2024 24LSO-0052
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0019
Education savings accounts.
Sponsored by: Joint Education Interim Committee
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to education; authorizing education savings
2 accounts; creating the Wyoming education savings accounts
3 expenditure account; providing for a transfer of funds to
4 the Wyoming education savings accounts expenditure account;
5 providing for the use and administration of education
6 savings accounts for education; specifying duties of the
7 state superintendent of public instruction; providing
8 rulemaking authority; making conforming amendments;
9 providing appropriations; authorizing full-time positions;
10 and providing for effective dates.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
13
14 Section 1. W.S. 21-2-901 through 21-2-909 are created
15 to read:
16
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1 ARTICLE 9
2 WYOMING EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
3
4 21-2-901. Short title.
5
6 This act shall be known as the "Wyoming Education Savings
7 Accounts Act." The program created by this act shall be
8 known as the "ESA program."
9
10 21-2-902. Definitions.
11
12 (a) As used in this act:
13
14 (i) "Curriculum" means a course of study for
15 content areas or grade levels, including any supplemental
16 materials required or recommended by the curriculum;
17
18 (ii) "Education savings account" or "ESA" means
19 the spending account for a child's education to which funds
20 are allocated by the state superintendent of public
21 instruction, for which a parent of an ESA student enters
22 into an agreement with the state superintendent to choose
23 and pay for qualifying education expenses to educate the
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1 ESA student, subject to the requirements and conditions of
2 this act;
3
4 (iii) "Education service provider" means a person
5 or organization, including a qualified school, that receives
6 payments authorized by a parent from education savings
7 accounts to provide educational goods and services to ESA
8 students;
9
10 (iv) "ESA student" means a student eligible for
11 an ESA pursuant to W.S. 21-2-904(a) who is participating in
12 the ESA program;
13
14 (v) "Parent" means a resident of this state who
15 is the parent or legal guardian of an eligible student or
16 ESA student and may include an eligible student or ESA
17 student who is an emancipated minor;
18
19 (vi) "Qualified school" means a preschool or a
20 nonpublic primary or secondary school, certified by the
21 state superintendent of public instruction pursuant to W.S.
22 21-2-906(a), located in or that provides education services
23 in this state, that may include through online means;
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1
2 (vii) "This act" means W.S. 21-2-901 through
3 21-2-909.
4
5 21-2-903. Education savings accounts; Wyoming
6 education savings accounts expenditure account.
7
8 (a) The total amount to be deposited in an education
9 savings account for an ESA student each year shall be five
10 thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
11
12 (b) Payments to ESAs under this act shall be made by
13 the state superintendent of public instruction from the
14 Wyoming education savings accounts expenditure account,
15 which is hereby created. The Wyoming education savings
16 accounts expenditure account shall consist of funds
17 transferred to the expenditure account and other funds
18 appropriated by the legislature to the expenditure account.
19 All earnings from investment of the expenditure account
20 shall be credited to the expenditure account. Any
21 unencumbered, unobligated balance of the expenditure
22 account at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert but
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1 shall remain in the expenditure account and shall be
2 expended to fund ESAs as provided by this act.
3
4 (c) Payments to each approved ESA shall be disbursed
5 on a quarterly basis by the state superintendent.
6
7 21-2-904. ESA program eligibility; parent agreement;
8 ESA administration.
9
10 (a) Subject to the availability of funds as
11 determined by the legislature, any child who is a Wyoming
12 resident, who's household income is at or below two hundred
13 fifty percent (250%) of the federal poverty level,
14 determined using the most recent federal poverty guidelines
15 for the student's household size and income, and who meets
16 one (1) of the following qualifications shall be eligible
17 to receive an ESA subject to the provisions of this act:
18
19 (i) The child has not graduated from high
20 school, received a high school equivalency certificate or
21 completed the equivalent of high school through a
22 home-based educational program and is eligible to attend a
23 public school in this state; or
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1
2 (ii) The child is not less than three (3) years
3 of age as of August 1 of the year in which the application
4 for an ESA is made and has not yet attained the age to
5 attend public school in this state.
6
7 (b) To participate in the ESA program, parents of an
8 ESA student shall sign an agreement with the state
9 superintendent that:
10
11 (i) Requires use of the ESA funds for the
12 following qualifying expenses to educate the ESA student:
13
14 (A) Tuition and fees at a qualified school;
15
16 (B) Tutoring services provided by an
17 individual or a tutoring facility. The tutoring services
18 shall not be provided by an ESA student's immediate family;
19
20 (C) Services contracted for and provided by
21 a public school district, including services provided by a
22 public charter school. Services under this subparagraph may
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1 include, without limitation, individual classes and
2 extracurricular activities and programs;
3
4 (D) Textbooks, curriculum and other
5 instructional materials, including, but not limited to, any
6 supplemental materials or associated online instruction
7 required by either a curriculum or an education service
8 provider;
9
10 (E) Computer hardware or other
11 technological devices that are primarily used to help meet
12 an ESA student's educational needs;
13
14 (F) Educational software and applications;
15
16 (G) School uniforms;
17
18 (H) Fees for nationally standardized
19 assessments, advanced placement examinations, examinations
20 related to college or university admission and tuition and
21 fees for preparatory courses for the exams;
22
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1 (J) Tuition and fees for summer education
2 programs and specialized after school education programs;
3
4 (K) Tuition, fees, instructional materials
5 and examination fees at a career or technical school;
6
7 (M) Educational services and therapies
8 including, but not limited to, occupational, behavioral,
9 physical, speech-language and audiology therapies;
10
11 (N) Tuition and fees at an institution of
12 higher education;
13
14 (O) Fees for transportation paid to a
15 fee-for-service transportation provider for the student to
16 travel to and from an education service provider;
17
18 (P) Any other educational expense approved
19 by the state superintendent.
