Long-time employees retire in School District One

After convening from an executive session where personnel and property were discussed, the school board of Big Horn School District Number One’s vice chair, Jared Boardman, called the meeting to order (with chairman Joseph Bassett excused). The board proceeded to approve the consent agenda, which included accepting a number of retirement/resignation/transfer requests.

Retirement requests came from the following: John Bernhisel as a Rocky Mountain Middle/High School technology director, district librarian and coach; Daniel Robertson as Rocky Mountain High School science teacher; Maryanne Bischoff as District Office administrative assistant; and Brenda Brost as Rocky Mountain Middle/High School head secretary. These long-time employees have helped to shape the positive culture and learning environment of the district and will be missed by students and staff, board members said.

Resignations were accepted from Lanning May as Burlington Middle School head football coach; Josh Sponsel as Rocky Mountain Middle School head basketball coach; Taylor Winland as Rocky Mountain Middle School assistant volleyball coach; and Sonya Koltes as Rocky Middle/High School Life Skills paraprofessional. Transfers were approved for Don Hibbert to 8 hrs./day Maintenance and Miriam Ramirez to Burlington head custodian.

A new employee was also approved by the board, Danielle Wilson as the Rocky Mountain High School Assistant FBLA Advisor for half of the 2024-25 school year.

Administrators recognized their individual employees of the month. Principal Eric Honeyman recognized Jamie Cooley as an enthusiastic member of the Rocky Mountain Elementary staff, saying she is welcoming to all students and makes them feel valued. He commended her for fulfilling the difficult task of keeping students safe during “parent pick-up” after school every day.

Principal Betsy Sammons recognized district employee Brandon May. She stated that May has a positive attitude when he is called upon to fix a multitude of problems and believes a job is never too small or too big for him to tackle. He is willing to come to the rescue at any time of the day or night and has come to help with issues after concerts and plays many times. May is “a big reason our schools and grounds look so good,” Sammons said.

Principal Autumn Tempany of Burlington Schools recognized Frannie Cauffman as an exemplary special education paraprofessional. She loves her students, and they love her, Tempany stated. She is always seeking ways to improve and often uses project-based learning to help her students.

Wyoming Connections Academy principal Shannon Siebert recognized Abby Peterson, 9-12 social studies teacher from Montana. She has been with WYCA for almost 10 years and is available to coach new teachers whenever necessary. Principal Siebert commented that Peterson works hard to develop positive relationships with her students and is particularly adept at reaching the at-risk students. She introduced the idea of a peer library with the WYCA staff and continues to look for ways to improve online learning.

Two presentations were given to the Board. Siebert, WYCA principal, presented “A Day in the Life of a Virtual Student.” She used real student screens and data, without identifiers, to explain what a typical online learner sees and does within Connections Academy classes. She included pre-recorded testimonials from students about their experiences with the academy and how they felt their educational goals had been met.

Rocky Mountain Elementary presented their approach to encouraging student reading through the use of Accelerated Reader. Teacher Stacy Moore and librarian Dorine Strom talked about the success they’ve seen in the number of books students are reading while being motivated by this program. They showed a photo of the mural in the library that helps students visually track their progress. Students receive rewards for various numbers of points they earn as they take computerized tests on the books they’ve read. The goal of the program is for Rocky Mountain Elementary students to develop a love of reading.

Superintendent Matt Davidson presented the opportunity for the district to participate in a project-based learning experience sponsored by the University of Wyoming. The district will receive a High-Altitude Pathway Grant that will allow the district to fund the project. Participating staff members will be chosen by the administrative team, and Davidson asked for one board member to participate also. The chosen group will tour schools in Wisconsin, Colorado and Utah where project-based learning is being used. They will experience firsthand how this type of learning style is implemented and the expectations for students and teachers. They will also be able to ask questions of those currently using this model.

Homeschool survey

Discussion was held about a survey given to homeschool parents within the district’s boundaries. The survey was administered through face-to-face conversations and/or email. Not all families participated, but those that did gave the district valuable information on ways to improve their programs. Vice chair Boardman said, “We want to let the homeschool families know how much we appreciate the information they provided” and how it “helps the board to look at things that need to be discussed.” Administrators felt that the information was constructive and that the schools must continue to reach out to invite parents of homeschoolers to use the schools for support and enrichment. Board member Wendy Fuller noted, “We need to give more support, not interference. We are in this together for the kids.”

Homeschools were also a topic of discussion during the legislative update, given by Davidson. He reported that the new voucher system will allow homeschool parents to purchase supplies for their curricula. However, it will also allow the district to charge a fee for curricular and extra-curricular participation of homeschooled students in district activities, when accepting the vouchers. The new laws also allow unlimited charter schools throughout the state. Davidson said that it will be a “wait and see” to really know the impact of all the new legislation impacting schools.

Davidson reported that the Town of Cowley approached him concerning the district’s plan to build new teacherages. The town proposed a location in which the district and town would have to do some give and take for right-of-way purposes. The board later suspended the meeting to retire for a second executive session of the evening to discuss property.

The meeting was called back to order approximately 30 minutes later by Boardman, then adjourned.