The Fund for Public Education is Teton County’s nonprofit school foundation. We support extraordinary education in Teton County School District #1

For more than 15 years, the Fund for Public Education has been raising funds and providing resources to Teton County’s public schools. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit school foundation, our work directly impacts the lives of nearly 3,000 students and over 400 teachers and district staff members.

“The money raised by the Fund for Public Education and its donors enables our educators to provide every student with extraordinary opportunities and experiences not covered by state and federal funding. It allows both our teachers and our students to dream big and accomplish more.”

-Annie Band, FPE President and former TCSD#1 Trustee

Jackson Hole’s property taxes are high; why do our schools still need your help?

Wyoming’s school funding model means that most of the tax money our community pays goes to other school districts. Here’s how it works:

  • School funding begins when the state calculates the foundation guarantee. This is the amount of money each school district is guaranteed in order to provide its students with a basic education. The amount each school receives is based on a number of factors, including the number of students enrolled, special education needs, transportation needs, etc. This is recalculated for each school ever year.

  • Every school district receives some amount of money from their local community. This comes from a number of sources, but in Teton County, property sales and taxes are the biggest contributors. The state also looks at any cash reserves that the school district holds.

  • If your school district’s local resources are less than the foundation guarantee that the state calculated for you, then you are entitled to draw money from the foundation pool up to the amount guaranteed. This process is called entitlement and it helps ensure that schools across the state always have enough money to function. There are currently 43 entitlement districts in Wyoming.

  • If your school district’s local resources exceed the foundation guarantee that the state calculated, you must send any extra funds to the state. These funds are then placed into the foundation pool. This process is called recapture. There are currently 5 recapture districts in Wyoming, including Teton County. In the 2023-2024 school year, TCSD#1 sent more than $80M to the state.

  • Recapture means that our school district’s budget is limited by what the state determines is needed for a basic education, not by what our community wants or what it can afford. This is why philanthropy is so important for our schools.

  • Donate to support local schools through the Fund for Public Education. Private funds are not considered when calculating the foundation guarantee or the recapture amount. Donating to the Fund ensures that local resources stay within our local schools, enabling extraordinary education for every student in our community.