily, saying she has middle-school age students who will not be able to access sports if Carbon County passed the policy change.
“All of a sudden they’re going to be excluded,” she said. “... I think they’re using this as an opportunity to use our kids as pawns to make a political statement. And they’re using our kids to make their statement at the expense of our children.”
Superintendents defending the policy changes argue public education is under threat and believe accommodating homeschoolers might undermine school systems already facing enrollment and funding challenges.
Chase Christensen, Superintendent of Sheridan County School District No. 3, said that his district is leaning toward becoming an ESA vendor and charging the tax-supported students for activities, but that he understands the frustration of those who support the policy change.
“I think there’s a feeling right now that public education is under attack,” he said. “There’s a lot of sentiment around the state that if we continue to say ‘yes’ to everything – that if a student wants to leave to homeschool but we let them come in and play basketball and play in the band, and do all these things, we’re participating in our own demise.”
State Superintendent Megan Degenfelder plans to propose a legislative fix that would require districts to continue offering middle school extracurriculars to homeschoolers.
The controversy also exposes gaps in the new laws, such as ambiguity around compulsory attendance and notification requirements for homeschool families, which legal teams and the state attorney general’s office are now working to clarify.
Previously, UOJ reported that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte had signed a law granting students across the state one hour of “released time” per week for off-campus religious instruction.
