Stephanie Thompson (Republican)

280 Chardonnay Ln
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901-5895
Map It

I am seeking re-election to serve a third term on the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees.

I would like to thank everyone who has entrusted me with this honor for the past 8 years. It has been a privilege to serve and I am asking for your support once again.

The decision to seek another term was made after careful consideration and a discussion with her family. Without their support, I would not have been able to dedicate the time needed to do a good job representing our students, parents, staff, and community. I am married to Steven Thompson and have two sons, Matthew, 14, and John, 12.

When making the decision, I looked at where the district was when I was elected, where it is now, and where it needs to be, and determined my work is not done.

I have been a journalist in Sweetwater County for more than 20 years covering various boards, news, and events. Currently, I am working as a freelance journalist, editor, and photographer.

During my 8 years on the board, I have served on numerous committees, including transportation, wellness, policy, climate survey, negotiations, Head Start Policy Council, Sweetwater Board of Cooperative Educational Services (SBOCES), and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services 5 (BOCES 5).

I have also volunteered to serve on special task forces when the district needed them, including Cost Savings, Strategic Planning (twice), and the Smart Start Reopening Task Force.

Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications and a Minor in English.

Library Board Member, Sunday School Teacher for more than 15 years, Church Choir Director, PTO member, organizes and leads Children’s Christmas Program.

I have attended all of the Wyoming School Board Association annual conferences and have earned a Master Board Member with Level I Distinction, which required me to attend a lot of trainings and classes designed to help me become a better board member. If we expect our teachers and administrators to attending trainings, than I should too.

I want to continue my efforts to make District No. 1 become one of the leading districts in the state.

Even though the district received wonderful news in regards to funding for the construction of a new Rock Springs High School, I know the pursuit of this project must continue until the school has been completed.

I have been lobbying and testifying, alongside parents and students, for the new high school and I will continue this effort until the project is complete. I will continue to fight for our students, parents, staff, and community to ensure we have the same opportunities as other areas around the state.

While in Cheyenne testifying on behalf of our district, I made important connections with local and statewide legislators. With a change in leadership at the state level those connections will be even more important when ensuring the new RSHS project comes to fruition.

Thompson will not only continue the pursuit for the construction of the new high school, but she will fight for more funding for the district and staff. While the district has made changes to improve the graduation rates and student achievement and is seeing improvement, it is still not where it needs to be.

I have always listened to concerns, looked at research, reviewed data, and tried to anticipate unintended consequences before making decision. I want to continue putting all children first when making tough decisions.

I know how much time is required to do this job and do it well.

The safety of all of our students is always going to be one of my priories. A student simply cannot learn if they are concerned about their safety. Bullying still appears to be a problem in the schools on all levels and its something that needs to be addressed. We need to find out where this is taking place and what, if anything, is being done to address the issue. We also need to once again make it clear that students cannot bring weapons on campus. Disciplinary actions should be the same from school to school.

Graduation rates need to continue to improve. We have the data that is showing us where some of our sub groups of students are struggling and we need to figure out a way to improve those subgroups, including Individualized Education Plan, (IEP), English Language Learners, (ELL) and Free and Reduced Lunch sub categories. ELL has 350 students and Special Education is around 860 students. Our current drop out rate is around 5 percent between 9th through 12th grades.

Staff retention and recruitment must also remain a priority. Not only do we want to recruit the best, but we want to keep them. On the Climate Survey Committee, we started working with UpBeat, a survey group that helps improve retention and recruitment. They look at weaknesses and work with admins at each building to improve upon those. They also provide exit surveys so we know why teachers are leaving. We also conducted a WSBA student/community survey and we need to follow up and create a plan.