Petition Calls for Dismissal of Valley View Superintendent

An anonymous online petition is demanding the dismissal of Valley View School District 365U Superintendent Dr. James Mitchem.

The petition claims Valley View “is a mess academically” and that there is no confidence in the administrative leadership.

“Mitchem has made many, many promises but is consistent in only two things - collecting a substantial, (undeserved) salary and failing to deliver on his promises,” the petition states.

Mitchem has dismissed the claims in the petition, saying that they are slanderous and hold no truth.

According to the petition, a recent state survey claimed that 70 percent of teachers at Bolingbrook High School disagreed or strongly disagreed that their principal is an effective manager.

“Do you think this number has decreased or increased under Mitchem’s so-called ‘leadership?’” the petition states.

Mitchem said that only 50 percent of teachers responded to that survey. The state has also recognized that people were able to take that survey more than once, possibly resulting in a skewed response.

In addition to his academic abilities, the petition also criticized Mitchem as “lacking in ethics and morals,” claiming his relationship with his wife began when she was a student athlete at Bolingbrook High School.

Mitchem married his wife, Jacqueline, when she was 23 and he was 34.

“I’m guilty of marrying my wife when she was 23 years old,” Mitchem said.

Mitchem said he has never had a relationship with a minor and those allegations in the petition are “absolutely false.” He said he’s been happily married for 23 years.

Jacqueline Mitchem is currently employed by the district as a co-principal at Independence Elementary School in Bolingbrook.

There are currently a handful of comments that support the petition, including one from a former Bolingbrook High School teacher.

Lauren Thomas-Hughes said she chose to leave because she felt unsupported and was miserable.

“Each year was worse than the year before and I gave up hope. I was regularly blamed for things I didn’t do or had no control of. I often felt the teachers were the only party held accountable,” Thomas-Hughes wrote. “As you can read by the posts, the district has some incredibly passionate, intelligent, and involved staff and students. I am happy to see the community take notice. The students and staff deserve better.”

Ildiko Carter, of Bolingbrook, wrote that Mitchem lies and asks for favors under the table from (parents) to support him and then denies it.

“He let school staff get away with hurting my child, he told us he will not take any actions, he placed my child into a class and out of his home school after threatening me, he has done nothing when my child was bullied, he has done nothing when my child came home with bloody scratch marks and bruises from school,” Carter wrote.

Mitchem said Carter is a woman that obviously cares for her child and has used every means available to support her child’s education. He would not speak further about the alleged incident.

Despite the negative comments on the petition, Mitchem said he has also received praise from some people.

“If you need a parent backer, yell. I’m happy to stand up for you. You have proven time and time again that you are fighting an uphill battle,” said a person whose name Mitchem did not have the authorization to release.

Another person, whose name was also unable to be provided, said that Mitchem is “diplomatic and a do-er and like a parent, it’s hard to keep eyes in every room in the house. Once Dad isn’t looking, everyone slacks.”

Michele Sweeney Abrams, a mother of three children in the district, refers to herself as a watchdog for the district and admits that in years past getting things done proved to be tedious.

“There were a lot of walls put up trying to get solutions to simple things,” Abrams said.

However, Abrams said she doesn’t blame Mitchem solely for the state of the school district. She said that she has spoken to Mitchem a number of times at parent group meetings and other events and in the beginning she admits she was skeptical about his hope for the district, but he has always been cordial with her.

“From my point of view as a parent and what I’ve had happened personally, sometimes the issue never even makes it to the leadership because whoever is under it never brought it up,” Abrams said. ”So leadership-wise, I don’t think it’s a leadership issue within the school district, I think it’s an entire crew issue. If you’re on a ship, the captain can be the best captain in the world, but he’s one person.”

Abrams said on numerous times Mitchem and the school board have listened to her complaints and addressed them.

With the petition asking for the dismissal of Mitchem, Abrams said she wouldn’t agree with Mitchem being the sole person responsible.

“It’s the entire crew of the ship,” Abrams said. ”School board, administrative staff, people that are in key positions in administration - they’re constantly dropping the ball.”

Despite the comments, both negative and positive, Mitchem said he understands that being a leader isn’t easy and puts you in the public eye for criticism.

“The public has the right to express their opinion. It’s just frustrating for me when people who have an agenda are able to communicate anything that they want whether it be true or not true and you’re not really in that position to defend yourself,” Mitchem said.