MIDWEST — Until a week ago, Taelynn Salway was closing in on an epic senior year at Midwest Schools, maintaining a 4.3 GPA and on track to be student body president and the Class of 2028 valedictorian.
The 17-year-old junior is a textbook overachiever. She’s the student council vice president, junior class president and is a three-sport athlete at the tiny K-12 school about 40 miles north of Casper, Wyoming.
Midwest is the definition of a rural oil patch town: 285 residents with 114 students at a school where most attend from preschool through graduation.
That could change in less than a week if Natrona County School District 1 approves a proposal by a district committee to eliminate grades 6-12 at the school.
Most parents, students and Midwest Schools staff learned of the cost-saving plan last week and are mounting a full-court press to save their middle and high school grades, which at 70 students make up about 61% of the school.
More than 100 people packed into the Midwest Recreation Center on Wednesday night not to gripe and groan at the school district, but to plan and organize an email and phone blitz targeting school district trustees and Wyoming legislators.
They want officials to get hundreds of emails and calls all with the same message — give us time to come up with alternatives to a drastic decision they say will devastate the close-knit northern Natrona County oil town.
Taelynn Salway, right, and her father Steven. Taelyn, a 17-year-old junior at Midwest Schools, carries a 4.3 GPA and is on track to be her class valedictorian. That won't happen, she said, if the Natrona County School District 1 cuts grades 6-12 of the K-12 Midwest Schools. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
More than 100 people packed into the Midwest Recreation Center on Wednesday to begin a full-court press to save grades 6-12 of their school from the chopping block. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
(Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
More than 100 people packed into the Midwest Recreation Center on Wednesday to begin a full-court press to save grades 6-12 of their school from the chopping block. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)
Show Of Solidarity
While hopeful, many in Midwest aren’t optimistic they can change the recommendation, which originated from the district’s Board Infrastructure Planning Committee and must be given final approval from the full Board of Trustees.
The committee meets for the final time Friday to consider putting grades 6-12 on the chopping block and, if so, the school board will take it up Monday.
That gives folks in Midwest only days to send their message, said Darla Lindsay, the school’s custodial manager who moderated the town hall meeting.
Although no public participation is allowed at the Infrastructure Planning Committee, Lindsay urged everyone to show up anyway, a silent show of solidarity to send the committee a message.
Then everyone needs to do it again Monday, sign up for their allotted 3 minutes to address the school board, and en masse urge the trustees to pause any potential decision, she said.
It will be an uphill battle, said Brian Balfour, who attended Wednesday’s meeting to show support for the district.
He spent 18 years as a teacher and principal at Midwest from 1984-2002, and his wife worked for the school district for 35 years.
“You can explain the hardship (the decision will cause), but the district isn’t really making this decision,” Balfour said. “The cabinet is. You have boards against each other here.”
Tell them to “give us a chance to come up with an alternative” to axing the middle and high school grades, he said.
“Right now, this is being thrown at you without any time to come up with an alternative,” Balfour added.
More than 100 people packed into the Midwest Recreation Center on Wednesday to begin a full-court press to save grades 6-12 of their school from the chopping block. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Logan Fleminger writes down points to highlight when Midwest residents lobby school board members to save their school's grades 6-12, which are on the chopping block. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
More than 100 people packed into the Midwest Recreation Center on Wednesday to begin a full-court press to save grades 6-12 of their school from the chopping block. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Darla Lindsay, from left, Brain Balfour and Logan Fleminger during Wednesday's Midwest town hall meeting. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)
Get To March
That’s exactly what needs to happen, said former state House District 58 Rep. Pat Sweeney, who reassured the crowd that the incoming Legislature will fix the funding quirk that caused the Natrona County district to consider cutting rural schools.
“This is exciting to see this many people here,” he said, adding that if the school board votes to accept the closure plan now, it’ll be too late.
“We need to, right up front, be very deliberate,” Sweeney said. “This will be addressed (by the Legislature). But we need to get to March, and we need to get to the school board.
“Be assured, help is on the way with the new Legislature.”
Steven Salway, Taelynn’s father, held a concerned expression throughout the 75-minute meeting.
Although he’s determined to fight to save the school, he fears the decision has already been made and their pleas won’t make much of a difference.
“I feel like how fast they threw this on us that a decision was already made,” Steven Salway said. “Now it’s just formalities after this point.
“Hopefully, they’ll listen to what we have to say and change their minds, but only time will tell.”
Will Poston feels the same.
He’s been driving a Natrona County School District 1 bus in Midwest for more than three years. Many of those runs are for middle and high school sports and other activities.
“I’ve heard their minds are made up, but I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Poston said. “I hope not. It’d be a shame to have that happen, for sure.”
Rainy Day Fund? It’s Raining
If the decision is all about money, the school board needs to give Midwest residents a chance to get creative and come up with some suggestions about how to save the school, said Lindsay.
The district also could be a little more creative financially as well, she suggested.
Natrona County School District 1 has a rainy-day fund with about $130 million in it, she told the crowd.
“I think it’s about time they pull out the umbrellas,” Lindsay said, adding that the interest on the fund brings in about $1.7 million a year, which would be enough to save grades 6-12.
She acknowledges that district administrators have to do something after the Legislature changed the way school money can be spent.
“In the process of that, they took away all money for rural schools,” Lindsay said.
In many ways, Midwest revolves around the oil fields and its school, which proudly boasts its Oilers mascot, said Michayla Callahan.
She runs the Big D gas station and convenience store, which is the social hub of the tiny town.
Cutting middle and high school will have a huge impact on her business, which benefits from local and visiting teams stopping to fuel up and grab snacks.
“Without sports, we will lose sales, which means we’ll lose employees,” Callahan said. “Then they’ll leave because they have to support their families.”
‘It’ll Kill The Community’
If she has to transfer to another school for her senior year, Taelynn Salway will lose any chance of being a valedictorian. She can also kiss being senior class president or student council president goodbye.
That’s because students need to be established at a high school for at least two years to be eligible for any of those achievements, she said.
It also could severely impact her college plans, where she won’t be able to tout earning valedictorian, which many universities give extra weight to.
“I really tried my best to have everything for my resumes (for colleges), and that all could be taken from me this next week,” Taelynn said. “I don’t like it at all. It’s very upsetting.”
Like the rest of Midwest, Taelynn said she still can’t wrap her head around the reality that Thursday’s final high school volleyball and football games could be the last ever for Midwest.
“I’ve been here since preschool,” she said. “I think it’ll kill the community. If we don’t have the school, we’re not going to have much out here anymore.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
