The race for four Park County School District 1 school board seats remains packed with 10 candidates vying for the limited positions ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. 

Lillian Brazelton

Brazelton, an incumbent, has served on the school board for six years after filling a vacated seat in 2016. She has sent three kids through Park County School District 1 school system and her husband is also a Powell alumni. 

Brazelton’s education experience is through her time on the board, her children and a bachelor’s degree she is pursuing. 

She said she is seeking another term because she thinks the board is strong and the administrative team is “excellent,” and she wants to see the good work continue.

For Brazelton, the most important district-specific issue is doing what is best for the kids. This involves meeting all their needs such as safety, providing a healthy learning environment and having tools in place to help them excel socially and maintain their mental health. 

Brazelton also wants to better help the public understand how public funding works in the schools. 

“I just think there’s more to public funding than the public realizes because it’s not just the Legislature saying, ‘Here you go,’” Brazelton said.  “There’s grants, it’s specific, we have to abide by certain rules of how that money can be spent.”

Jennifer Franks

Franks owned and ran Little Learners Preschool in Powell for 16 years. She has also taught first, third and fourth grade classrooms and holds Wyoming Teacher License in K-6 with an early childhood endorsement. Frank’s oldest son graduated from Powell High School last year and her youngest is currently a junior.

According to a release provided to the Tribune and PCSD1, Franks is pursuing a position on the school board because of her passion for education. If elected she would like to advocate for all stakeholders. 

For Franks, the most important district level issue is communication. Franks said that she thinks that communication could be improved for new families who may not know what the board and other parents know.

“For your first day of school, how are we communicating that? So that from all the schools, all the parents know in a timely manner what’s going to happen, what to expect and everything like that,” Franks said. 

Franks said that some of these policies have stayed the same and it can be unclear for new parents and community members. 

Franks said that she would like to see consistent communication that is efficient and understandable for staff and parents alike. She said  she has no agenda if elected and will put in the work to come up with the best outcome for students and staff. 

Trace Paul

Incumbent Trace Paul has served on the school board for 12 years. Paul is a Powell native who graduated from Powell High School; his oldest daughter is a Powell alum and his son is still a student in the district. Paul’s wife is an educator in the district. Paul’s primary education experience comes from his time on the board.

Paul said that he decided to run for reelection because of the “phenomenal district.” 

“There’s a tremendous amount of exceptional things happening in our district every day and it’s fun to be a part of that,” Paul said.

He praised the graduation rates, stakeholders and all the departments within the district. He added that his position on the school board is a way to give back to the community that has taken care of his family.

Paul said  it is a hard decision to pinpoint the most important issue in the district. He listed graduation rates, student involvements, school safety, staff retention, enrollment sustainability and growth. He said that in a diverse student body an important issue in one grade is not as important in another grade. Paul said everything must be at a high level for the district to be successful.

Rich Stearns

Stearns is a Powell alumni who moved to Powell when he was 6 months old. He has one sophomore at Powell High School and one seventh grade student in the district.

Stearns said he is running for election because it is important to be active in the community you live in and help it thrive.

For Stearns, the most important issue in the district is communication. Stearns said communication can be important as stakeholders become concerned about hot topic issues in the national news. Stearns added he doesn’t think that a lot of these hot topic issues are prevalent in the district but understands people’s concern. 

“So I think the best way to deal with that is just making sure that there’s really good open communication between the community and the school board going forward and just being proactive, maybe about some of those things that are out there,” Stearns said.  “And not waiting, necessarily until there’s an issue but you also have to be careful about state law and things like that that come into play there.”

Stearns said that it is important to communicate to the community how state statutes affect the school district and explain what the board can and cannot do and how it operates.

Stearns thinks that Powell’s schools are very high performing and that in order to prevent some of the national issues in education from coming to the school district it is important to keep education unpoliticized.

Zac Opps

Opps is a Powell local who taught middle school and high school computer science, robotics and engineering in the district for 14 years of his 19-year career. Currently he works for a nonprofit to help schools utilize educational technology. 

Opps decided to run for the school board because of the district’s high performance. Opps cited the students’ individual care, achievement scores, graduation rates, school recognition, course options and extracurricular participation rate. He said this is partly due to the efforts of the board and he wants to “help this remarkable track record continue.”

The most important district specific issue to Opps is retaining quality staff as well as “developing new staff.” Opps said teacher quality is an important factor in student achievement according to research. 

“PCSD1 is fortunate to have not only exceptional teachers but also outstanding support staff throughout the district. (University of Wyoming) professor Dr. Mark Perkins recently surveyed over 700 Wyoming teachers and found that 65% of them would quit if they felt they could financially,” Opps said. “If even a fraction of that alarming percentage of PCSD1’s personnel left, it would have a dramatic effect on the district and our students.”

