Cheyenne – The billions of dollars Wyoming is getting from natural gas, coal and oil puts it in an enviable position to build schools, provide scholarships and connect students with the latest technology, state Superintendent Jim McBride said.
McBride was superintendent of a small school district east of Denver before he became technology director for the Wyoming Department of Education in 2003. Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed him last month to replace Trent Blankenship, who resigned.
McBride’s new job offers challenges aplenty, but tracking down funds isn’t among them.
“Down in Colorado, when I wanted to build a building, I had to do a whole campaign … ask the public if they would be willing to let us borrow the money, then ask them if they would be willing to raise their taxes to pay for this building,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
“Almost none of that is necessary in Wyoming. You just have the money in the bank,” he said.
Yet as Wyoming carries out $1 billion or more in court-ordered school construction, McBride wants the state School Facilities Commission to streamline the process by laying out a handful of standardized school designs for school districts.
If school boards want amenities, they would choose them from a separate list, like adding toppings at a salad bar.
Jim “Bubba” Shivler, director of the commission, suggested standard designs earlier this year but didn’t find much traction in the Education Department.
McBride, along with Freudenthal, has also put his weight behind getting the planned Hathaway Scholarship program ready for students next school year. The legislation for the full program hasn’t been approved yet, but McBride wants his department to tweak its rules so the scholarship is ready starting next year.
“The law isn’t going to be law until March. But we are going to use the draft bill to begin to work on the rules and regulations, because you can’t pass a bill in March and then start doing your work in April for kids who plan to go to college,” he said.
