01-03-2025
House votes not to keep University of Wyoming Lab School open
CHEYENNE — Wyoming's House of Representatives has opted against passing legislation to keep the University of Wyoming Lab School open, killing a bill that has sparked hours of debate in the Capitol.
With 41 pieces of legislation scheduled for debate before a Friday night deadline, acting chairman Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, noted that representatives spent an hour and 18 minutes debating Senate File 126, 'Establishment of a K-8 public lab school.' Ultimately, the measure failed in a 32-24 vote.
Some lawmakers gave impassioned pleas to keep the school, which has been a part of Wyoming's history for more than 125 years, open. Others argued that passing SF 126 would be overstepping the bounds of state government, wading into a local issue that Albany County School District 1 Board of Trustees and University of Wyoming Board of Trustees have already decided.
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan (2025)
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan
'When this came into the (House Education) Committee, I was somebody who was on the fence about it,' Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, said. 'When I voted yes on it, it was because this is exactly the type of discussion this issue deserved.'
Kelly ended up casting another vote in favor of SF 126 Friday, but it was not enough.
'We are having trouble categorizing this, because the school is unique,' Kelly said. 'But we are seeking to restore that historical and cultural gem to Wyoming. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely.'
The Legislature was the last stop in a long effort to reestablish the UW Lab School as it once was, after an announcement last year from both managing educational institutions that this academic year would be the last for the lab school. For over 130 years, the lab school operated as a K-8 public school, many of those offering practicum and observational experiences for pre-service teachers and other UW students on campus.
For around a decade, the school has been guided by a memorandum of understanding between the ACSD1 and the university, but the two educational bodies could not agree on a process to move forward while also meeting objectives both said they had for the school.
Argument in favor: 'Decision makers have failed'
House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, said the bill was not about saving a school, but promoting a Wyoming legacy.
Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie (2025)
Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie
'In recent years, decision makers have failed the very people they were entrusted to serve. Many feel the decision to unilaterally close the Lab School was made behind closed doors, without transparency and without input from parents, students and the Wyoming public,' Andrew said.
Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas, urged her fellow lawmakers not to look at the decision as if it were about a 'normal school in a school district,' because, in fact, the issue is one of school choice.
Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas (2025)
Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas
'I want to remind everyone that this is not the same kind of setup … as in the school district,' Strock said. 'Please quit looking at it as the same as all the other school districts, and as if we are taking over some local control.'
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, said he believes there were 'no bad actors' that led the Lab School to where it is today. However, the issue has been 'divisive, and it has been tearing apart the community,' Chestek said. He respects both the ACSD1 and UW trustees, but said he had to support keeping the school open.
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie (2025)
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie
'It breaks my heart to see these two entities, good institutions, at loggerheads, not agreeing on something that I think the community loves,' Chestek said. 'This is tearing us up.'
Argument against: 'Not the role of the state Legislature'
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, said she could not support the Lab School bill, although she empathized with parents, teachers and students who desperately wanted to save the school.
'It is simply not the role of the state Legislature to come into a situation like this and make themselves, sort of, a court of last resort,' Lawley said. 'A place for people to come when they are unhappy or dissatisfied with what has happened at the local level, and want us to enter into a space that includes a school district, our university and somehow be the arbiter of that.'
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland (2025)
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland
Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, said he felt the bill was asking lawmakers to 'micromanage a local school,' and that he could not support SF 126. Rep. McKay Erickson, R-Afton, said he had not found a person at the university or on the school board who wanted to continue the Lab School.
'It is, folks, tough to close schools for any district,' Erickson said. 'But this would be getting into the weeds big time, if we go above their decision to close the school. … That seems to just be clouded, extremely.'
