CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Today, Dec. 29, Wyoming State Superintendent-Elect Megan Degenfelder announced her leadership team at the Wyoming Department of Education.
“I am very excited to announce this experienced team of state leaders who will help me deliver on the campaign commitments I made to Wyomingites to empower parents, increase transparency in schools, prepare our students for success in the workforce, and keep political bias out of the classroom,” Degenfelder said.
The leadership team members are as follows:
- Dicky Shanor will serve as Chief of Staff. Shanor will support the superintendent with her roles and responsibilities and oversee the policy, personnel and budgetary decisions of the department. Shanor is an attorney who has previously served as Chief of Staff at the Virginia and Wyoming Departments of Education. He has also served as President of the Cheyenne City Council and as Vice Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party and is a Broad Center at the Yale School of Management Public Education Leadership fellow. He has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming Colleges of Law and Education.
- Wanda Maloney will serve as Chief Policy Officer. Maloney will lead the Policy Group, which includes department rule making, accreditation and support, school accountability, college and career readiness, student/teacher resources and standards and assessment. She also will lead the department’s legislative work, serve as a liaison to the State Board of Education and assist in policy development. Maloney has previously served as the Department Director of Accountability, a school district curriculum director, a principal and an elementary and special education teacher. She also previously served as the Wyoming Curriculum Directors association president.
- Trent Carroll will serve as Chief Operations Officer. Trent will oversee the Operations Group, which includes the school foundation program, school data collection and all agency financial functions. Trent has served in several management roles at the department over the last 19 years and has been the Chief Financial Officer for the past eight years. He has extensive experience in state government operations, agency budgets, human resources, and Wyoming school finance. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the City of Cheyenne Board of Adjustment.
- Shelley Hamel will serve as Chief Academic Officer. Hamel began this role in 2018; supports districts in the implementation of Special Education, Career and Technical Education and improved literacy practices; and oversees the use of federal education funds. Previous to this appointment, she served two years as the Department Director of School Support and 24 years at the school district level as a special education teacher, Family and Consumer Science teacher, Library Media Specialist and Director of Special Education. She has been the recipient of the GREA Excellence in Teaching Award and recognized as the Wyoming Department of Family Services Foster Parent of the Year.
- Linda Finnerty will serve as Communications Director. After retiring from a 28-year marketing career in Chicago, Denver and Wyoming, Finnerty found her next adventure at the Department of Education in 2020. Her experience on both the client and ad agency side has allowed her to bring a fresh view to communications for the department. Her role includes overseeing all agency communications, strategic planning, media relations, constituent response management, multiple websites, social media and public records. She is also a co-liaison to the State Board of Education.
