Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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The Hot Springs County High School Boys and Girls Golf Team was honored before the school board on Oct. 20, as the husband-and-wife team of Brandon and Catelyn Deromedi extolled the students’ virtues. Catelyn Deromedi, who serves as principal of Hot Springs County High School, introduced both the team and their coach, Hot Springs County School District Activities Director Brandon Deromedi. “They hit an all-time high as far as state championships,” Catelyn Deromedi said. “They are now being celebrated for their fifth state championship in a ro...
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 t...
The Hot Springs County School Board’s Sept. 20 meeting saw Business Manager Chauncy Johnson provide an update on the progress of the Lucerne property, before Superintendent Dustin Hunt delivered an update on the safety audit. The board approved the sale of the Lucerne property in August, and Johnson informed the board on Sept. 20 that the Hot Springs County School District will work with its attorney to advertise for the bid of the property. “At one point, we were talking about putting it up on our auction site,” Johnson said. “I think it needs...
Becky Martinez, the middle school vocational teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor for the Big Springs chapter of the Hot Springs County School District, presented the school board with three of the six middle school FFA state champions and national finalists on Sept. 20. Martinez sees agriscience research as integral to her agricultural science class. This year’s students spent an average of 30 class periods on their projects, which they chose to fit into one of six categories, before pursuing research similar to theirs, to help b...
Earlier this year, Britton Van Heule was recognized as teacher of the year by the Wyoming Association for Career and Technical Education, but the Hot Springs County School District Board of Directors wasn’t able to recognize him until Sept. 20, when it was mentioned that he was also selected as a teacher of the year, out of a pool of four “Bobcats Champion for Children,” for the school district. Although Van Heule has also applied for state teacher of the year, he noted he did not make the list of finalists. For the Wyoming Association for C...
Lyle Wiley, head coach of the Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate team, addressed the Hot Springs County School Board on Aug. 18 about the team’s extensive history and most recent accomplishments. Hot Springs County High School founded its first chapter of the Speech and Debate team in 1962, which Wiley pointed out makes 2022 the team’s 60th year of competing in the fields of speech and debate. Wiley elaborated that the National Speech and Debate Association recognized the Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate team as...
Food service for the Hot Springs County School District is undergoing some significant shifts for the coming school year, as District Business Manager Chauncy Johnson reported to the school board on July 19, when he sought the board trustees’ approval for a new set of school meal prices, which they granted unanimously. Before Johnson had even moved onto the food service portion of the board meeting’s agenda, he reported to the board that he’d increased the subsidy for food service in the district’s budget, from $20,000 to $125,000 for the 202...
The Hot Springs County School Board’s discussion of school safety on July 19 opened with Superintendent Dustin Hunt pointing out that the school district had planned to conduct a complete safety audit just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. While the pandemic shut down any such audits, Hunt has since reached out to the state, and the Department of Homeland Security, to finally obtain a safety audit, reviewing the district’s facilities, practices and drills. Those agencies have referred the district to other personnel in turn, while Hunt has reached...
The Hot Springs County School Board unanimously approved the list of bus stops for the 2022-23 school year, which were largely unchanged from the previous year, but not without a debate on the relative safety afforded by the mandatory enforcement of the eight-way light system. Board Clerk Joe Martinez broached the subject when he noted a recommendation that the district discontinue the practice and use of the eight-way light system any time buses are receiving or discharging students. Martinez...
On July 19, the Hot Springs County School Board received updates on the Lucerne property from Business Manager Chauncy Johnson, who acknowledged the district has been discussing this issue for nearly a year. “We sent a letter, through certified mail, to the only heir we could find who would have first right of refusal for that piece of land, in the event the board would decide to sell it,” Johnson said. “We’ve not gotten anything back through the mail service that indicates that person has signed for that letter.” If the board does decide to se...
Brandon Deromedi, activities director for the Hot Springs County School District, spoke with the Thermopolis Independent Record to elaborate on a proposal, for recognizing the achievements of student-athletes, that he first introduced to the HSCSD Board of Trustees on June 16. Deromedi explained that he was in discussions to potentially secure a prospective platform for showcasing those student-athletes’ achievements “virtually,” given the challenges facing the school district in honoring those achievements through the limits of the district’s...
Brandon Deromedi, activities director for the Hot Springs County School District, provided an update on spring sports to the HSCSD Board of Trustees on June 16. Deromedi celebrated the successes of what he saw as “a great year,” with the boys’ golf team being named state champions, and golfer Hardy Johnson being named an individual state champion, both for the fourth time, while the wrestling team took fifth place at state, and wrestlers Roedy Farrell and Wyatt McDermott were named individual state champions. The speech and debate team took...
Carolyn Conner, administrative director of the Northeast Wyoming Board of Cooperative Educational Services based in Thermopolis, addressed the Hot Springs County School District Board of Directors on June 16 to provide an update on NW BOCES, which marks 52 years this year. Conner noted that, during the peak of the COVID pandemic, “we had kids, and the bad thing was, they couldn’t go home and see their parents, so we became really adept at using Zoom.” Conner pointed out that NW BOCES is “accredited just like the school districts” and “also cert...