For Opps this retention includes building trust, listening to employees, empowering staff and recognizing and celebrating success. 

Dustin Paul 

Paul is a Powell native who graduated from Powell High School. Aside from his two years at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, he has lived in Powell for 34 years. Paul is also a certified martial arts instructor and active volunteer in school activities. He said these roles, in addition to being a father, have provided him the opportunity to receive training and work with numerous children with a variety of backgrounds.

Paul said that he also stays up to date with the Wyoming Department of Education and State Superintendent policies and news releases. 

He said public education is important in the community and he decided to run over concerns that the board was not reflecting the parents and community. 

“After talking with members of the community that concur with these concerns, we feel that the current board representation, their decisions in policy, curriculum, and parent transparency, is not aligned with the representation of our parents and community,” Paul said.

The most important district issues for Paul are parent and community communication and collaboration, fitting district policies to community standards and providing more resources to parents who have children with learning disabilities. 

Paul said that he and his wife “feel very blessed” to have children in the district and have received their own education from the district. He praised the teachers, district traditions and school activities. 

Laurie Larsen

Larsen is a third generation Powell native and Powell High School graduate as well as University of Wyoming alum, who worked as an insurance broker in Laramie before returning to Powell where she has worked for Sage Publishing Company for 19 years. Larsen’s four children are also Powell High School alums, which Larsen said helps her to be familiar with most aspects of the district. Larsen also follows education legislation. 

“Many of the board’s decisions are limited by state and federal legislation. I follow the Wyoming Legislature and can be counted on to try to understand the decisions that are made and how they will impact public education,” Larsen said.

Larsen has decided to run for election because in her experience she has seen that Powell has “excellent schools with the best teachers and staff,” and she wants to maintain this.

For Larsen, the most specific district issues are focusing on student success, policies for academic achievement and encouraging extra-curriculars, as well as students’ physical and mental health.

Daniel Morrow

Morrow is a Powell local who has three children in the Powell School District. Morrow joined the National Guard where he sustained an injury after being activated following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. After working in retail and Christian ministry, Morrow was medically retired because of his injury.

Morrow does not have experience specifically related to education but said that this brings a different perspective. 

He decided to run for school board because of his three daughters in school and he wants the best education for them.

The most important district issues for Morrow are expanding girls sports and making fiscally conservative decisions.

“I think sports are great, my girls love it, so I want that to continue to be a great opportunity,” Morrow said. 

He studied economics at the University of Wyoming and said that he thinks it is important to be careful with spending. 

Morrow also wants to improve communication with the community. He acknowledged that information may be available but said that “perception is what matters.”

He said that when he retired, the school district in Powell was a big part of the decision to move; his overall experience with the district has “been wonderful.”

Joni Bennett

Bennett has lived in the Powell and Cody area for 12 years and has a husband who works as a local electrician. Bennett’s two daughters have both graduated from Powell High School.

Bennett decided to run for election because she believes that students need “good education.”

“I believe that our kids need education, and I believe it needs to be good education. When Natalie (Bennett’s daughter) was in school, the last couple years, stuff just seemed to be more political than it did education based,” Bennett said.

The most important district specific issues for Bennett are keeping students safe and providing a “back to the basics” education of core subjects as well as career technical education classes.

Bennett said some students may not want to go to a four-year-college, instead they may want to learn a trade and this should be encouraged. 

Bennett also said that in her experience communication from the board could be improved. In her own experience Bennett has not had response to emails and does not think the public comment portion of the board meeting is long enough. Bennett said that teacher and community stakeholder communication can help provide the board with insight into what they need.

Beau Fulton

Fulton is a Powell native and Powell High School graduate, who has a first grade student in the district. Fulton has been farming in the Heart Mountain area since 2010. Fulton also officiates wrestling and is able to see different school cultures through this work. He is also involved with WHSAA and has had contact with school athletic directors in various districts. 

Fulton said he first thought about running one to two terms ago. He said that the district has good teachers and schools and he would like to see this continue as well as keep good teachers coming into the district.

The most important district issue for Fulton is keeping extracurricular activities open and accessible for students. Fulton said that he had not heard of pay-to-play scenarios in PCSD1 but had heard rumors in other districts. 

“I’d like to see those opportunities held up for those kids and make that provided for by the district,” Fulton said.

Fulton also said that keeping an eye on the budget is important for the district. 

Fulton said that he has seen his daughter make “strides in the district” and praised Powell’s culture.