District approves transportation trainer/specialist job description

Transportation Director Justin Budd stood ready to talk about the new position of transportation trainer and specialist at the Hot Springs County School District to its Board of Trustees on Sept. 20, but was left with little to say.

“We have a unique opportunity, with bringing on our new transportation supervisor, for somebody to be a trainer, who is local to our community, so that our folks do not have to travel so far to get certified for those positions,” Superintendent Dustin Hunt told the board. “We want to have a job description for that person, before we bring them on board.”

Before Budd could even speak to the board, Board Trustee Jennifer Axtell moved to approve the job description for transportation trainer and specialist, which Board Vice-Chair Will Farrell seconded.

“We’re just approving the job description right now, not to go out for a creator or whatever,” Board Trustee Rick Engelbrecht sought to confirm, which Hunt told him was correct.

The board, minus absent Treasurer Nichole Weyer and Trustee Clay Van Antwerp, voted unanimously to approve the job description.

Principal Breez Daniels was also brought forward by Hunt on Sept. 20, to provide a brief overview of the accreditation process, after he’d explained that the accreditation would take place Oct. 4-5, which Daniels elaborated would be conducted by a visiting team under the direction of the Wyoming Department of Education.

“It’ll include educators from other districts, who volunteer to come in and be part of a committee,” Daniels said Sept. 20. “It’ll include WDE employees.”

As part of the accreditation process, the district submitted documents and other evidence, as well as testimony, to be evaluated by a set of 14 criteria, which include how the board provides a mission and vision for the teachers and educators of the district, and supports them through goals and a strategic plan.

Oct. 4 was devoted to presentations by teachers and other school district staff and representatives, speaking to how the district meets those criteria, while Oct. 5 saw the WDE team members go into classrooms, whose teachers had prior notice, and observe each school for 90 minutes, after which the team debriefed the district by summing up its strengths and weaknesses.

“One of the things we talk about, in public education, is how public education should be transparent,” Hunt said. “I want to demonstrate some of the checks and balances that you all have in place, as a board, that should make people feel very comfortable.”

Hunt noted that this fall includes a financial audit, an accreditation visit from WDE, safety and food service audits — the latter also conducted by WDE — as well as a consolidated grant desk audit.

“I know those are big buzzwords in education right now,” Hunt said, “but we’re not just trying to throw darts to hit all the places on the dart board. It looks like we’re doing well, (but) we’re going to bear what we do. We’re going to show what we do, and we’re going to get feedback in all those areas.”

Hunt declared that “public education is pretty public, based on the laws,” and pointed out that, “if you’re not doing well, you have to submit a plan every year, if you’re not meeting or exceeding expectations, (but) we’ve been fortunate not to have to do that, because our staff’s doing such an amazing job.”