 - The Lander School Board has agreed on a process for potentially "mothballing" Jeffrey City Elementary School, depending on enrollment numbers for 2026-2027.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The Lander School Board has agreed on a process for potentially “mothballing” Jeffrey City Elementary School, depending on enrollment numbers for 2026-2027.
The “mothball” designation refers to “any district building or facility which is closed and not operational, has the potential to be re-opened, is not being replaced under a district’s facility plan approved by the Commission, is not determined surplus within the district’s facility plan, and is maintained in good condition, for a maximum of three years without additional approval from the Commission,” according to Wyoming School Facilities Commission Rules.
Three options
No one has enrolled at Jeffrey City Elementary for the past three school years, Superintendent Mike Harris said in a memo on the topic this week.
That prolonged lack of enrollments has prompted inquiries from members of the Wyoming School Facilities Commission about the district’s plan for the facility, Harris said, outlining three potential “courses of action” the district could take moving forward.
First, Harris said, the district could “maintain the status quo by taking no action” – an option he did not recommend, given the “significant staffing and supervision issues” that could arise if a family decided to enroll at Jeffrey City Elementary in the middle of the school year, for example.
“(That) could be a really difficult thing for us to accommodate, in terms of hiring staff – particularly if that student needed special education support or other specialized programs,” Harris said during a school board meeting this week.
Harris also recommended against the second option outlined in his memo – closing the school and selling the property – because he said the district may need to utilize the facility in the future.
“Who knows what’s going to happen to Jeffrey City?” Harris said. “The price of uranium could spike. There could be … mining that happens. (There are) a lot of other economic possibilities that would necessitate a school being in that area.”
Under “mothball” status, the district could continue maintaining the facility without accepting students – preserving the ability to fully reopen the school if enrollments increase in the future, Harris said, recommending that route as the preferred option for the property.
“You (would) basically have it paused,” he said. “It buys the district time to figure out what to do and also lets people know that the school (is) temporarily not accepting students.”
Timeline
Harris didn’t advise mothballing the school right away, however.
Instead, he suggested meeting with area residents, informing them about the plan, and giving them an opportunity to enroll at the school for the 2026-2027 academic year.
If fewer than 10 students enroll by the school board’s April 21 meeting, Harris recommended voting to mothball the facility at that time.
The proposed timeline gives families about three months to enroll while also ensuring that the district “has ample time to hire a teacher (and any other necessary staff) and make all other arrangements to prepare for students at that location” if classes are to resume at Jeffrey City Elementary this fall, Harris said.
He also noted that, even if Jeffrey City Elementary is mothballed, the facility will still be available for community members to utilize for recreational purposes, “just as community members use district facilities in Lander.”
“The district’s facility use request process applies to all district facilities, and (we are) ready and willing to discuss details with any interested party,” Harris said.
After listening to Harris’ report, Board Chair Taylor Jacobs commended him for putting together “a great option” for the district.
Trustee Mara Gans agreed.
“I think this is an excellent plan and would support moving forward with this,” she said.
For more information, call Fremont County School District 1 at (307) 332-4711.