My wife and I got an invitation to Jim Mitchell’s retirement party today. Jim, for those of you not from Groton, is our superintendent of schools, who is actually retiring. He was not fired, driven out or caught in a scandal. He did not piss people off by trying to get a free Audi (seasoned Grotonites will know what I mean). It is not unprecedented for a superintendent to leave at a time of his or her own choosing, but it is unusual.
I first met Jim when he was the in charge of Special Education. I don’t remember his precise title. At that time I was handling special ed cases on behalf of students, so Jim was on the other side. Since then, he rose to be superintendent of schools, replacing a disastrous choice the school board found somewhere in Pennsylvania.
Jim had the advantage of knowing the players and understanding our quirky system of government. He did a good job during difficult times, when we finally faced the fact that our aging schools had to be replaced. He’s worked for the system for 38 years, so he’s definitely earned his retirement. He’ll be hard to replace.
Post a Comment