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TEN SLEEP – After a district court judge ruled proper procedure was not followed by Uinta County School District No. 1 in adopting a policy that would allow approved staff to conceal carry firearms, the Ten Sleep School board has delayed any action on their policy.

The Ten Sleep School board had their firearms policy polished and ready for its first reading at their August meeting but the Uinta County lawsuit and two absent board members prompted a delay.

The Evanston school district that had adopted a policy to allow staff to carry firearms, was sued by community members for not following the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act.

Judge Nena James of the Third District Court of Sweetwater County issued her decision on Friday, Sept. 14.

According to a story by the Uinta County Herald via the Wyoming News Exchange, The decision reads, in part, “The School Firearms Policy deals with the deployment of firearms by concealed carry license holders around children during school hours and it creates an ongoing obligation to spend money, and, as such, public rights and obligations are impacted.”

With the decision that the policy was indeed a substantive rule, the issue then became whether the board adhered to the requirements of the WAPA in adopting the policy.

James’ decision read, “Without belaboring the point, the Board did not provide proper notice of its intended action. In the process of reading the proposed policy at two meetings, in both instances it modified the version of the policy going forward, thus failing to give at least forty-five (45) days’ notice of its intended action. The public was denied fundamental due process rights of notice and right to be heard at properly advertised hearings.”

In the conclusion, James wrote, “the fundamental rights of the community, including students, their parents and school employees” were impacted and therefore the requirements of WAPA applied.

To protect themselves from a similar situation the Ten Sleep School Board issued this statement on their website, dated Sept. 11:

“Notice is hereby given that the Board of Trustees of Washakie County School District No. 2 is considering adopting new rules and regulations. The draft rules are posted online at the district’s website and are available at the district’s main office. All prior or existing rules that are inconsistent with new rules will be null and void and replaced with the new rules. The new rule addresses concealed carry of firearms by employees. Interested parties may attend the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the district occurring at 7 p.m. on [Nov. 12] at the board room and to present their views or any objections or requested changes they may have to proposed rules. The proposed rules established by the board meet the minimum substantive state statutory requirements. All interested persons, may, in addition, submit data, view or objections orally or in writing to the Board of Trustees at any meeting or in writing at any time within the 45 days after the meeting occurring on the date set forth above. The board intends to act to adopt these rules at the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the district after the expiration of the 45-day period.

Ten Sleep Superintendent Jimmy Phelps stated that he feels the board will move on the policy in January 2019.

Ten Sleep school district attorney Scott Kolpitcke explained to the board at their August meeting, “It’s important to remember that that lawsuit is being filed based on procedural issue not on the substance of the policy itself. Basically, one of the features of that law is if you adopt a rule and there is a specific definition for that term in the law, if you adopt a rule, there is a specific process that the agency has to follow. School boards, when they typically adopt a policy, don’t follow that process, because there is a difference between a policy and a rule. Most school boards in Wyoming follow the same or similar process that you do. They go through two or three readings, usually in consecutive weeks and may take public feedback at each of those meetings if there is any. When you go through the rule making process, under state law there is a 45-day notice of comment period.”