HSCSD#1 issues for public knowledge

At the December School Board meeting I had requested to speak on a few Academic issues but was told that I could only speak on ‘agenda items’.  I was told that although the Board Meeting was open to the public it was “Not a Public Meeting” whereas State Statute 16-4-403 states that all meetings are public meetings.  Surprising that after being on the board for so many years they did not know that.

OK, then public media will have to be our means of informing the public on issues.

First of all, let me say that anyone with moderate internet research skill will find very different data than what is presented by the School Board.  Search enough and you will get conflicting data. Keep searching and you will eventually find an organization that gives you the data which supports your narrative. The HSCSD#1 website state report card also differs from other sources. 

Wyomingmeasuresup.com allows you to see report cards for all the school districts in the state. 

Reporting.edu.wyo.gov is another site worth looking into.  You will see that our Middle School is doing excellent while our Elementary and High School are not. 

Niche.com, another site, gives our school district a rating of #19 out of 48 school districts and our teachers rated #27. Glassdoor.com will give teacher salary info.  NEA.org gives more salary data

Civilrightsdata.ed.gov tells us that our schools have a student to teacher ratio of 11:1, student to counselor ratio of 259:1

A report by the National Education Association ranks Wyoming 16th in the nation in paying teachers.  The only item Hot Springs County School District is rated within the top 10 is in high administration salaries.

 Here is some more interesting info:

 •Almost 25% of our teachers are 1st or 2nd year in teaching. 

 •Our 3rd grade students reading skills are the 4th lowest in the state. 

 •Niche.com gave us a ‘C’ rating for college prep.

 •Niche .com gives our district a rating of 19 out of 48 districts.

•Only 66% of our students are at least proficient in math and 64% in reading.

If you are wondering where our tax money goes…..74% of our property taxes goes towards schools. This only makes up 22% of the total they receive.

Our superintendent’s salary is $171,384.25 which is higher than salaries of all 50 governors in our country, 62% higher than our governor. Our school board just approved a six year extension to his contract !  That is over one million dollars of our tax money!  All three of our principals make more money than our governor.

 In summary, our school board is deaf to the concerns of parents and teachers. Whatever the superintendent says is gospel. The superintendent is supposed to report to the board but apparently it is just the opposite.

Luckily this is an election year and 4 board members are up for re-election or removal.  I believe its time for a new board.  We have great kids and teachers that work very hard in our community, they deserve better. 

Respectfully,

Bob Aguiar, Chairman

Hot Springs County Moms for Liberty