The Hot Springs County School Board awarded its bid for pre-kindergarten and daycare equipment to Star Playgrounds of Colorado and Wyoming. “I want to be really clear (about) the reason you’re only seeing one bid,” Hot Springs County School District Business Manager Chauncy Johnson said. Johnson explained that the state Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) serves as a purchasing conglomerate to pre-vet such bids, “so everything in this has basically been pre-bid, all this pricing has been pre-bid, and this company can provide...
At the May Hot Springs County School District Board meeting, Mathew Johnson presented the proposed 2022-23 budget for the Central Wyoming College Board of Cooperative Higher Educational Services (CWC-BOCHES), approved on first reading by the CWC-BOCHES board of trustees during their April 25 meeting. Because CWC-BOCHES is a partnership between Central Wyoming College and the Hot Springs and Fremont county school districts, the Hot Springs County School District board of trustees was requested to review and approve this budget, and communicate... Full story
The May 19 meeting of the Hot Springs County School Board saw some overdue recognition of student success finally addressed, before the board moved up laying some groundwork for the next school year. The board of trustees took time to celebrate a significant event from nearly two months prior, as Hot Springs County High School Principal Breez Daniels introduced her school’s chapter of the Future Farmers of America, so they could receive congratulations for their performance as part of the 92nd Montana FFA State Convention, at Bozeman from M...
The Hot Springs County School Board on May 19 awarded the bid to remodel the Thermopolis Middle School locker rooms, and install a new vocational-agricultural bathroom. After Board Clerk Joe Martinez made the motion to approve the contract, which Board Treasurer Nichole Weyer seconded, Hot Springs County School District Business Manager Chauncy Johnson explained, “As soon as the board approves this recommendation. we’ll be in communication with the contractor, most likely tomorrow morning.” Johnson added, “They’re looking at getting started a...
The Hot Springs County School Board on April 21 authorized the district to go out for bid to remodel the Thermopolis Middle School locker rooms, and install a new vocational-agricultural bathroom. Superintendent Dustin Hunt touted these proposed improvements as addressing both plumbing and privacy issues in need of updating in the middle school and the vo-ag building, before school district business manager Chauncy Johnson went into further detail on the two projects proposed for bid. At Thermopolis Middle School, Johnson explained the one...
The Hot Springs County School Board unanimously accepted a preliminary budget on April 21 as required by state statute, with school district business manager Chauncy Johnson pointing out, “It’s not something you have to approve, but you do need to accept a preliminary budget for the district.” Johnson bookended his summary of the preliminary budget with cautions that “these numbers are very preliminary,” as he outlined the district’s revenue projection of $11,166,515 for the 2022-23 school year, and proposed that the board accept that amount...
The Hot Springs County School Board voted unanimously to apply for an alternative calendar for the 2022-23 school year, not only for Ralph Witters Elementary, but also for Thermopolis Middle School and Hot Springs County High School, to provide additional teacher training. According to Superintendent Dustin Hunt, there’s room enough in each building’s schedule to provide nine Fridays of training, which was initially set aside for elementary literacy, but which he acknowledged could also be devoted to math instruction training and other pro...
Student trustee Hallie Martinez reported the week of Feb. 22 would be Future Farmers of America Week, “so I know that FFA members have a lot of cool stuff planned, including the petting zoo that we do every year.” Martinez explained that event would take place Thursday, Feb. 24, “if anybody wants to pop in, say hi and see some animals.” The school district’s FFA members took part in the state Agriscience Fair competition conducted by the Wyoming FFA. Martinez elaborated that Hot Springs County School District’s FFA members would get to know if...
The Hot Springs County School Board on Jan. 20 considered the disposition of the district’s play park and the next steps toward its bus loop, as Superintendent Dustin Hunt acknowledged the significant amount of discussion among different entities within the community about “what might happen” with the play park, and with our bus loop “possibilities taking place.” Hunt summed up the efforts to relocate the play park to the Hot Springs State Park, then to the town of Thermopolis, by noting that engineers for the state, and represent...
The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees’ first regular meeting of 2022 saw a do-over of two of its officer elections, which nonetheless yielded the same results. Superintendent Dustin Hunt credited a patron who’d contacted the district to correct the procedures of the board’s elections of its chair and vice-chair during its Dec. 16 meeting, by pointing out the nominations hadn’t followed Robert’s Rules of Order. Board trustee Clay Van Antwerp, whom Hunt noted has had some experience with Robert’s Rules of Order, explained t...
The Hot Springs County School District was able to wrap up 2021 with its student meal debt cleared, as Food Service Director Hannah Brooks reported to the school board Dec. 16, news which incoming board chair Sherman Skelton deemed “a celebration.” Business Manager Chauncy Johnson lavished praise upon Brooks before she elaborated on this good news, describing it as “a pleasure” to work with her, and crediting her with “so much work in the background that I feel privileged to know about.” According to Johnson, Brooks has been “very busy,...
For the Hot Springs County School District’s monthly celebrations in December, High School Principal Breez Daniels introduced sophomore Aiden Freeman and Band Director Drew Brown to recognize Freeman’s All-State Concert Band status. Brown described Freeman as “one of my favorite students,” before joking, “Don’t tell them I said that,” and recalled how Freeman came to him as a sixth-grader, after class one day, and asked Brown how to proceed in band. “I was like, ‘Okay, here are the steps you need to take, and these are the things you need t...
