Racine Unified Principal Talks About His New School

As a principal who has moved to a new school, I am absolutely thrilled that my leadership recognized the work I have done and heard my desire to return to the middle school setting where all my teaching years were spent.  I have enjoyed my time at Jefferson Lighthouse, but middle school has always been in my blood. This school year, I will serve as the principal for Mitchell Middle School.

Having to learn a new school and settle issues that I inherited from the past is a challenge, especially when hundreds of people are counting on me to get the school year off to a smooth start. This has caused me to be somewhat concerned for the school district, as a whole. With so many changes, there will likely be some level of confusion and even mistakes made early on. Racine Unified has a very short leash with some people in the community and while the moves, I believe, will be a positive for the district, there will be some short-term consequences.

I think we can all appreciate what it means to move into new roles, whether it be in our careers or becoming parents, etc. The many leaders in Racine will be trying to learn their new environments so to begin applying their skills and talents to their new roles. I hope the community will have some patience with us as we try to gain our footing with hopes of taking our district to a new level of performance.

On top of the moves, nearly 125 positions have been eliminated. This means fewer employees to serve our students and their parents.  Truthfully, with reductions made over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to deliver the kind of service expected. I’m not sure that many people understand how much our schools have cut over the past decade.

Nevertheless, the personnel moves made in the district will put a lot of enthusiastic leaders and coordinators in positions of impact. So, the short-term headaches will result in a positive outcome in the long-term. There is great value in being able to reward employees and move employees so that skills and talents are better utilized and a feeling of recognition can be had. I hope that this can tie us over to, and help create, better days in public education and for Racine Unified.