SIGN THE PETITION BY FILLING OUT THE FORM BELOW
Demand Wyoming Lawmakers Fix The Public Records Act
A concerned Wyoming mother did what any responsible parent should do: she requested to review the curriculum being used with her own children. She sent a public records request to Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Assistant Superintendent Nicole Bolton.
The district’s response? They quoted her a fee of $5,000 to $8,000 just to access the materials.
Public schools are funded by the public. Parents have a fundamental right to see the curriculum their kids are exposed to without being charged an exorbitant fee that feels designed to discourage or punish them for asking questions. Charging $5,000–$8,000 to view publicly funded educational content isn’t transparency — it’s a barrier meant to hide what’s really going on in the classroom.
Even more infuriating: during the 2026 legislative session, Wyoming lawmakers had a clear chance to address these barriers with SF49 — a bill revising the Wyoming Public Records Act as a whole. The bill would have standardized fees for public records requests, shortened response times, strengthened enforcement mechanisms, increased penalties for violations, and given the ombudsman more tools to ensure agencies actually provide access without abusive costs or delays.
Instead, they voted to not even allow debate or discussion on the bill, killing it in its tracks.
The lawmakers who voted “nay” on giving SF49 a chance were:
Anderson, Barlow, Brennan, Cooper, Crago, Crum, Driskill, Gierau, Hicks, Jones, Landen, Love, Nethercott, Olsen, Pappas, Schuler.
These legislators had the opportunity to make meaningful improvements to public records transparency that would have helped parents in exactly this kind of situation — and they chose to do nothing.
It’s time to act.
Sign the petition today demanding that Wyoming lawmakers fix the Public Records Act once and for all. We need real reform: standardized and reasonable fees, faster responses, stronger enforcement, and real accountability so no parent is ever hit with a multi-thousand-dollar bill just to see what their children are being taught in public schools.
No more barriers. No more excuses. No more treating the taxpayers like outsiders who must pay thousands of dollars for basic transparency.
Read the full story HERE.