CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Laramie County School District 1 Board of Trustees has chosen its new board member.
Marilyn Burden, a veteran of the Wyoming Air National Guard and district substitute teacher, was chosen to join the board at Monday night’s school board meeting. The decision comes after trustees interviewed three candidates Oct. 28. The other two candidates were Keavy Burkart and Nora Tamez.
The position, representing the district’s south triad, became vacant after former Trustee Susan Edgerton resigned Oct. 8. Edgerton was elected in November 2022. The district accepted letters of interest from 10 community members and ultimately chose to move forward with interviews for Burden, Burkart and Tamez. Board members then discussed the candidates during an executive session to decide who would fulfill the vacant seat.
Burden will fulfill the remainder of Edgerton’s term, which lasts through November 2026. She was sworn in Tuesday, according to Mary Quast, director of community relations at LCSD1.
About the new trustee
Burden has been a resident in the south triad for eight years, she said during her Oct. 28 interview. She was compelled to join the board because she wants to foster better communication between state, county and city agencies. Burden has been a substitute at LCSD1 on and off since 1993, she said, and has worked at most schools in the district.
Burden believes education shouldn’t be approached as “one size fits all” and parents should make decisions in their student’s best interest. She is intimately familiar with the Wyoming state legislative process, which will allow her to be an effective trustee, she said. She also said her military leadership would lend well to her becoming a trustee.
As far as challenges go, Burden believes community members want to begin finding solutions for issues and the district needs to move on from its book policies. Stigma, particularly in the south triad, is another problem. She said families in this triad feel unheard. Aside from these topics, other district-wide concerns include literacy, dropout rates, bullying, ineffective curriculums, poor safety, racism and discrimination.
If elected, Burden said her top three priorities as a trustee would be:
- Educating staffers on trade and military workforce opportunities — students, she said, have opportunities aside from college post-high school. Teenagers should know they have broader options to choose from.
- Fostering kindness
- Establishing standardized consequences for poor student behavior
A copy of Burden’s résumé and a video stream of her board interview can both be viewed below.
