School board honors students

Several high school student athletes were honored with sportsmanship awards during this month’s Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees meeting.

Sterling Gerber was honored for his show of sportsmanship during the boys basketball game with Rocky Mountain on January 17 along with Jarron Mortimore during the game against St. Stephens the same day.

Mortimore was also honored for the February 1 game with Big Piney.

Duder Harvey received acclaim for his sportsmanship at the January 18 game against Buurlington and McKenna Bomengen was also honored for the February 1 game against Big Piney.

The board approved Shannon Lozier as a SpED paraprofessional and Jackie Frankson for a half-year position as a SpED Mentor.

Other approved positions included Stephanie Metz as head high school track coach, Katie Despain as the middle school head track coach and Don Lanning as a custodian for the high school.

Resignations were accepted from Marty Turner, effective immediately and from Tori Lewis as elementary teacher at the end of her 2019-2020 teaching contract.

Additionally, the board agreed to transfer Trey Ottley into a seventh and eighth grade social studies teaching position.

Catelyn Deromedi, principal at Ralph Witters Elementary, presented a recap of the smart goal review she completed a couple of weeks ago.

Deromedi said the winter review is simply to see whom they are missing and figure out what they are going to do in order to reach their spring goals.

She has just one area of concern – math. Deromedi said the students are proficient, but the growth in that proficiency isn’t quite where they want it to be yet. That doesn’t mean the growth isn’t there, it’s just not as high as it was with the previous class.

High school principal Breez Daniels said she has reviewed the MAP data at Thermopolis Middle School and multiple grade levels have already reached their spring goals.

Daniels is backing off some of her duties at the middle school as she is handing off the role of principal to new principal, Steven Soderstrom.

The board approved advertising gas/diesel products for 2020-2021 along with bus radios and a network switch upgrade.

After little discussion, the board also approved increasing the pay for a certified, licensed substitute nurse to $28.