Opinion
PAGE 4 www.thermopir.com March 22, 2018
Our view
Keeping students
safe at school
School shootings, school security and the safety
of students throughout the country have been at the
top of major headlines, not just these past few weeks
since the Parkland, Fla. shooting, but literally, near-
ly 20 years -- April 20, 1999, the date of the Colum-
bine shooting.
It would be so much simpler to push our heads into
the sand and believe “it can’t happen here,” but the
reality is, it can.
While we may not realize it, or even see it on a day-
to-day basis, there are security measures in place in
all of the schools in the district.
You may have noticed cameras on the outsides of
the buildings, but have you seen the ones in the hall-
ways? Of course, they are meant to be unobtrusive,
but they capture everyone coming into or going out
of classrooms, down halls and into front and back
entrances.
State funding has allowed our district to install
the cameras along with the software needed to run
not only the cameras, but an elaborate security sys-
tem that will soon be evident to all.
In the offices of RWE, TMS, HSCHS and the su-
perintendent’s office, you will see enormous split
screens that are monitored constantly.
When students return from Spring Break, things
are going to be considerably different, with buzz
throughs, locked doors and a few other items mak-
ing our students safer.
Yes, it is going to make it more difficult to retrieve
your child from school – no more waltzing through
the front door to the office – but please try to keep
in mind, while it may be an inconvenience to you,
it is a giant step toward keeping every child in Hot
Springs County School District #1 safe.
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Thermopolis
Independent Record
USPS No. 627- 300 Periodicals Postage Paid
P.O. Box 31 431 Broadway Thermopolis, WY 82443
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of the people of Hot Springs County for more than a century.
Postmaster: Send any address changes to P.O. Box 31,
Thermopolis, WY 82443.
Guest columns
HSCSD #1 security update
With the recent tragedy in Florida involv-
ing a school shooting, I find it appropriate to
update our patrons about our ongoing efforts
to upgrade and improve security in Thermop-
olis schools. I am going to do my very best to
put the discussion in layman’s terms because
many of you may have never heard some of the
terms associated with school security. Because
there are so many “what ifs” with school secu-
rity, the District will be examining all aspects
of school safety, but school security and safe-
ty drills will be our focus for the time being.
The District has been working with the
state to gain additional funding to improve
security for five years now. After much nego-
tiation, the state has agreed to allow HSCSD
#1 to utilize some of our major maintenance
funds for such projects.
The current school security project is to
restructure the front entrance to each build-
ing so that during the school day, all visitors
must enter and be “buzzed” in through the
front entrance only. This entry system will
allow school staff more control over who is in
the school buildings during the school day. For
activities or events held outside of the regular
school day, the doors will be open. The expe-
rience will be similar to drive through bank-
ing communication with the exception of a
screen and not a window. Our maintenance
National Ag Day celebrates food production
March 20 was National Agriculture Day
– a day designated each year by the Agri-
culture Council of America (ACA) to cele-
brate the accomplishments of agriculture.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) joins the
council in thanking American agricultural
producers, especially in Wyoming, for their
contributions to the nation’s outstanding
quality of life.
This year’s theme, Agriculture: Food for
Life, spotlights the hard work of American
farmers, ranchers and foresters who dili-
gently work to provide food, fiber and more
to the United States and countries around
the world. To ensure a prosperous future for
American agriculture, FSA provides con-
tinuous support to agriculturalists across
the country.
FSA is rural America’s engine for economic
growth, job creation and development, offer-
ing local service to millions of rural produc-
ers. In fiscal year 2017, USDA Farm Loan
Letters to the editor
Mistaken for a burglar
Funny story. Last week I took my car to the
shop, and walked home. When I got to my front
door I realized my house key was with my car
keys, at the shop. I was locked out.
I decided to go around to the back of the
house to see if I could get in. On my way past
the front window I stopped and tapped on the
window and peered in, just to tease my dogs
sitting on the sofa just on the other side of the
glass.
Volunteers needed for senior program
Each year, Medicare loses billions of tax-
payer dollars to improper claims. This puts
the Medicare trust fund at risk for every-
one and affects the future of the Medicare
program.
Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse also
affect current Medicare beneficiaries by
increasing Medicare premiums, wasting
money that could be used to improve health
care services and causing serious person-
al consequences for beneficiaries, such as
medical identity theft, negative health im-
MEET OUR STAFF
Lara Love Mark Dykes
Publisher Editor
Amber Geis
Dennis Nierzwicki
Advertising Graphic Design
and technology departments have been work-
ing together to complete these projects with a
tentative completion timeframe of this spring.
We will be holding staff and student training
as well as sharing additional communication
to the community once the installation and
construction are complete.
