Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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The Hot Springs County School Board vice-chair got promoted to chair, while its clerk and treasurer switched offices, during the board of trustees’ Dec. 16 meeting. Board trustee Clay Van Antwerp nominated Vice-Chair Sherman Skelton for board chair, while fellow trustee Rick Engelbrecht nominated Treasurer Joe Martinez for board chair. Engelbrecht said of Martinez, “I think he deserves it and has earned it. He’s been on the board quite a while and has been working hard.” Board Clerk Nicole Weyer nominated Chair Jennifer Axtell to retain...
Hot Springs County School District Business Manager Chauncy Johnson presented CPA Deborah Roget on Nov. 16 to discuss the district’s latest audit. “Over the past couple of years, it’s been difficult for her to be here in person, because of different COVID-19 situations,” Johnson said of Roget, who had spoken with Hot Springs County School Board Clerk Nichole Weyer and Board Treasurer Joe Martinez, “as well as my office, the business office staff,” superintendent Dustin Hunt and bookkeeper Kathy Groh, earlier that same day. According t...
Thermopolis High School Director of Activities and Athletics Brandon Deromedi introduced the 2021-22 golf team and “our four-time boys state champion team” to the Hot Springs County School Board of Trustees on Oct. 21. “More than any of the other years, they’ve overcome so many obstacles to get to this point,” Deromedi said. “To go through the state tournament, the very first day, we came out tied with Kemmerer, and that was definitely not where we had projected ourselves.” Deromedi admitted to some nervousness among both the students and...
The Hot Springs County School Board voted unanimously on Sept. 16 to approve the previously proposed bus stop at 421 North Highway 20, but not before Board Treasurer Joe Martinez offered a few longer-term suggestions. “I made a point this morning, going to town and back home, to take a look at this,” Martinez said. “When these requests come in, it would be nice if we had some more visuals to go with them, from the actual bus stops, looking both directions, so we can see what they’re seeing.” Martinez cited the familiarity of fellow board tru...
Although the Hot Springs County School Board was able to assure parents, during the Sept. 16 board meeting, that the board has no plans for mask or vaccine mandates stemming from the school district, there were still plenty of parents in attendance who stepped up to express their opinions on the matter. Brayden Harvey came armed with “Wyoming statutes and constitutional clauses,” citing state statute 142-206 as saying, “The liberty of a parent to the care, custody and control of a child is a fundamental right that resides first in the paren...
“So, it looks like we’re headed back to school on Monday (Sept. 13), then,” Board Chair Jennifer Axtell said to the Hot Springs County School Board at the close of its Sept. 9 meeting to discuss the school district’s COVID response plan. Superintendent Dustin Hunt added that, if there were additional changes the board wished to make, it would need to take action on those by Sept. 16, while also providing the opportunity for public comment during that same meeting. While Hunt concurred that students needed to return to school, he also agreed...
The Hot Springs County School Board was treated to an explanation of new federal food service guidelines from District Food Service Coordinator Hannah Brooks on Aug. 19, after she covered the success of the district’s summer food service program. Brooks reported district food service staff handed out 11,937 breakfasts and lunches each over 58 weekdays, averaging 205 breakfasts and lunches per day this summer, using the same recipes and variety of hot and cold dishes as during the school year, earning “fantastic” feedback from parents and stude...
The Hot Springs County School Board received an upbeat update on its scholarship fund, and approved two new bus loading zones, during its July 15 meeting. Chauncy Johnson, business manager for the district, provided the update on the McCurdy Stump scholarship investment fund. “Last fall, the board approved changes in the investment structure with Edward Jones, who manages this fund, to be more of an ongoing, hopefully profitable investment structure, as opposed to sort of acting like we were in retirement, if you will, and just living off of a...
The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved the district’s proposed budget for 2021 to 2022 on July 15, after Chauncy Johnson, business manager for the district summed up the past year as “a challenge like none of us has ever really seen.” Johnson pointed out the number of school districts across the country that were not able to provide the same services to their students as the Hot Springs County School District. He credited the district’s staff for this feat, before crediting the board with already approvi...
