Beau Fulton

When Beau Fulton was elected to serve Park County School District 1’s board of trustees, he wanted to be a part in preserving the quality of the area’s schools. Now, with a full term behind him, the farmer and father of two is seeking re-election.

Fulton is a Powell local, graduating from Powell High School in 2003 before earning a bachelor’s degree in ag business from the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Upon returning to the Basin, Fulton began working as a farmer in the shadow of Heart Mountain. Beyond farming, he also officiates wrestling and is raising two children who attend Westside Elementary.

“I really believe that we have some of the best staff in the state. I think they do a really good job and have a student first approach,” Fulton said. “I think the relationship between our board, staff and administration is beyond positive and, even when there are challenges, we all have the right intentions in mind and always find a way to tackle them.”

Fulton has served since 2022 after a packed election against 10 other candidates and currently acts as the board’s vice chairman. He originally campaigned on fiscal responsibility and keeping student activities open and accessible for everyone, issues that he still believes are just as important as they were four years ago.

“Activities are part of the educational process and I want to keep bolstering that to get as many kids as we can involved in something, whether it’s basketball or football or anything else,” Fulton said. “I think that it’s great for the students and I see it in how it supports the education of my own kids.”

Fulton has been actively involved in developing district policy since being elected, including drafting the district’s AI policy in 2024 alongside fellow board member Lillian Brazelton. Initially, he expected the discussion to mainly revolve around academic dishonesty and plagiarism but learned about its broader educational uses from some of the teachers in Powell Middle School. He likened the technology to the auto-track systems that he uses for his tractors in that it’s another technology that can be used to improve precision and performance while still being overseen by someone who can understand it.

“When we got our first systems, we realized how it was able to improve what we were doing and make it more precise. Do I still know how to drive it manually? Absolutely,” Fulton said. “It’s another tool that we have available in the box. You can use this kind of technology to make your process better so we need to teach our kids how to use it.”

Fulton is still skeptical about how the technology can be used and has worked to ensure through board policy that there are guardrails for students. This is reflected in the district’s language regarding artificial intelligence, which states that AI is not a substitute for human judgement, that it must be appropriately tailored for an educational context and that it must align with the district’s vision for high-quality learning. Students across the district are also expected to be able to recognize the implicit bias of information presented by AI and are not permitted to use it to avoid school work or in any other way that violates academic dishonesty guidelines.

Looking ahead, Fulton wants to see the district sustain and maintain strong test scores and high graduation rates by supporting faculty and staff who give students the support they need. He supports the professional development opportunities that have been provided to district personnel, saying they always bring useful ideas to the process.

“There are diverse opinions and that’s OK because at the end of the day, we can compromise when we need to and that speaks volumes about the board and the people that are on it,” Fulton said. “After serving a term with the people that we have, I think we’re definitely on track to keep this district and our schools great and I hope to be a part of that for another four years.”