The school district in Cheyenne advanced a massive overhaul of its school model this month. The proposal must still be approved by the state School Facilities Commission before any demolition or construction can occur.
The overhaul is meant to address school conditions and a projected enrollment decline, but it would entail closing eight elementary schools and building, replacing or reconfiguring at least 12 other elementary and middle schools. This would all be accomplished in the next decade.
Under the new model, schools for kindergarten through fourth grade would feed into larger, more centralized schools for fifth and sixth graders.
The changes touch all three of the district’s “triads” — south, central and east — but the largest changes are in the south triad, where the plan calls for closing four elementaries, replacing two others and constructing a new middle school.
“We have got to do something about our schools in the south triad,” Trustee Alicia Smith said during a Laramie County School District No. 1 board meeting Oct. 7. “We have to. We have needed to for years and years, and those kids and those teachers and those administrators in those buildings deserve so much more than what they’ve had to deal with.”
Dozens of parents spoke against the proposal during that meeting, saying the plan was developed and selected without public input and that it would rob the south triad of its neighborhood schools.
“You know in your heart this is not what’s best for our community,” said Lindsay Woznick, a district parent and local attorney.
The school board ultimately approved the plan with a unanimous vote, but many of the trustees said they were conflicted and felt like their hands were tied. Trustee Brooke Humphrey said the district had to do something about its aging schools.
“My heart is so torn, because as a mom, I get it, I totally get it,” Humphrey said. “But also as a community member, I get it … None of us want to have to make this decision, but we have to look at it as an all-or-nothing, because that’s how it’s currently being presented to us.”
Technically, the school board only approved a study about the most cost-effective solutions. That study (produced by a private firm for the Wyoming State Construction Department) evaluated various proposals and highlighted one plan as its preference — the plan that involves closing eight elementaries.
But approving the study was a big step toward putting the overhaul into action. The state School Facilities Commission will have to weigh in on the study next month.
A coalition of parents is still attempting to save the eight schools now on the chopping block. They’ve circulated a petition asking district, city and state leaders to consider one of the other proposals outlined in the study. While organizers say the petition garnered 673 signatures in its first 10 days, school board trustees decided not to reconsider their earlier vote.
Some of those same parents are also lobbying the School Facilities Commission to reject the current proposal or otherwise reevaluate the way the study was conducted.
Laramie County School District No. 1 declined to comment for this story.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s economic outlook is mixed for 2025, with a continuing decline in the coal industry, shortages in housing and child care, and an aging population clouding the state’s mid- and long-term growth prospects, according to a new University of Wyoming report.
The Center for Business and Economic Analysis in UW’s College of Business issued its second annual Wyoming Economic Forecast in conjunction with the Governor’s Business Forum.
“The year ahead for Wyoming holds many opportunities and challenges, including finding solutions to current binding constraints for growth — housing affordability for workers, challenging transportation and connectivity resulting in constrained access to markets, a thin and complex labor market, and the brain drain in our higher-education graduates, among others,” the report reads.
Still, the report predicts a slight increase in the state’s labor force in 2025, with just a small increase in the unemployment rate to 3.2%, lower than the national rate. And the state’s population is expected to increase slightly.
The UW economists used the large-scale structural economic forecasting model Moody’s Analytics, along with conversations with Wyoming and regional business leaders, to develop the economic outlook report.
Among the positive signs for Wyoming’s economy:
On the other hand, economic headwinds include:
“The implications of our aging population are broad reaching,” the report reads. “The K-12 school-age student population will be impacted in both the near- and long-term; the workforce necessary for economic growth and the number of potential entrepreneurs and small-business owners will decline. In addition, by 2031, the high school enrollment of the state is expected to decline by 5.6%, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.”
People can read the full Wyoming Economic Forecast online here.
Photo Credit: Will Lawton
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — “Sulphur Creek, Wyoming,” writes photographer Will Lawton. “End of day ice fishing. Great day to be alive.”
It sure is, Will. It sure is.
Do you have a photo that captures the beauty of Wyoming? Submit it by clicking here and filling out the form, and we may share it!
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Ashton Jeanty became Boise State’s first 2,000-yard rusher by collecting 169 yards on 19 carries as the 12th-ranked Broncos beat Wyoming 17-13 on Saturday night in Laramie, Wyo.
Jeanty, who also found the end zone once on the ground, entered the contest as the nation’s leading rusher with 1,893 yards. His big performance on Saturday helped Boise State (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West Conference) clinch a berth in the conference championship game.
The Broncos got 53 rushing yards from Jeanty during their penultimate drive of the game, which ended with Jambres Dubar rumbling across the goal line from 2 yards out for a 17-13 lead with 5:02 to go.
Wyoming (2-9, 2-5) turned the ball over on downs on its ensuing possession. It had gone up 13-10 earlier in the fourth quarter when John Hoyland made good on a 35-yard field goal with 9:03 remaining.
Maddux Madsen completed 14 of 26 passes for 168 yards for Boise State. Cameron Camper had five catches for 74 yards, while Dubar rushed for 22 yards and the touchdown on five touches.
Kaden Anderson started under center for the Cowboys, but he did not play in the second half because of an apparent injury. He had 116 yards and a TD on 9-of-14 passing prior to exiting. Evan Svoboda took over and hit on 6 of 13 passes for 87 yards.
Wyoming’s Justin Stevenson had four catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Jaylen Sargent finished with four receptions for 86 yards. Boise State took a 7-3 lead on a 61-yard Jeanty touchdown run with 3:40 to go in the first quarter. Jeanty cut back and sprinted down the wide side of the field for the score.
Early in the second quarter, Anderson launched a pass from the Cowboys’ logo at midfield and found a leaping Sargent for a 41-yard completion. Two plays later, Stevenson grabbed a 5-yard TD for a 10-7 lead with 9:36 to go.
As time ran out in the first half, Jonah Dalmas’ 24-yard field goal tied the game at 10.
–Field Level Media
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