Superintendent James Mitchem will receive an almost $66,000 tuition reimbursement check following an amendment to his contract approved by the VVSD school board Monday night.
The $65,658 amount “represents the reasonable value of tuition reimbursement for the doctoral degree on an after-tax basis,” according to school board documents. Mitchem "shall be paid a bonus of $65,658 for the 2011‐2012 school year, payable on or before Aug. 1."
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Campbell said she had received several e-mails regarding the matter, specifically questioning the move in light of Mitchem's statement that he would not accept additional money from the district until students' achievement improved.
Campbell recommended tabling a discussion, considering Mitchem was still on vacation and not present at the meeting to address the issue and answer questions raised by residents.
Campbell's motion to table the discussion received no support from her other school board members. "I still believe we should have had more discussion about this and he should have been present," Campbell said.
School Board Member Richard Gougis countered that it was an action taken by the school board, not Mitchem, and Mitchem did not need to explain the school board's actions.
"I don't understand why we need Mitchem to expain the action we're going to take," Gougis said.
School Board President Steven Quigley said the tuition reimbursement was part of the discussion for Mitchem's contract but the reimbursement "inadvertently got left out of the contract."
School Board Member Elizabeth Campbell questioned the timing of the amendment.
"I need to know why at this particular time," Campbell said. "He's held the position since the beginning of the school year. Why are we doing this now?"
Quigley said the "error" in Mitchem's contract was brought to his attention in June and because of scheduling, the amendment just ended up on the July agenda.
"I feel like we're obligated to do it," Quigley said. "There is no hidden agenda."
School Board Member Leo Venegas confirmed that the district sets aside $350,000 in its budget to reimburse higher education tuition for its teachers alone.
School Board Members Venegas, Quigley, Gougis and Ronnie Bull voted in favor of the contract amendment. Campbell abstained from voting. Board Members Jim Curran and Chrystal Hansen were absent from the meeting.
One woman addressed the board regarding the matter. Andrea Anderson, a parent and teacher for the district, thanked Campbell for attempting to table the discussion.
"It's a big discussion in our community," Anderson said. "It's more than my salary. Thank you for tabling something for our community."
It would be lovely to see a school board that is actually making decisions in the best interest of the kids- maybe that's why our scores don't improve.
Additionally, as others have pointed out, a main point here is that the board, who is supposed to represent the community, felt they didn't need to justify spending $66K, whether for this or anything else. They didn't allow any discussion or the option to table it for later discussions.
I strongly believe there are members in the community that want to speak up but are forced to keep quiet out of fear of being on the receiving end of Claar's First Party anger. Two years ago, I approached the podium (at a school bd mtg) with questions and was verbally assaulted, and was literally threatened to be thrown out...(check out the video below and judge for yourself). I have been literally villified and called every name in the book simply for speaking up, and running for public office. How can we get talented people to step up and run if they are met with hostility and resentment? The community needs to step up. Look at the video below and ask yourself, "Would you like to be treated this way?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY5lFn2hRQM
Tax payers it's time to get active, go to meetings, ask questions, demand answers, and hold the board and administration accountable.
We pulled our kids from VVSD 3 years ago and are lucky to be able to send them to a "National Blue Ribbon for Excellence" school. They have a difficult time focusing on their homework and projects because they see their friends out playing after school. We have explained multiple times how they get homework to improve and practice while the other kids do not... sad!
House Bill 4687, sponsored by Rep. Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn) and Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale), requires public bodies conducting a public meeting to ensure that a copy of the meeting notice and agenda is available to the public for the entire 48 hours preceding the meeting, according to a press release from Gov. Quinn's office. The measure specifies that public bodies can satisfy this requirement by posting the meeting notice on the Internet. The law also ensures that meeting agendas provide the public with adequate information about the meeting’s actions.
Scary..