Campbell County task force to appear before college commission

A task force assembled in July to create and present an application for a new college district to be created for Campbell County is scheduled to appear Thursday in a meeting of the Wyoming Community College Commission.

The commission will meet Thursday and Friday at Casper College and online. The Campbell County task force is the last item on the agenda of Thursday’s commission workshop.

In a recent interview with Sheridan Media, Dr. Walt Tribley, who’s president of the Northern Wyoming Community College District, said there is a strong movement to separate Gillette College from the Northern Wyoming college district.

Gillette College was established as part of the Northern Wyoming college district in 1969. The latest move to separate Gillette from the district was sparked by an announcement by the Northern Wyoming Community College District in June that the district would cut funding to men’s and women’s sports programs at both Sheridan and Gillette colleges. Dr. Tribley said the move was made to cut costs at a time when the district is facing severe cuts in finances.

At a budget hearing in early July, Campbell County commissioners and college representatives asked that Gillette College be allowed to privately fund their sports program for the upcoming school year. That request was denied. The task force was created on July 21.

Dr. Tribley said if Gillette separates from the Northern Wyoming Community College District, there will be impacts which, at this time, the college district is working to understand and prepare for.