Cheyenne parents are suing Wyoming’s School Facilities Commission and State Construction Department over a controversial plan to close eight Laramie County elementary schools.
The legal complaint filed in Laramie District Court follows the commission’s adoption of the “Most Cost-Effective Remedy” study, known as a MCER, on Nov. 7. The study was commissioned to determine the most affordable way to address a mounting array of building-condition and capacity challenges facing Laramie County School District 1.
The study’s proposed remedy — known as remedy four — promises a significant overhaul of the district’s existing building makeup by closing more than a quarter of its elementary schools; expanding, replacing or constructing seven other buildings; and relying more on larger 5-6 grade schools. The shift would roll out in phases between 2025 and 2035.
The suit brought by parents Katie Dijkstal and Franz Fuchs alleges the commission’s selection of remedy four was “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and unsupported by substantial evidence because the analysis on which SFC relied was statistically flawed, and SFC relied on irrelevant and inaccurate evidence that no reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support its conclusions.”
Fuchs’ children would attend Deming Elementary School, while Dijkstal’s children attend or will attend Jessup Elementary School. Both schools are slated for closure under the plan, along with Miller, Hebard, Fairview, Bain, Lebhart and Henderson elementaries.
“We feel that the state acted outside of its authority to close these schools and have failed to consider educational equity and quality through this arbitrary decision,” Dijkstal told WyoFile on Wednesday.
The MCER’s adoption allows for the release of funding for two projects the district desperately needs, LCSD1 Superintendent Stephen Newton told WyoFile: a replacement of Arp Elementary School and a new grades 5-6 school.
“The district is pleased to begin this next stage, which will provide much-needed school facilities for the city of Cheyenne,” Newton said in a comment emailed to WyoFile in November.
Judicial review
The lawsuit seeks judicial review and reversal of the MCER adoption.
The study resulted from a routine, and legally mandated, statewide screening assessment for educational buildings deficient in either conditions or capacity. In that assessment, seven Laramie County buildings were flagged, triggering the MCER study.
Wyoming’s School Facilities Division hired a third-party contractor to complete the work, which entailed weighing options spanning from constructing new buildings or additions to reconfiguring boundaries or eliminating buildings through consolidation. The state hired FEA, a firm specializing in strategic planning and asset management, in January.
Because so many buildings were flagged, FEA conducted its study on all the district’s 30 elementary schools.
FEA identified 18 possible remedies, which it whittled down to five and then one. The chosen plan — remedy four — would entail closing seven schools and building one new and two replacement schools in phase one. During phase two, the eighth school would close. Phase two will also see the additions of one replacement school and one brand-new school.
“The evaluation revealed that potential remedies focusing on fewer, larger elementary schools provided the greatest overall advantages, while other solutions were less advantageous,” the report reads. Even if school sizes grow, classroom sizes will remain the same, the district said.
Many parents spoke against the plan when the school board discussed it in October, and again when the Facilities Commission considered it. They slammed the idea of losing small elementary schools they value for access and character in exchange for larger facilities and said the boards and public didn’t have enough time to parse the114-page study before the votes. Critics questioned the methodology and said the process was conducted with insufficient public input.
A group called Cheyenne Parent Alliance presented an alternative plan to the Facilities Commission that it maintains would address the capacity and condition needs without closing eight schools. Alliance representatives also furnished more than 1,000 signatures supporting that alternative.
School Facilities Division Administrator Shelby Carlson said the alternative had its own set of complications, and the commission declined to choose that option.
Fuchs and Dijkstal are both involved with the parent alliance. Their lawsuit summarizes many of the criticisms aired during the meetings. The commission’s adoption of remedy four “violates Petitioners’ constitutional right to an equal and quality education because it closes eight historically provided neighborhood elementary schools and forces students into distant, significantly larger schools,” the suit reads before making reference to the Wyoming Supreme Court’s 1995 Campbell v. State decision. “This substantially deviates from what the Supreme Court defines as a constitutionally required, quality education, and ‘the best we can do.’”
Furthermore, the suit says, the commission deviated from its rule requirements by “arbitrarily and subjectively” eliminating remedies through a process that did not properly consider all the true costs involved.
The closures would cause huge disruptions for students and school district employees, Dijkstal said, and she hopes the suit leads to what the alliance deems a better solution.
