Natrona County School District

The Natrona County School District #1 is a public school district, serving students in Natrona County, Wyoming, USA. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the district also serves the towns and communities of Alcova, Edgerton, Evansville, Midwest, Mills, Powder River, and Willow Creek.

The Natrona County School District is governed by a publicly elected board of trustees. Members are elected at-large by county voters to staggered, four-year terms. School elections are held biannually in November. The school board hires a superintendent to oversee the day-to-day operations of the district. Superintendent Dr. Joel Dvorak was hired in July 2008.

Internally, NCSD operates under a shared governance model called the Compact. Established in 2001 following a round of contentious contract negotiations, the NCSD Compact is an agreement between the Board of Trustees, the Natrona County Education Association (NCEA), the Natrona County Association of Education Support Staff (NCAESS), and the Service Employees Independent Organization (SEIO). The agreement structures decision-making models in the district to assure that all major decisions impacting students, as well as contract and salary/benefit decisions, are made through a consensus process.

The Safe Schools Suspension Lab is a program that provides a safe, supervised alternative to at-home suspension for students whose behavior requires them to be removed from the traditional classroom.

In 2009, the school district made national news when it approved an anti-bullying policy that specifically prohibits cyberbullying and sexting.

In the early 1990s, the Natrona County School District began establishing Lighthouse Schools. Prior to that time, admission to schools was based on residency boundaries throughout the county. The Board of Trustees began accepting applications to start new schools which would have unique curriculum characteristics and that would be filled outside the boundary system. According to the Casper Star-Tribune, 29 proposals were submitted by parents and teachers. Three were selected to become Lighthouse Schools. They opened in 1991 as the first schools of choice.

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