Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 21-3-111 (2026)

Powers of boards of trustees.

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a) The board of trustees in each school district within
the state may:

          (i) Sue and be sued in the name by which the district
is designated;

          (ii) Acquire, hold, convey, lease, rent, and manage
property, real and personal, for the benefit of the school
district in the name by which the district is designated, either
alone or jointly with another public or private agency,
institution, person, or corporation. This includes leasing of
real property under W.S. 21-15-112. Any rental fees charged by
the district for use of school district property by youth clubs
and activities not sponsored by the district shall:
               (A) Not exceed the hourly rate of personnel,
equipment, utility and supply costs actually incurred by the
district for the specific use of the property during each rental
period, limited to direct, incremental costs that would not
otherwise have been incurred. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to require the district to charge any fee and the
district may permit use without charge;

               (B) Upon request, be supported by an itemized
statement identifying the district's personnel, equipment,
supply and utility costs incurred for the specific use of the
property. The itemized statement shall be provided not more than
fifteen (15) days after a request is made pursuant to this
subparagraph; and

               (C) Not require a youth club or activity not
sponsored by the school district to maintain formal legal status
as a nonprofit organization or any other specific corporate
status as a prerequisite for the use of school property under
this paragraph.

          (iii) Enter into agreements with any public or
private agency, institution, person, or corporation for the
performance of acts or furnishing of services or facilities by
or for the school district;

          (iv)   Employ legal counsel and bear the cost of
litigation;

          (v) Accept or reject any federal or other gift,
grant, bequest, or devise;

         (vi)    Employ and determine the salaries and duties of:

               (A) A superintendent of schools who shall be the
chief administrative officer of the district;

               (B) Principals who shall assume the
administrative responsibility and instructional leadership of
any schools to which they are assigned in accordance with
policies adopted by the board of trustees, provided that in the
event a superintendent of schools shall request recommendations
from a principal concerning the suspension, dismissal,
assignment, transfer or termination of any teacher employed in
the school to which the principal is assigned, such
recommendation shall be given only after periodic evaluation of
the teacher's classroom performance;
               (C) Teachers who shall provide the expertise in
their areas of instruction;

                (D)    Other certified professional employees; and

                (E)    Other personnel.

          (vii) Discharge any employee subject to the
provisions of any applicable law governing the procedure for
terminating the employment of school district employees;

         (viii)       Insure against loss of property;

         (ix)   Repealed By Laws 1997 Special Session, ch. 3, §
502.

          (x) Become members of county, state, and national
school board associations and pay dues to such associations. A
board of trustees may at its discretion pay necessary travel
expenses and per diem of members and personnel attending
meetings of such associations at a rate not to exceed that paid
state employees;

          (xi) Provide for the operation of school lunch
programs in schools under its jurisdiction;

          (xii) Require any officer or employee whose duty it
is to handle funds or property of the district, including
activity accounts, to be bonded under a suitable individual or
blanket bond indemnifying the district against loss. The board
shall determine the amount and type of the bond;

          (xiii) Acquire for the school district, by
condemnation, the fee simple title to any real estate situated
within the district as a site for any public school buildings or
school grounds or for any other necessary or beneficial school
purpose, or any lesser interest, including easements and
rights-of-way, when necessary in the proper maintenance and
operation of the school system;

          (xiv) Subject to W.S. 21-6-217(b), convey, with or
without consideration, title to real property which is not being
used and will not be used by the district to the state or its
political subdivisions for public use;
          (xv) Convey or otherwise divest, with or without
consideration, title to personal property which is not being
used and will not be used by the district to the extent not
prohibited by Article 16, Section 6, Wyoming Constitution;

         (xvi)   Repealed by Laws 2021, ch. 163, § 2.