Although classes might be out for students of the Hot Springs County School District, Superintendent Dustin Hunt addressed the Board of Trustees on June 17 by reviewing the work that school staff have completed, as well as the work they still have ahead of them, over the course of this summer. Hunt reminded the board that the following weekend would see them participate in the administrative team “boot camp,” which is set to lead off with reviews of climate surveys and appraisals of areas for growth in the district, before staff tackle the str...
A Thermopolis Middle School teacher was recently named the Hot Springs County School District’s Teacher of the Year for 2021. Thermopolis Middle School Principal Steven Soderstrom presented sixth-grade teacher Jacob Strenger to the Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees as the Teacher of the Year during their May 20 meeting. Soderstrom lamented that, as recently as two years ao, he had yet to witness Strenger teaching firsthand. “In my new position, I get to see and learn from him,” said Soderstrom, who lauded Strenger for living...
Before the Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved the proposed recreation district budget on May 20, two of the trustees clarified the budget’s finer points. Trustee Will Farrell acknowledged that changes were made, to prepare for the lack of a levy, but he repeatedly insisted that these revisions weren’t “really cuts,” and he instead framed them as “trimming (the budget) back down to where it was realistically, and where it has been over the last four years,” minus the parts of the annual budgets he deemed ...
The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees voted May 20 to approve the proposed fiscal year 2021-22 budget for the Central Wyoming College Board of Cooperative Higher Educational Services (CWC BOCHES), that enables prepared high school students to earn college credits through dual and concurrent enrollment programs. Mathew Johnson, the concurrent and dual enrollment program director for CWC BOCHES, sent a letter on May 10 to the school district, explaining that Hot Springs County Assessor Dan Webber had estimated a decrease in...
The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees approved a preliminary budget for fiscal year 2021 to 2022, after the district’s business manager, Chauncy Johnson, introduced it on April 20. After Board Treasurer Joe Martinez moved to approve the budget, and Board Vice-Chair Sherman Skelton seconded the motion, the board approved the budget unanimously. Johnson opened by noting the district’s local revenues continue to be low, as projected for most of the year, and while he assured the board that the district would be “okay” as it c...
It looks like it's try, try again for Thermopolis' own Kacy Conner, who wrapped up his third season of semi-pro snowmobile hill climbs on the weekend of April 17-18 by qualifying in one of his four competitive classes at the national championship hill climb at the Lost Trail Ski Resort in Sula, Montana. "I qualified in the semi-pro open class, but I missed the semi-pro improved stock class by 6/100ths of a second," Conner said. "The other two categories, I was having problems with my sled, so I'll be starting over in points next January," he ad...
The Hot Springs County School District’s Board of Trustees voted against applying for a waiver from the mask mandate during a special meeting March 30, during which Hot Springs County Health Officer Dr. Vernon Miller answered questions and offered testimony. Board Chair Jennifer Axtell and Board Trustee Will Farrell voted in favor of applying for a waiver. Board Vice-Chair Sherman Skelton set the tone for the meeting by asking Miller, if a student or school staff member tested positive, and masks were not being worn, would it require a l...
The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees received a cautiously optimistic financial forecast from Business Manager Chauncy Johnson on March 18, who reported the district is due to receive roughly $1.4 million as a result of the recently passed COVID-19 stimulus package. “We’ve inquired about how we can utilize this funding, and the good news is that the federal government hasn’t put a lot of tight stipulations on it,” said Johnson, who noted that authorized expenditures for the $1,434,935.08 include retrofitting air filtrat...
The Hot Springs County School District will wait until after receiving the results of a survey of certified and classified staff on March 30 before its board of trustees votes on whether to apply for a mask variance from Wyoming Public Health. Board Chair Jennifer Axtell opened the discussion on March 18 by noting the other districts who’d been granted such variance after applying for it, and both she and Board Trustee Will Farrell noted the amount of correspondence they’d received from the public on the issue, which had prompted Axtell to add...