20
21 (ii) For students eligible for an ESA under
22 paragraph (a)(i) of this section:
23
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1 (A) Requires that the ESA student receive
2 instruction in, at minimum, reading, writing, mathematics,
3 civics, history, literature and science. No parent shall be
4 required to include any instruction that conflicts with the
5 parent's or the ESA student's religious doctrines;
6
7 (B) Requires that the ESA student take the
8 statewide assessments administered pursuant to W.S.
9 21-2-304(a) or a nationally normed achievement exam;
10
11 (C) Certifies that the ESA student is not,
12 or will not be, enrolled in a public school district upon
13 receipt of the ESA and releases the applicable school
14 district from all obligations to educate the ESA student.
15 This subparagraph shall not:
16
17 (I) Require an eligible student to
18 withdraw from a public school district before applying for
19 or receiving an ESA if the student withdraws from the
20 public school district before receiving or expending any
21 monies in the student's ESA;
22
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1 (II) Prevent a qualified student from
2 applying in advance for an ESA student to be funded
3 beginning the following school year; or
4
5 (III) Prevent a public school district
6 from charging an ESA for any services provided to the
7 qualified student to the extent authorized by law.
8
9 (c) Funds in an ESA shall not be refunded, rebated or
10 shared with a parent of an ESA student in any manner. Any
11 refund or rebate for goods or services purchased with ESA
12 funds shall be credited directly to the student's ESA.
13
14 (d) Parents may make payments for costs of
15 educational goods and services not covered by the funds in
16 the ESA. Personal deposits into an ESA shall not be
17 permitted.
18
19 (e) An ESA shall remain active and any unused funds
20 shall not revert until the parent withdraws the ESA student
21 from the ESA program or until the ESA student is no longer
22 eligible for the ESA program, unless the ESA is closed
23 because of a substantial misuse of funds. When an ESA is
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1 closed, any unused funds shall revert to the Wyoming
2 education savings accounts expenditure account.
3
4 (f) Nothing in this act shall be construed to require
5 an ESA student to be enrolled, full-time or part-time, in a
6 private school or a nonpublic school. An ESA student
7 receiving individualized instruction in a nonschool setting
8 shall not be construed to be a home-based educational
9 program as defined in W.S. 21-4-101(a)(v).
10
11 21-2-905. Application, award and allocation of ESAs.
12
13 (a) A parent may apply to the state superintendent of
14 public instruction to establish an ESA for an eligible
15 student.
16
17 (b) The state superintendent shall establish
18 procedures for approving applications in an expeditious
19 manner.
20
21 (c) The state superintendent shall create a standard
22 form that parents may submit to establish their student's
23 eligibility for the ESA program and shall ensure that the
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1 application form is publicly available and that completed
2 applications may be submitted through various sources,
3 including the internet.
4
5 (d) Except as provided under subsection (e) of this
6 section, the state superintendent shall approve an
7 application for an ESA if:
8
9 (i) The parent submits an application for an ESA
10 in accordance with application procedures established by
11 the state superintendent;
12
13 (ii) The student is an eligible student pursuant
14 to W.S. 21-2-904(a);
15
16 (iii) Funds are available for the ESA;
17
18 (iv) The parent signs an agreement with the
19 state superintendent as provided in W.S. 21-2-904(b).
20
21 (e) Seventy percent (70%) of the ESAs shall be
22 awarded to students eligible pursuant to W.S.
23 21-2-904(a)(i) and the remaining thirty percent (30%) shall
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1 be awarded to students eligible pursuant to W.S.
2 21-2-904(a)(ii) each year. If the number of applications
3 for ESAs exceeds the available funds for any school year,
4 the students shall be selected on a first-come, first-
5 served basis, except preference shall be given to an
6 eligible student who received funds under the ESA program
7 in the immediately preceding school year.
8
9 (f) For students eligible for an ESA under W.S.
10 21-2-904(a)(i), the following shall apply:
11
12 (i) A signed agreement between the parent and
13 state superintendent under W.S. 21-2-904(b) shall satisfy
14 the compulsory school attendance requirements of W.S.
15 21-4-102 and the parent shall annually provide the
16 student's resident public school district notice of intent
17 to participate in the ESA program;
18
19 (ii) Upon notice to the state superintendent, an
20 ESA student may choose to stop receiving an ESA and enroll
21 full-time in a public school. Enrolling as a full-time
22 student in a public school shall result in the immediate
23 suspension of payment of additional funds to the student's
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1 ESA and the state superintendent may close the ESA. If an
2 eligible student applies to the state superintendent to
3 return to the ESA program, payments into the student's
4 existing ESA may resume if the ESA is still open and
5 active. A new ESA may be established if an eligible
6 student's ESA was closed;
7
8 (iii) The state superintendent may adopt rules
9 and policies to provide the least disruptive process for
10 ESA students who choose to enroll full-time in a public
11 school.
12
13 21-2-906. Duties of the state superintendent of
14 public instruction to administer the education savings
15 accounts program.
16
17 (a) The state superintendent of public instruction
18 shall:
19
20 (i) Establish a certification process for
21 education service providers, which shall, at minimum,
22 ensure ESA students attending qualified schools in
23 kindergarten through grade twelve (12) receive instruction
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1 in reading, writing, mathematics, civics, history,
2 literature and science;
3
4 (ii) Maintain a list of certified education
5 service providers and ensure the list is available to
6 parents of ESA students. The list shall enable the
7 education service provider to indicate if the education
8 service provider is accepting new ESA students;
9
10 (iii) Provide parents with a written explanation
11 of the qualified expenses for ESA funds, the
12 respo