Our education teams rely heavily on col-
laboration to increase our student and staff
academic success. This collaboration rolls into
other aspects of the school district, including
security and safety. Because we realize that se-
curity and safety issues are in constant change,
the district will be relying on outside experts
to conduct school security/safety audits of the
entire school district very soon. We recently
had a visit to each building to discuss safety
plans and best practices in the event of a tor-
nado from weather/crisis expert Tim Troutman.
Expert advice is crucial to improving safety.
HSCSD #1 has received training on mul-
tiple occasions in regard to active shooter/in-
truder. The training is referred to as ALICE
training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter,
Evacuate) and is some of the newest training
available to organizations.  The District also
has four certified ALICE trainers in-district
at this time.  This national training has been
created after studying past active shooter sit-
uations, and now makes up part of the many
programs provided $6 billion in support to
producers across America, the second high-
est total in FSA history. FSA also distrib-
uted $1.6 billion in Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP) payments to over 375,000
Americans to improve water quality, reduce
soil erosion and increase wildlife habitat.
For agricultural producers who suffered
market downturns in 2016, USDA is issu-
ing approximately $8 billion in payments
under the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC)
and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
USDA also continues to provide extensive
assistance in response to natural disas-
ters throughout the country, including last
year’s hurricanes in Florida, Texas, Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands, drought in the
northern high plains, wildfires in the west
and central plains, floods, tornados, freezes
and other catastrophic weather events.
To support beginning farmers and ranch-
ers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue
When I got to the back gate I discovered it was
swollen by the recent moisture and was stuck.
I had to beat on it and kick it to get it freed.
I found the back door unlocked and went in.
Just a few minutes later my dogs started
barking frantically at the back door. I opened
the door and discovered two police officers on
the deck! They had received a call about a pos-
sible burglary from one of my neighbors.
Sgt. Pat Cornwell and I recognized each
pacts, and personal financial losses.
Senior Medicare Patrols (SMPs) empow-
er and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their
families, and caregivers to prevent, detect,
and report health care fraud, errors, and
abuse through outreach, counseling, and
education.
They rely on volunteers all over the
state and country to give presentations,
distribute materials, staff exhibits, assist
with administration, and help beneficia-
ries one-on-one.
Mail this form with your check to Box 31 or bring it to our office
at 431 Broadway, Thermopolis, WY 82443.
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safety drills performed by the District. I would
encourage parents to visit the ALICE training
website if they have questions. https://www.
alicetraining.com
It is important to realize that no security
plan, hardware, policy, drill, or practices will
100 percent prevent all tragedies, but HSCSD
#1 is committed to being as prepared as pos-
sible. If ever a parent or student has concerns,
please feel free to contact the building princi-
pals, or any other member of the school admin-
istration. It is district policy that all threats or
dangers are considered serious and will be in-
vestigated. Please encourage your students to
tell a staff member if they have concerns. The
state of Wyoming also provides the Safe 2 Tell
option if students are concerned about remain-
ing anonymous. The number is 1-844-WYO-
SAFE and the website is http://safe2tellwy.org. 
To close, parents will receive notification
and an invitation via the electronic message
system from the school inviting them in the
coming weeks to a forum at the auditorium to
answer any questions, or address any concerns
that they may have in regard to school secu-
rity. Thank you for your partnership to keep
our children safe at school.
Dustin Hunt, superintendent
Hot Springs County School District #1
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with officials from SCORE, the nation’s
largest volunteer network of expert busi-
ness mentors, to support new and beginning
farmers. The agreement provides new help
and resources for beginning ranchers, veter-
ans, women, socially disadvantaged Ameri-
cans and others, providing new tools to help
them both grow and thrive in agribusiness.
I am honored to administer programs
that enable our producers to manage their
risks when the agriculture industry faces
hardship.
On behalf of the Farm Service Agency
here in Wyoming, I would like to thank our
agricultural producers for continuing to feed
our nation and the world.
For more information about FSA programs
and services, visit https://www.fsa.usda.gov/.
Lois Van Mark
FSA State Executive Director
other immediately. False alarm.
I would like to thank both Sgt. Cornwell and
Officer Mark Allen for their quick response.
They were very professional, and kind enough
to see the humor in the situation.
I would also like to thank the neighbor who
made the call. I appreciate their concern. Isn’t
this why we live in Thermopolis?
Ron Philips
The SMP program at Wyoming Senior
Citizens, Inc. needs volunteers to help with
these efforts.
All volunteers will undergo an interview
and training process. Call (800) 856-4398
or go to www.wyomingseniors.com/servic-
es/senior-medicare-patrol to learn how you
can help seniors fight fraud.
Sandy Goodman
Wyoming Senior Citizens, Inc.
Wyoming SMP Program Manager
SUBSCRIPTIONS
IR
Thermopolis