CCHS funding has been on a rollercoaster journey so far

It wouldn’t be the legislative session without some drama.

Wyoming’s lawmakers have debated the pros and cons of hundreds of bills so far, from property taxes to culture war issues to hand counting ballots, which is to be expected. When you get dozens of people in a room they’re not going to agree on everything.

This Tuesday, CCHS principal Chad Bourgeois told the school board that “somebody told me there was going to be a little bit of theater and that it was going to get where we needed to be, and he was right.”

At the end of last week, it appeared that the funding for a new Campbell County High School, as well as a new Bus Barn, would have to wait at least until next year. That money was removed from the supplemental budget, and legislators chose not to add it back in.

It’s interesting that the future of high school students in Campbell County lie in the hands of legislators who are decades removed from their high school days, but that’s just how the process is.

Before the start of the session, Gillette Rep. John Bear made clear his intentions to have these projects in their own bill, separate from the supplemental budget, and that he would vote for these projects.

While the high school and Bus Barn survived in a separate bill, House Bill 259, but there was no guarantee that it was going to survive the House. But this week, thanks to Lloyd Larsen, a representative out of Lander, both projects are fully funded, for now.

He submitted an amendment to preserve the full $165 million for construction and demolition for Campbell County High School and the Bus Barn.

“The governor had it in his budget,” Larsen said. “It was pulled out so that we could do other non-budget things.”

He and other representatives pointed out that kicking the can down the road, in terms of funding these projects in Campbell County, would cost more money in the long run.

Now, the bill goes before the Senate, where just like in the House, anything can happen.

Assuming the bill makes it out of committee and is up before the entire Senate, Sen. Troy McKeown will have a chance to cast a vote on the project.

His “no” vote in October energized the supporters of Campbell County High School. He voted no on the draft bill to allocate more than $160 million to cover either repair or replacement costs for CCHS, citing legislative procedure. He would go on to say he would support whatever recommendations came out of the Most Cost Effective Remedy study.

The MCER has since recommended that CCHS be replaced, not renovated.

Will there be more drama surrounding these projects in the Senate? There are a couple of senators in other parts of the state who aren’t big fans of Campbell County, so it’s very possible.

We’ll just have to wait and see.