Final decision — Emotions run high as school district votes to close UW Lab School

LARAMIE — A mix of emotions filled the air at the Albany County School District 1 Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday when, in a 7-2 vote, the decision was finalized to close the University of Wyoming Lab School and relocate the students to within their home boundaries.

The decision came after two hours of public comment and discussion among trustees.

Trustees Beth Bear, Alex Krassin, Janice Marshall, Nate Martin, Carrie Murthy, Emily Siegel- Stanton and Kim Sorenson voted in favor of the closure, with Trustees Cecilia Aragón and Steve Gosar voting against.

More than a dozen students, faculty and parents spoke out during public comment with one concern in mind: the future of the children in Albany County.

Bradley Rettler, a parent of two Lab School students and a UW faculty member, voiced his concern over “logical leaps” made in choosing to close the school.

Rettler focused on a recurring theme from last week’s meeting of the ACSD1 Board of Trustees, which was, if the Lab School were to close, resources for all students could be improved, and the general public would benefit.

“It’s a bad argument for three reasons. The first is that it commits a formal logical fallacy of affirming the consequence,” Rettler said. “When I explain this to students in my logics class, I say, ‘Consider the conditional.’

“If it’s raining, then the ground is wet. The ground is wet, so it’s raining. The first premise is true, and the second premise is untrue. The conclusion doesn’t follow, right? Similarly, there are ways to improve resources for all students other than closing the Lab School.”

Rettler believes the argument is being selectively applied. If other alternatives, such as dual language classes or the (Gifted and Talented Education) program, were in the same situation, the premise would no longer hold true, Rettler said.

“The second premise is that we should improve resources for all students,” Rettler said. “You shouldn’t do that, because very few resources are used by all students. … Your job isn’t to provide resources for all students. Your job is to try to provide resources for every student. But when you make that change, you realize that shutting down the Lab (School) actually removes resources from a number of students — Lab School students.”

While most parents were hoping the lab school would stay open, some believed the final decision came down to what was best for the students.

“I want to sympathize with what the Lab School families are going through, having gone through a similar thing last year with the closure of Beitel (Elementary School) when my son was in kindergarten,” Jamie Nippgen said. “… Hearing that another school may close is obviously sad news, but thinking about the essence that Beitel had and Spring Creek now has made me think about the essence of the Lab School and the purpose it has served for our community.

“The definition of the Lab School is a coordination with a university and future teachers. In this case, the future teachers at UW. It now appears that UW does not value this relationship. I wonder what purpose the Lab School serves if it is moved off campus with no ties to the university.

“I know losing your school would be hard, but to me, it seems like the Lab School with no ties to the university and not on campus loses the essence of what it was and does not make sense.”

Trustees’ discussion

ACSD1 officials struggled for more than an hour to reach their decision. Gosar began the heated discussion with questions regarding the feasibility of moving the Lab School to the vacant Beitel Building.

“What would the cost be for the bathrooms and the library in Beitel?” Gosar said.

“We would have to discuss that and find out what we actually want to do, what those science rooms look like, and what we want to do with the bathrooms,” Director of Transportation Randy Wilkinson said. “… To say that there’s a cost that I can just give you depends on what the staff needs to change that building into a middle school.

“If we’re changing things out, or if we replaced something, we could use major maintenance funds. If it’s adding something, then I cannot use major maintenance funds, and those would have to come out of the general fund.”

Sorenson expressed skepticism about Beitel’s potential usefulness in the current situation. His uncertainty came from the case for closing Beitel last year, which outlined the building’s inadequacy to house elementary kids.

“Now we’re trying to turn it into a building that will require a quarter-million dollars or more of restoration and retro-activity,” Sorenson said. “Moving students is not the same as moving a school, physically. Moving the kids over there doesn’t mean that you’ll have anything that looked like Lab School when you left. You’ve lost that.”

Murthy appreciated the feedback and discussion regarding the Lab School, but still had concerns about the class sizes teachers and students would be subjected to.

“I was heartened to hear from parents who shared about their experiences after the Beitel consolidation and the trust in our community to come together in support of our kids,” Murthy said. “ … My biggest concern with the idea of consolidation is at the middle school level.

“I really worry — and we heard that reiterated (Wednesday) — that students who felt like they would have been lost would have slipped through the cracks, because they need a smaller environment.”

Murthy wondered if the consolidation would leave any options to still offer an alternative middle school.

“I would support looking at that option,” Goldhart responded. “I’ve designed some of those myself during my career. I know (Whiting High School Principal Malinda Garcia) has expressed interest, as well.”

Aragón was firm in her belief that moving the school to the vacant Beitel location would have the most beneficial outcome.

“Unfortunately, we were served an eviction notice, and that has displaced a lot of students, administrators and staff members,” Aragón said. “We all know that displacement can have a significant impact on a student’s life, including their academics, their social (life) and their emotional well-being.”

Aragón emphasized the importance of providing a safe and suitable educational environment. She urged the prioritization of the Lab School’s needs, given its unique curriculum focused on neurodivergent students and project- based learning.

Ultimately, there was a recommendation to make a decision soon to provide clarity and stability for educators and families in the county. Despite the emotional weight of the decision, the board determined it was necessary to close the school.

This story was published on December 13, 2024.