David Burke, Powell High School grad, father of three and Army veteran, is running for the Park County School District 1 Board to ensure the board keeps outside influences from interfering with what he sees as a quality district.

“You hear all these horror stories in other states and school boards with some crazy stuff and I just want to make sure that doesn’t come here and that there is a voice against it if it does come here,” Burke said. “Not saying that it is now, I think we’re doing a really good job.”

Originally from Powell, Burke graduated from Powell High School before serving as an infantryman in the Army for four years and was deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 with the 21st Infantry Regiment, Third Battalion. Since then, he has worked in the oil fields of Oregon Basin with Marathon Oil and Merritt Energy while raising his children.

His decision to run for school board was born out of the decision by board member Trace Paul, who decided not to run for re-election this year.

There are six candidates, three of them incumbents, for four available seats.

“With [Paul] not running for re-election, I think that it’s a prime opportunity to get in there and have a voice at the table,” Burke said.

He added he grew up and worked alongside several members of the board and would work well with them.

Burke has one child who graduated from PHS during Covid, another who is a junior and his youngest, who is 2 1/2 years old, who he intends to educate through the district as well.

“I think with the way that the social climate is moving some ways recently we need to stay just as active in making sure that we’ve got a successful future ahead for our kids,” Burke said.

Burke, a self-described conservative Christian, mostly wants to see school policy reflect Wyomingite and American values.

“I’m pretty happy with our schools and a lot of our school board members and I’d like to be a voice in keeping our schools focused on education and not politics,” Burke said.

Although Burke talked about how he believes that the district has done a great job in recent years in implementing policy and working with parents, he worries about outward social pressures on kids alongside the rise in artificial intelligence.

“AI is getting pretty scary in what it can do, you don’t know what’s real out there anymore,” Burke said. “I want to make sure we’re continuing to protect and focus on our kids' success.”

Overall, Burke sees the value in what the school board has done for the district over the last four years and wants to be a part of its future success.

“I would say what qualifies me is that I’m just a father," he said. "I'm not a politician, I just believe in getting on there to do what I can to keep our schools great and contribute to the progress we’ve seen over the past few years.”