The Wyoming House of Representatives has given final approval to a bill to add the President of the University of Wyoming to the state Board of Education.

If the proposal becomes law the university president would be an ex-officio or non-voting board member. The change would bring the total membership of the board to 14 members.

House members rejected an amendment to the bill by Rep. Bill Henderson (R-Laramie County) that would have allowed the UW president and the Executive Director of the Wyoming Community College Commission to sit on the board but would have trimmed the overall board membership to 10 people.

Henderson's amendment would have also made the state Superintendent of Schools the chair of the Education Board. But Henderson's amendment was rejected on a voice vote.

The house then approved the bill on a 44-15 vote with one absent. The proposal now goes on to the Wyoming Senate.

The bill is sponsored by the Joint Interim Education Committee

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