Thermopolis schools excelled last year in testing

Hot Springs County High School Principal Catelyn Deromedi and Middle School Principal Darren Luebbe got in front of the Hot Springs County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees on Sept. 21 to share the testing results of Thermopolis students last year.

An “accountability rating” was assigned to the cumulative performance of the students of all three school levels using three parameters: achievement, growth and equity. Achievement is a simple measure of proficiency, growth is a measure of proficiency from one year to the next, and equity is the projected growth for students that are not meeting academic expectations.

Deromedi proudly announced that every school in the district at least met expectations, if not exceeding them, in every category. She said, “It’s not common for all three school levels to be at that level of meeting expectations, so we are very proud of that.”

She also shared that for those Thermopolis students who took part in Wyoming’s Test of Proficiency and Progress and ACT testing at the high school, they were among the top five school districts in the state in every category, in every grade nine through 12.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Hot Springs County School District No. 1 Superintendent Dustin Hunt spoke about future plans for the district, including acquiring staff certification to teach a course for students to earn a commercial driver’s license. This course would be offered to students 18 years or older, and Hunt said that it may be ready in time to be offered to students as early as the spring semester of this school year.

Hunt also expressed the intent of adding hunter safety to the curriculum offered by the middle school.

He said, “There are a lot of pieces in place about offerings that we are looking to add; obviously that will go through the proper channels before it becomes a recommendation to the board, but I think it’s important that the board knows that we are going to try to get those things in place.”

Hunt also reported on the progress being made on the construction of the teacherages. In addition to reporting that they were coming together as planned, he said that high school students in trade classes have had the opportunity to get hands-on experience working on the housing units.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Amanda Coxvill expressed concern for the music program in Thermopolis, specifically the issue of not currently having a music teacher. She said that her son, an aspiring musician, currently resorts to being tutored by an 11th grade band student. Coxvill stated that she was willing to offer whatever help she could to help the district in finding a suitable music teacher.

Andrea Miller, a former teacher at the district, took issue with a lack of action since she had previously appeared in front of the board to talk about the teacher evaluation process. She said that she had not been contacted by board members to discuss the matter further, although later multiple board members stated they had reached out, but were unable to reach Miller.

Miller also said that she had brought with her results of researching district staff who had left the district since 2018, the year she moved to Thermopolis. She shared anecdotal evidence from former staff she had contact with to make the claim that they left not due to housing or a change in career but due to internal issues in the district. She said, “Some of them that I’ve talked to, they said they left because they felt unhappy, unsupported, because they had no other choice or their career would not go forward.”

STAFFING

Ryan Larkin-Smith was approved as interim special services director, effective Oct. 1.

The resignation of special education teacher Catherine Sand was approved, effective Sept. 29.

Counselor Cortney O’Connor was approved to provide counseling services at Ralph Witter Elementary School.

POLICY

The following policies were approved on second and final reading:

Policy CBD – Superintendent’s Contract. Amends the deadline for renewal of the Superintendent’s contract from the last board meeting in February, moving it to the last meeting in November.

Policy DJE – Bidding Procedures. Raises the minimum limit for the requirement of obtaining competitive bids on purchases made by the district from $10,000 to $25,000, and the limit for the requirement to publish their purchase in a newspaper or obtain permission from the board from $25,000 to $50,000.

Policy GDC – Classified Staff Leaves and Absences. Multiple changes made to improve the clarity of the rules laid out in the document.

Policy GDD – Classified Staff Vacation and Holidays. Completely reworked the system by which staff accrue vacation time. The goal was to fix full-time and part-time staff earning vacation time unequally.

FOURTH/FIFTH GRADE FIELD TRIPS

Hunt shared due to persistent issues, elementary age students in the district will no longer be sent on overnight school trips. He said, “We’re not looking at eliminating these trips, just the overnight component of them due to safety concerns.” He mentioned past issues in which “they had to get law enforcement involved.”

OTHER

The district has sold a 1986 Chevrolet and a New Holland tractor originally purchased in 1997 at public surplus auction.

The job description for a new position, Alternative Classroom Teacher, was approved.

An out-of-district student’s request to attend Hot Spring County School District No. 1 was approved at the Sept. 21 meeting.