Inappropriate Communication With Minor Gets Oswego East Teacher Fired: Report

OSWEGO, IL — A teacher at Oswego East High School was let go for inappropriate communication with a minor, according to a report from Shaw Local.

The Oswego Community Unit School District 308 Board of Education voted March 23 for the immediate dismissal of James Vassalla, a first-year teacher. The minor was not a student at the district, Chief Communications Officer Theresa Komitas told Patch.

"Based on the information the District received regarding Mr. Vassalla, it determined that it warranted immediate termination," she said.

The Oswego East website continues to list Vassalla as a social studies and ESL teacher, as of Friday.

"The district is reporting our findings to ISBE and will continue its internal investigation," Komitas said.

The district said students' safety and well-being is "absolute." Read what Markisha Mitchell, assistant superintendent of human resources, wrote in a letter to Oswego East families:

Dear Students and Families,

We are writing to inform you that Oswego East teacher Mr. Vassalla is no longer employed by the district.

The Board of Education voted to terminate Mr. Vassalla's employment at last evening's Board meeting, following the District’s investigation into allegations of communications involving Mr. Vassalla and someone not enrolled in or affiliated with our District. While the circumstances of his termination did not involve an SD 308 student, we want to be very clear: any employee who steps outside the boundaries of safe and appropriate communication with young people has no place in our district. We have no information or reports of concerns involving any SD 308 student and Mr. Vassalla; however, we are continuing an investigation to be certain. Should any claims come forward, we will fully investigate the allegations. The District is also reporting its findings to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Our commitment to the safety of our students is absolute. SD 308 has no tolerance for any behavior that threatens the safety, well-being, or dignity of students, whether that behavior occurs inside or outside our schools, and whether it involves our students or not. We hold every employee to a high standard of professional conduct and will not hesitate to act when that standard is not met.

As a reminder, all SD 308 employees are strictly prohibited from communicating with students outside of approved district channels and only for education-related purposes. These boundaries exist to protect students, and we enforce them without exception.

If you have any concerns regarding Mr. Vassalla, please report them immediately using any of the mechanisms listed below. We continue to encourage everyone to report any circumstances in which students feel unsafe or threatened, or believe an adult is acting inappropriately. We take every report seriously.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out directly to me or through your Principal.

Sincerely,
Dr. Markisha Mitchell

Any concerns can be reported to the school principal or a trusted adult in the district; online through a confidential form; to Mitchell, the district's nondiscrimination coordinator, at mmitchell01@sd308.org; or to the police.