Cody School Head on Short-List for State Superintendent

If confirmed as the State Superintendent, Brian Schroder of the Veritas Academy in Cody pledges to give important decisions back to communities.

The process of naming a replacement for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow – who resigned earlier this month – continues. The Wyoming Republican Party’s central committee has nominated three candidates out of a list of twelve potential replacements.

One of the three people nominated for the position is Brain Schroder, Head of Cody’s Veritas Academy.

Courtesy Veritas Academy

If chosen, Governor Mark Gordon would appoint the Cody school leader to serve the rest of Balow’s term, which ends in January 2023.

Brian Schroder has served as the head of Veritas Academy for 20 years. He is an ordained minister with a B.A. in Pastoral Studies, Bible, and Speech & an M.A. in Professional Counseling.

The Veritas Academy is a K-7 school operating out of the First Presbyterian Church in Cody. The school promotes itself as offering “a private, Christian, classical educational experience” with classes in Latin and the Bible in addition to a standard curriculum.

Schroder has indicated his approach would return what he considers to be local decisions to local communities. This is particularly true when it comes to COVID-19 masks and vaccines.

“I think that decision needs to stay local, with the communities and their schools,” said Schroeder in an interview with the Cowboy State Daily. “The mask and vaccine mandate and how restrictive that ought to be, that ought to be sorted out at the school board level subject to the parents and the community.”

The other two names submitted to Governor Gordon are Thomas Kelly, chair of the Department of Political and Military Science at American Military University, and Marti Halverson, the representative of District 22 (south of Jackson) in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018.

All three short-list candidates emphasize conservative values in Wyoming’s school, both financially and philosophically.

There is no indication of the kind of person Governor Gordon wants to serve as the State Superintendent, nor when he will announce his decision. However, that announcement is expected soon.