Your source for news in Hot Springs County

New RWE principal selected

Changes are coming to the Hot Springs County School District. With 2015 drawing to a close, the school board has brought forth changes.

With the opportunity to reposition job duties within the board, all members opted to stay in their current position. Several members stated they would like to continue to grow and become better in their current position. Tobi Johansen was declared Chairman of the Board, Melissa Johnson was declared Vice-Chairman of the Board, Clay Van Antwerp was declared Clerk of the Board, and Nichole Weyer was declared Treasurer of the Board.

Laurie Graves, a teacher from Sheridan, was accepted as the new principal for Ralph Witters Elementary. Graves will assume her position July 1, 2016. Grave will take over for Deb Brown who resigned from the position earlier this year.

Another change coming to the board will be its monthly meeting time. The current meeting time became a conflict with trustee Dr. Travis Bomengen due to having other meetings on the same day. After much discussion and deliberation, the board voted to have their monthly meeting moved to the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

One of the losses of the night was the dismissal of the indoor track program. District activities director Brandon Deromedi brought forth several reasons why the program was cut. One big factor was the fact that the district has had no luck finding a qualified person to coach. Another was student involvement is low, only four students are in the program for the sport, others are just there to maintain their physical fitness level until spring. The school still offers several other running sports with cross country and track. If students still feel the need to participate in indoor track, they can participate on the Worland indoor track team. Deromedi said the Hot Springs County School District offers the most 2A athletic activities in the state, stating closing the program should add some balance to the district.

Other discussions involved the school principals each school discussing their comprehensive school plans, the process used to develop the plans and approval of their plans from the Wyoming Department of Education. Thermopolis Middle School principal Breez Daniels discussed the pilot of a “life coach” position. The pilot has started at the middle school; if the pilot is successful it will spread to the high school and elementary school. Vice Chairwoman Melissa Johnson gave great praise for the life coach position and is optimistic for its future.

Cindy Wallingford, the food service director, gave a in depth report on the food service program. Reporting the district is paying higher prices for the food but the quality of the food is low. Wallingford considered terminating participation in the co-op. The partnership is not as great of a benefit as it has been in the past due to their new bid agreement. A new payment method is being implemented in the elementary school. After the holiday break, students will be able to pay using a fingerprint scanner. The new system will help with efficiency and accuracy during the lunchtime. There was some concern about having to finger print all the students and if parents will reject the idea. Wallingford has signed the district up for the Farm to School program. Giving the district many options locally to be taken advantage of including honey and beef.

Closing out the meeting Superintendant Dustin Hunt informed the board they will have to make up the snow day on Dec. 15. The school board has two weeks to come up with a plan and report back to the state.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.

 

Reader Comments(0)