Trying times call for tested leaders unafraid to face difficult personalities and take bold steps.
“It’s unfortunate that board member Phelps and board member Gillespie are not present for this portion of the meeting because it is at this time, and the next few topics, where we get the opportunity to really talk about why all of you are here to govern, which is to do what’s best for kids and do what’s best for the staff members….”
Spotsylvania County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Clint Mitchell
For the better part of four years, the Spotsylvania County School Board has been unmoored, drifting from one port of complaints to another with no concern for finding a safe harbor to tie into.
The Board itself must shoulder a good deal of the blame. But it has not acted alone.
The “parents’ rights” movement over the past three years has infiltrated not only the minds of Spotsylvania citizens, but the halls of power in central office, and is spreading apocalyptic nonsense of Biblical proportions — furries, books, pornography, and communists, so the thinking goes, are greeting your children at the school door each morning and whisking them along a Highway to Hell during the day.
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Political groups have turned School Board seats into battle grounds, where the end goal is not education but strengthening the hands of agendas set by national political parties to further the Culture Wars.
And in the middle of it all are teachers. For one shining moment in a time that does in fact seem “long, long ago,” they were seen as heroes during a pandemic. Today, they are too often seen as the spawn of Satan and a whipping board for anyone who has any complaints about public education.
Never forget what we have seen in Spotsylvania County (and which is now making its way into Orange and King George).
And never forget September 9, 2024.
Following the now-all-too-predictable foolishness from board members Lisa Phelps and April Gillispie, who broke every rule of professional respect by calling members on the board and school personnel “liars,” Superintendent Clint Mitchell did what has long been needed.
He didn’t take the bait or take part in their foolishness. Instead, he grabbed the leadership wheel, spotted a safe harbor, and set a course for it, even as Phelps and Gillespie boarded a dingy — at least they showed up this week — and abandoned ship to go and plan their next boat-rocking stunt.
“I had a chance to listen and reflect a little bit while sitting here listening to all of the comments that have been made by a very small sector of our school community,” Mitchell began.
“And I was going to deviate from my comments I wrote tonight, but I’m not going to give them that time and energy, because they don’t deserve my time and energy because of the fact that we got to focus about kids, and we got to focus about our staff. … I’m going to stay on queue and just focus on the positive things that are happening in our community.”
From there, Mitchell began by acknowledging some serious issues and allegations that have emerged over the past few weeks, and said the division will continue to collaborate with authorities.
“Since my arrival,” he reiterated, “we will not tolerate or condone any issues affecting the safety of our kids.”
He then turned a spotlight on the people who have endured in spite of those who wish only to undo public education — the teachers and staff.
Specifically, he mentioned a parent who sent him a note of thanks because a nurse, principal, and an ECSE teacher at Riverview Elementary School facing a serious medical emergency acted professionally and in a timely manner to save the life of this parent’s four-year-old daughter.
From there, school staff presented the findings from the recently released SOL results. Of particular note was the news that many subgroups — Whites, Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Multiple Races, Economically Disadvantaged, English Learners, and Students with Disabilities — all realized gains.
Teachers Have Held the School System Together
Over a period of just three years, Spotsylvania County’s school board fired a superintendent without cause in a script taken straight from Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre, endured a scandal over payment to an interim superintendent that resulted in a prosecution, hired a superintendent with no credentials or experience in public education, and recently hired Mitchell.
That level of turnover means the SOL results rightly celebrated owe nothing to the leadership. One group of people, and one group alone, are responsible for the level of academic achievement shown by the test results — teachers.
Despite absurd charges of promoting all kinds of social ills among the students they lead; despite being the target for everything parents and citizens perceive to be going wrong at school; despite overwhelming turnover in central office that saw highly experienced leaders head for financially greener pastures in districts where educators are valued and respected; despite all of that, teachers on the front lines endured and did their job.
Mitchell knows and understands the Herculean task these teachers have achieved because he has taught, he has led schools where he empowered teachers to succeed (and they did in record-setting ways), and he understands that teachers more than anyone are missional. They are there because of the students they serve.
It’s too hard a job to survive without that focus.
Finally … Spotsylvania has a leader who gets it and pours his energy into what matters.
As for the rest, let them abandon ship. The district needs people committed to making education work.
Nota Bene: The issues that sparked Phelps’ and Gillespie’s explosive behavior are currently being investigated by the Advance. Because of the intricate details involved, we are being intentional about not jumping to conclusions. Our reporting will be coming in the weeks ahead.
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