A new one-room schoolhouse in remote Albany County, Wyoming, has been life-changing for a ranch family there, and now they want other isolated rural families to have the same rural education opportunities.
“Our certified teacher has been a true blessing to our family,” Anna Anderson told members of the Wyoming House Education Committee on Wednesday.
She spoke over a Zoom link from her family’s ranch in a section of north Albany County that is so remote locals call it “Little Siberia.”
“I’m asking you today to please never underestimate what a good teacher can do for a child,” she said, while testifying in favor of Joint Resolution HJ3.
She said it would seal the Legislature’s commitment to rural schools all across Wyoming.
The resolution passed the committee by a unanimous vote and will move to the House floor for discussion.
Phone service can be sketchy on the Anderson’s ranch which — even on dry roads — is about 90 minutes from the tiny town of Rock River. A from Cowboy State Daily after the committee hearing wasn’t answered. Anderson later responded by email, stating that she was pleased with the vote.
“We are thrilled and we hope the rest of the Legislature will also support this resolution for the future of our rural children,” she wrote.
Little Siberia School Sets The Standard
Anderson and her husband, Carson, fought long and hard to get the Antelope Creek School opened on their ranch for their school-aged children, Emmitt and Waverly, early last fall.
A modest building includes living quarters for teacher Lexi Horblit on one side and a one-room school on the other.
Earlier in 2024, the Andersons seemed to have hit a final dead end when the Wyoming Supreme Court denied their request for the schoolhouse.
They lobbied the Wyoming Legislature, with Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, taking up their cause.
Sherwood previously told Cowboy State Daily that everything finally came together during the Legislature’s 2024 session, and $300,000 to fund the Antelope Creek school was added to the final budget bill.
Sherwood is also one of the main sponsors of HJ3, which would resolve the Legislature to support rural schools, stating that the Wyoming Constitution “guarantees that all children in Wyoming have the right to a free public education.”
There are currently 15 schools in Wyoming with three or fewer rooms in 12 school districts, serving a total of 102 students in grades K-8, according to the resolution.
Supporting The Agricultural Legacy
The Andersons say that having a local school has helped their family stay close and spared the children from long trips into Rock River or Laramie, especially during the winter.
Testifying in favor of the resolution was Holly Kennedy, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts, who said she grew up in the far-flung reaches of north Albany County.
“It takes 40 miles of dirt roads to get to where I lived,” she said. “Today, still, there is no cellphone service where I grew up.”
Without a rural school, Kennedy said she wouldn’t have had access to a K-8 education. Once she and her brother started high school, they had to get to Rock River to attend classes.
That often entailed having to ride snowmobiles much of the way, Kennedy said.
Many of Wyoming’s farm and ranch kids are in similar circumstances.
Rural schools are vital to keeping those isolated families together and continuing Wyoming’s agricultural legacy, Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice president, told the committee.
“It’s challenging” to get young people to stay on ranches, or to return and take up the family’s business, he said.
Echoing those sentiments, committee member Rep. Martha Lawley said before roll call for the vote that she supported the resolution.
“It’s one of the things that continues to make Wyoming unique, that we have resisted the temptation to consolidate schools. That we have let local schools remain local,” she said.
Nobody spoke in opposition to the resolution.
Roll Call
Lawley voted in favor of the resolution, as did the rest of the committee: Reps. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie; Laurie Bratten, R-Sheridan; McKay Erickson, R-Afton; Joel Guggenmos, R-Riverton; Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan; Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne; Tomi Strock, R-Douglas; and JD Williams, R-Lusk.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
