Is Mr. Mitchem good enough for the Superintendent job?

Mr. Mitchem, former Bolingbrook High School Principal was named to be the next Valley View Superintendent starting July 1.  In order to be given this position, he has to jump through many loops, like going back to school to get his certification and endorsement papers before July 1. 

However, many residents are calling into question if he is the right man for the job.  As an acting superintendent, how has he done so far?

1.  Devon Hodges was denied a call back from Mr. Mitchem multiple times, even though he had restraint orders against a stalking Romeoville Coach, was kicked off a basketball team, and unfairly punished for residency.  Mr. Mitchem promised this teenager he would fix the problems, and offer letters of support, which Devon never received, hurting his chance of college scholorships.  This opened up VVSD to another lawsuit.  Oh, and just for reference, Mitchem's son was allowed to stay on the team and be available for college recruits, while Devon was not.

2.  Mr. Mitchem approved the hiring of two people to do the job of departing Faith Dahlquist, costing taxpayers another added top heavy admin salary.

3.  Mr. Mitchem's secretary was given the authority to yank applicants off of a scholarship list, while leaving Mitchems own son and the secretaries own daughter available to receive them.  Casson Hale, a Senior, was wrongfully denied the opportunity of these scholarships by the secretary.  This opened up VVSD to another lawsuit.

4.  Mr. Mitchem hired Fabby Williams to take over Bolingbrook High School as the Principal, yet Fabby was coming from a school as an acting Principal of a school only 10% of the size of Bolingbrook.  This school failed to make the grade and was on academic probation.  His first act as Principal two months ago was to slash 25% of the teachers, on his way out.  The true act of a coward is to make drastic changes and let someone else have to step in and oversee those changes.  Furthermore, who applies to other schools for a job when they just accepted a position to be a Principal elsewhere?  However, Mitchem has claimed full responsibility for this hire. 

5.  Mitchem believes that tests should be pass or fail, and that kids should pass something before they move forward.  This eliminates the grade point system and allows those with disabilities to have less structure and learning.  For example, if your daughter struggles in math, there is a good chance that your daughter will be stuck on one chapter for many months, while the other students are learning things that she might be able to understand.  Talk about focusing on our weaknesses instead of strengths!

So we open it up to the residents to determine if Mr. Mitchem was a good choice of hire to replace the stable and lovable Dr. Shofstal.  Who is responsible for Mr. Mitchem's actions?  Is it the school board?

 It is not to late to stop Mr. Mitchem from taking this position on July 1.  All companies have 90 day supervision policies and IL is an "At - Will" state. 

It is my opinion that Valley View has made the wrong decision, if what I have seen already, is going to be what I see over the next so many years.  Not even in office and made some drastic moves that will cost our district money!