ROCK SPRINGS — Candidates for Sweetwater County School District No. 1 spoke about their views on the district Wednesday evening at a political forum hosted by the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce.

There are four seats available on the school board, two with full four-year terms and two with unexpired two-year terms. 

Overall, there are 11 candidates seeking election to the board, vying for four positions. Of that group, five are competing for two four-year terms while the other six are seeking election to two unexpired two-year terms. 

Those competing for the four-year terms are Laurel Gandy, April Eccker, Leo Gray, Walter Majko Jr., and Danella Devris. The six seeking the two-year terms are Anyssa Zancanella, Heather Hager, Meghan Jensen, Bernie Jensen, Kori Rossetti, and Layne Foxley. Not all of the candidates attended the forum, with Zancanella, Majko, and Bernie Jensen not attending. 

The forum’s format did not allow candidates to answer all of the questions drafted by the Rock Springs Chamber, with only the introduction and final question giving every candidate a chance to speak. That question asked candidates to write a clear message to voters on what they stand for and how they want to impact the school board.

Danella Devris

Devris said she decided to run because she’s qualified and believes her talents can bring the school district back on track. She said she’s been involved with several boards and has experience with accounting, business, and rental property ownership. She was president of the Rock Springs Chamber and received recognition for being its volunteer of the year. She said the board and community need to work together to provide the best opportunities and education for the district’s students.

Devris said she stands for stability, experience, honesty and transparency. She described herself as someone who is fun to be around and works hard, while working well with others. She pledged to tackle any task given to her and said students always come first. She said if employees are not respected in their fields, “we’re a hurting machine” and the district has more to do than board members talking amongst themselves. She said it takes everyone working together to make the district the best in Wyoming, saying it can be done.

Heather Hager

Hager said she has lived in Rock Springs for more than 25 years and wants to give back to the city through service as a board trustee. Hager said she attended 13 different public schools in four states, having spent her early life in foster care. She said school often gave her caring adults, structure, consistency, and a sense of normalcy. 

Hager said she and her husband opted to home school their children using a classical education model, saying the two experiences she’s had with education have taught her that education can be different for different families, but children should have adults in their lives who care for them and provide the best education possible. She thinks the district should focus on strong academics, teacher support, transparent government, responsible use of taxpayer funds, parent partnerships, and policies that follow state law.

She said she stands for helping all students receive the best education the district can provide. She said she is a principled person and pledged to do her best to act with wisdom and discernment. She said she’s running because she cares about the community and sees too much division within the district. She wants to support a district that can earn the community’s trust, wanting a place where students can grow and have hope for their future.

Meghan Jensen

Meghan Jensen previously ran in 2018 and is seeking election again because the district “needs some help” and wants to introduce a natural helper program she participated in while she was in high school. The program would pair students with others who were struggling with situations at home and allow them to sit with them for support. She said when students are involved in a program like that, they can bring more to a situation than an adult can. She also wants to see more collaboration back to the district, saying some people have problems with speaking to the board and feel unheard. She believes people feeling unheard is a problem she’s seen since her first election bid. 

She said she wants to work hard to help. She also used her time to speak about why she will vote against the 50% reduction in property taxes through the so-called “Prop 1,” saying things will become more expensive if voters approve it. She said the use of sales tax to backfill funds that came from property taxes would increase costs for everyone. She said those increased costs would impact school districts too.

Layne Foxley

Foxley is a retired Sweetwater County School District No. 2 employee who decided to run for a school board position after being asked to consider it. He admits that he hasn’t had involvement with a school board before and faces a learning curve, and believes the board is in trouble based on what he has seen and heard.

“They’re not involving the public, they’re just doing what they want to whenever they want to do it,” he said.

Foxley said the board has to answer to someone, saying it should answer to voters and parents.

He said with cooperation between parents, voters, teachers and the superintendent, the district can make the district the best in Wyoming. He believes transparency has to be part of that equation as well. He believes the transparency would allow parents and staff to see what the board is doing benefits students and the community.

Laurel Gandy

Gandy is the only sitting member of the board seeking election. She was appointed in July to replace Dr. Chad Franks after he resigned from the board. The term she’s serving expires in November, being one of the two-year terms up for election. She said she started attending school board meetings more than a year ago because she wanted to learn about the school district and become an informed citizen. Since being appointed, Gandy said she has worked to learn as much as she can about the schools and district while visiting schools and attending school events.

She is seeking election because she believes in the foundational aspects of education and believes she can give back to the community through the role by making decisions that put students first. She admits she has already made hard decisions as a board member, but has made those decisions with the knowledge that she worked to get the answers needed to make an informed decision.

Gandy said individual trustees don’t have a lot of power, with governance occurring through the entire board. She said every challenge the district faces has a solution and believes the board needs to consist of people who understand the issues and make decisions that support district staff. She said she has taken time to understand what the district faces while developing relationships with administrators and teachers, saying she’s running for a four-year term because she’s “in it for the long haul.”

April Eccer

Eccer said she’s running because every child deserves a safe and supportive school and families deserve to have their concerns heard, saying she wants to rebuild trust the community has with the district. She has two children in the district and has been a substitute teacher and a paraprofessional. She said strong schools are built on trust, clear communication, relationships and responsible leadership and says she will prioritize students when making decisions. If elected, she would push for a regular review of board policy and district reports related to student safety and communication, encourage clear and timely public explanations of major board decisions, and provide opportunities for residents to provide input on issues through board processes.

Eccer said she wants to leave voters with five words: transparency, accountability, trust, and strong education. She said the school board shouldn’t lose sight of why the district exists, saying its mission requires supporting teachers and staff while managing public resources, listening to parents and protecting students. She said board members should also ask difficult questions. If elected, she said she would focus on three commitments: prepare for board meetings by reviewing agenda packets and ask questions, communicate board decisions and reasoning behind them as clearly as she can, and regularly evaluate if policies, spending, and priorities are benefitting students.

Kori Rossetti

Rossetti was born and raised in Rock Springs, having seen multiple generations of her family attend schools in the district. She said she works alongside the schools and sees bullying taking place, as well as how administrators have been stripped of any authority to deal with it. She believes children are too often allowed to do what they want and teachers are forced to deal with chaotic classrooms. She believes the community should be aligned behind educators and says accountability should be brought back to classrooms. 

Rossetti said everyone wants transparency and accountability, but said daily callouts and negativity are driving a wedge in the community. She said district staff are overwhelmed when dealing with an influx of grievances, causing them to lose time and energy needed to fix problems in the district. She said if the community wants improvement in the district, people need to act as a team and introduce suggestions that can be acted on. She believes people can still hold an organization accountable while also being respectful to district staff.

Leo Gray

Gray said he has grandchildren in the district and wants to ensure every student receives a world-class education in SCSD No. 1. He said that he has spent the last decade being involved with different committees and boards in the district and has seen the district slip from being one of the best in the state, to one of the worst. He said 66% of the schools are failing state standards while the district is perceived as a bad place to work. He said there are frequent media articles and comments made by current and former employees reflect poorly on the district, saying the negativity keeps good people away from the district.

He said the district needs to empower teachers to teach subject mastery while partnering with families for the benefit of students. 

Gray said he knows the district has the ability to do what’s right. He had three children attend school in the district and become successful and knows the district can return to being a bright place to work. If elected, he said he would hold himself, the board, and administration accountable for their transparency, saying transparency has been lacking “for quite awhile.” Gray said the work to improve the district will take cooperation from everyone involved.