          (xvii) Establish a school bus driver training program
in accordance with W.S. 21-3-131(a);

          (xviii)   Establish and maintain a program of adult
education;

          (xix) Develop policies and pest control methods
including emergency policies, to minimize risk to students and
employees, school property and the environment;

          (xx) Enter into school building construction and
renovation project agreements with the state construction
department as authorized under W.S. 21-15-123(f)(v);

          (xxi) Request the fingerprints of any employee
initially hired by a school district on or after July 1, 1996,
who may have access to minors in the course of the employee's
employment, as provided by W.S. 7-19-106(a)(xxvi) and
7-19-201(a)(iii). The school district shall pay for the costs
associated with the request;

          (xxii) Enter into or authorize the district
superintendent to enter into student learner agreements as
defined by W.S. 27-14-102(a)(xxxiv) with any employer pursuant
to W.S. 27-14-110;

          (xxiii) Confer a Wyoming seal of biliteracy or an
advanced distinction Wyoming seal of biliteracy upon a
graduating high school student in accordance with W.S. 21-2-
202(a)(xl). Not later than October 15 of each year, each school
district shall report to the state superintendent the number of
seals of biliteracy issued during the prior school year, the
languages the students learned and the type of seal conferred.

     (b) Not later than January 1, 1998, the board of trustees
of each school district that has established trustee residence
areas before that date shall:

          (i) Establish by resolution that all trustees shall
be elected at-large from the entire district; or
          (ii) Establish by resolution a structure for electing
members to the board through trustee residence areas with not
less than two (2) members of the board elected at-large from the
entire district. If the board establishes trustee residence
areas under this paragraph, one (1) or more members shall be
elected from each area. The boundaries of the trustee residence
areas shall be established so that the total deviation in the
population between the areas with the greatest and least
population shall not, to the extent practicable, exceed ten
percent (10%). Data from the last federal census shall be used
in determining population within an area for the purpose of
implementing this paragraph. The resolution shall include a
process for implementing this change so that all elected
trustees may serve their full term but that any vacancy shall be
filled so as to implement the change as soon as practicable.

     (c) Not later than January 1 of any year in which a
general election will be held, the board of trustees of any
school district may elect to adopt a resolution under paragraph
(b)(i) of this section to have all trustees elected at-large. A
board of trustees for a district in which all members are
elected at-large may adopt a resolution to establish trustee
residence areas under paragraph (b)(ii) of this section only as
of January 1 of the first year which follows a decennial federal
census and in which a general election will be held.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1981–2018 · leading case: Luhm v. Bd. of Trs. of Hot Springs Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 2009 WY 63 (Wyo. 2009).
Luhm v. Bd. of Trs. of Hot Springs Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 2009 WY 63 (Wyo. 2009). · cites it 8× “Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-3-111 (a)(vi) (LexisNexis 2007).”
SH v. Campbell Cnty. Sch. Dist., 409 P.3d 1231 (Wyo. 2018). · cites it 2× “And we need not address the question of whether, even if the elements of a contract were present, the IEP could be considered a valid contract without the action required of the School District board of trustees that is required by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-3-111 (a)(iii) (LexisNexis…”
Milligan-Hitt v. Bd. of Trs. of Sheridan Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 2, 523 F.3d 1219 (10th Cir. 2008). “Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-3-111 (a)(vi). The plaintiffs do not dispute this, but argue that because the school board did not adequately supervise Mr.”
Milton v. Mitchell, 762 P.2d 372 (Wyo. 1988). · cites it 2× “) These Rules, Regulations, and Statements of Policy are consistent with the powers provided for boards of trustees in § 21-3-111, W.S. 1977 (Cum.Supp. 1987), and there is no provision for delegation of the appointing authority to either the superintendent of schools or the…”
Borman v. Sweetwater Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 2, 627 P.2d 1364 (Wyo. 1981). · cites it 2× “Section 21-3-111, W.S.1977, authorizes the board of trustees in each school district, among other things, to: “(a) * * * ****** “(vi) Employ and determine the salaries and duties of: ****** “(C) Teachers who shall provide the expertise in their areas of instruction; “(D) Other…”
Laramie Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. One ex rel. Bd. of Trs. of Laramie Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. One, a Wyoming Governmental Entity v. Kort Kinstler, 2015 WY 143 (Wyo. 2015). · cites it 2× “Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-3-111 (a)(i). 2 After three years of working under one-year contracts, an initial contract teacher may attain tenure as a continuing contract teacher and work under a continuing contract which need not be formally renewed, but which may only be terminated on…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.