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Lawmakers advance a bill to rescue the UW Lab School

Bicycle rack in front of Lab School’s doors
Melodie Edwards
/
Wyoming Public Media
The bill would allow the Wyoming Legislature to oversee the UW Lab School’s mission by way of a governance board.

A bill making its way through the Wyoming Legislature seeks to save the University of Wyoming (UW) Lab School, after UW and the Albany County School Board failed to extend an agreement to keep the Lab School on UW’s campus last year.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D-Laramie) wants to return the Lab School to its longtime role as a teacher incubator, especially since the state is struggling to attract and retain teachers. He said it’s not unprecedented for the Education Committee to create and oversee programs at UW.

“ We have other entities that we've created,” Rothfuss told the Senate Education Committee on Jan. 29. “School of Energy Resources, right? We created an entity at the University of Wyoming that has a mission, that has a governance board, and it has carried out that mission incredibly. Imagine where we would be right now without the School of Energy Resources.”

But representatives from both the university and the Albany County School District called to vote the bill down.

“We need to do something to address our teacher shortage, to train teachers, but we should take our time and do it right,” said ACSD#1 school board member Nate Martin. “I'm not confident that the Lab School as it formerly existed is the ideal way to train teachers in 2025.”

School board member Emily Siegel said the bill amounted to “government overreach.” She said one reason they had to close the Lab School was so they could afford to pay teachers better.

“I disagree that we have a shortage of teachers in this state,” Seigel said. “I think we have a shortage of talented educators who will work for stagnant wages.”

Former UW Lab School teacher Meredith McLaughlin disagreed.  

“Teachers around the state of Wyoming are leaving not because of wages. We're leaving because of the lack of opportunity to be creative, autonomous professionals who connect with families. That's why we're leaving,” said McLaughlin. She said the UW Lab School offered such autonomy for its teachers and that’s why it made such a great teacher training ground.

She cited the example of how the school managed the pandemic. “Albany County School District did not take any student teachers due to COVID. We stayed open, full time. We had practicum students in our building all through that year. Why? Because we had the freedom to innovate and work outside of boxes,” McLaughlin said.

But Mike Smith, a spokesman for UW, said the Lab School had changed too much over the last few years. “Maybe we just realized through that negotiation process, we don't need the Lab School. We don't need that space to be innovative to help the state address a shortage of teachers or to help the state look for new ways to teach.”

Education Committee Chair Sen. Wendy Schuler (R-Evanston) co-sponsored the bill but changed her vote to nay, saying,  ”I really considered a lot what you've talked about today, as far as declining enrollment, and I think that's what puts me over the edge with voting against this bill. I do think the local school boards really do need to make that decision based on capacity issues.”

Sen. Jared Olsen (R-Cheyenne) had similar qualms. “ There are two entities that do not want the school, and this bill tells those two entities, ‘You will have the school.’ Until all of the players are ready to play the game, I just don't think it's going to work,” said Olsen.

Ultimately, the bill passed by a single vote. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.

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