School board presented with financial audit info

Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees met last week for their January meeting and received the final presentation of the District’s financial audit from Koerwitz, Michel, Wright and Associates.

The auditors didn’t find any glaring discrepancies with the annual audit that have not been present before, such as not enough separation between duties in the administrative side of things. This is typical with most businesses in the area since there simply aren’t enough employees to keep that separation in a manner most large companies would otherwise require.

The board accepted the audit as presented during the meeting. Anyone wishing to review the audit for themselves may find a copy of it on the district website at http://www.hotsprings1.org/board-of-education/

Come spring there will be a flurry of activity at Thermopolis Middle School as the board approved a bid for a new roof at the meeting.

Redd Roofing Wyoming out of Sheridan produced the winning bid for the new roof, coming in at $532,369.

Replacement of the roof will begin some time in May near the end of the school year.

Another item that came up for discussion at the meeting was the possibility of naming the auditorium after former music educator William H. Malloy.

Naming the auditorium after Malloy falls within the parameters the district set years ago for naming facilities, including being an advocate for students that has gone above and beyond the normal expectations of the position held in the school district.

The board did not make any formal decision on the matter, but will bring it back to the table in March or April along with a public meeting to get local input on the proposed naming.

The district is struggling this year with having an adequate number of substitute teachers to cover absences by district employees.

While they do not put a specific number on how short of substitutes they are, they are very uncomfortable with their current numbers and looked for ways to bring more substitutes into the district.

To that end, a free substitute teacher training course is being offered Jan. 28-31 in the district boardroom.

The course will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. For more information, please call Kelly Andreen at 864-6515.