Senate Committee Narrowly Passes Bill To Save Oldest K-8 School In Wyoming

Despite impassioned testimony urging lawmakers to defeat the bill, the Wyoming Senate Education Committee advanced a proposal by the slimmest of margins on Wednesday saving what’s likely the oldest continually existing K-8 school in Wyoming.

Senate File 126, sponsored by Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, would protect the University of Wyoming Lab School role as a member of Albany County School District No. 1 and prevent it from shutting down as is currently planned. The bill would also require that the school continue to be located on the UW campus.

The bill passed on a 3-2 vote with Sens. Charles Scott, R-Casper, Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne, and Rothfuss voting for it. Sens. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, and Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, voted against it.

Opposite Of The Desired Effect

Representatives of UW and the school district pushed the committee to reject Rothfuss’ bill on Tuesday because of the difficulty involved with continuing to run the school that was first established in 1887. The Lab School has operated in a variety of different roles since that time, but usually with the purpose of helping train UW’s education students.

“Schools like that are precious, we need more of them,” Scott said.

Scott also indicated that Wednesday’s testimony makes him actually believe the Lab School has become a victim of two-headed bureaucracy brought on by the school district and the university. Although the school is somewhat in a state of turmoil with an uncertain future, Scott said its past history makes it worth saving.

“The university and the Albany County School District have found it bureaucratically inconvenient to work together, and that’s what’s led to the current problem,” Scott said. “The fact that they’re destroying a good school doesn’t seem to bother them.”

The district is one of the highest performing in the state, but the Lab School’s performance scores have dipped over the past decade, as well as its usefulness to the university, representatives from the school district and UW said.

“I appreciate the concerns provided, I think they’re genuine, legitimate concerns, but as we’re looking at this from the perspective of Wyoming and the Joint Education Committee, this is in the best interest of the people of the state of Wyoming,” Rothfuss said.

Although Olsen said he supports school choice, he said the school’s lack of support from the university and school district is problematic.

“There are two entities that do not want the school, and this bill tells those two entities you will have this school,” he said. “If you don’t have buy-in from the entities that are involved, I don’t see it working.”

What Happened?

In December, the Albany County School Board voted to close down the UW Lab School after the University of Wyoming sent the school district notice in May 2024 it had a year to vacate its campus location, citing safety and budgetary concerns.

The Lab School operates on the UW campus in a facility owned by the university, a relationship that’s been governed with a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Mike Smith, vice president of governmental affairs for UW, explained at Wednesday’s meeting the decision to only renew the MOU on the Lab School for one year. He did not appreciate insinuations that government bureaucracy played into the matter.

“It’s nice to cherry pick the last result of some negotiations and a relationship and try to place blame,” he said. “In all my conversations we’re trying very hard to avoid (this). This is, in a way, a family disagreement.”

The university has stated that the school no longer serves a significant role for teacher training in UW’s College of Education, as it was originally designed to do.

“We don’t need that specific space to provide that function,” Smith said. “We don’t need that space to be innovative, to help the state address a shortage of teachers, to help the state look for new ways to teach.

Smith also said the school’s proximity to university dorms and ongoing maintenance costs raise concerns. When the university was shut out of security and curriculum discussions, Smith said it was quickly determined it was not worthwhile to continue the MOU.

UW Board of Trustee Chair Kermit Brown told Cowboy State Daily last August the university has expended more than $5 million on construction projects specifically associated with the Lab School in the last 10 years alone.

“These projects included rebuilding walls that had been dismantled, installing doors, replacing aging windows, installing updated security systems and installing a playground with a protective fence,” Brown said.

Brown also said In addition to UW’s expenditures “that should have been covered by the Albany County School District,” UW has provided Lab School-specific custodial services and librarian services at the university’s expense, even though the state has paid the school district about $233,000 per year for those services at the Lab School – money that has not come to the university.

What The Bill Does

Rothfuss made the argument on Tuesday that both UW and the local school district “hate” his bill, which drew the irritation of the district’s chief academic officer Kate Kniss, who said that’s not true and doesn’t reflect their feelings about the school. She also Rothfuss misstated information regarding curriculum and teaching standards requirements within the school district.

“I think just from the teaching and learning side, there are some very big misconceptions that seem to be repeated quite a bit,” she said.

The bill creates an individual governing board for the Lab School that would operate independently from the Albany County School District board.

Protecting the Lab School would cost $2.5 million in 2026 alone. Rothfuss said this matches what was spent on the Lab School in the past.

Under the bill, the governing board of the school may negotiate and contract with the school district, UW, or any third party for the use, operation and maintenance of the school building and grounds.

Although some criticized SF 126 for being a rushed effort, Rothfuss said it’s still a better solution than letting the school shut down altogether.

A few former students of the school like Aedian O’Connor, said the Lab School was instrumental in shaping her future and provided her the opportunity to eventually earn a gold congressional medal. She’s now pursuing a medical degree.

“Contrary to the concerns that the Lab School does not provide significant education results for both students and student educators, I do humbly believe that I do represent the excellence the Lab School can produce,” she said.

The bill would require the school to keep an enrollment of 200 students or more even though its current enrollment is around 160. Rothfuss said the school has historically operated above 200 and the only reason its population has slipped is because of the UW closure announcement.

The declining enrollment is what Schuler said led to her voting against the bill.

“I do think the local school boards need to make that decision based on capacity issues,” she said.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.