At the August 27 listening session, Superintendent Clint Mitchell explained the process to resolve a complaint thru the hierarchy of the school division. At the end of the video clip below, an unnamed employee of Spotsylvania County Schools says that the process is a problem.
In light of this, we are curious if the hierarchy process as outlined by Dr Mitchell was followed in the Cedar Forest Abuse Scandal and the current Miguel Velasquez Velasco child sexual assault situation. Only an independent third-party investigation would reveal that because it takes the bias out. A third-party investigation would also be able to answer the following questions.
- How fast did the complaint work its way thru the process?
- Were there any missteps in the complaint process thru the school hierarchy?
- Who attempted to suppress information?
- Were parents informed of anything that could affect their child?
Here is what Dr Mitchell said in the video clip below – “When there are concerns at the school level, the first responsibility is the principal because that is the reason why we employ them to run the school on a day-to-day basis…..The next level of support is to make sure that if they do not address your issues at the school level, there are two executive directors whose primary responsibility is to support the 17 elementary schools, then support the 7 middle schools, and of course the 5 high schools and centers we have. If they don’t address your issue, then there is a deputy superintendent whose responsibility is to make sure that you address that issue before it comes to me. There are mechanisms for it……..If that issue does arise, they have to go to proper personal to get support they need”
Here are links covering both situations
https://spotsywire.com/category/cedarforestabuse
https://spotsywire.com/2024/09/28/spotsy-schools-makes-national-news/