George Washington Middle School Principal Joshua Dakins has resigned.
It is the latest in the revolving-door position at the school.
Dakins did not respond to two phone calls and an email from the Landmark, but told a GWMS teacher that he has submitted his resignation letter to Superintendent Kristopher Rivera.
Dakins told the teacher that she could confirm that to the Landmark. The teacher asked that her name not be used because there has not yet been an official announcement of the impending resignation.
Dakins is expected to stay at GWMS for the remainder of the school year. Rivera also has not responded to a phone call and an email from the Landmark.
Dakins was hired in 2022 and will be the fourth consecutive principal to spend only two years in the job. Dakins replaced Carol Baker, who once was superintendent of Lyons School District 103 and is now suing the district charging sex and age discrimination after she was stripped of her assistant superintendent title in 2022. Baker succeeded Dan Jones who succeeded Christopher Cybulski. Each spent only two years on the job but none of those three predecessors were anxious to leave. Cybulski left when his contract wasn’t renewed and Jones left after the school board majority changed. Both Cybulski and Jones went on to principal jobs in other school districts while Baker retired after being offered a salary reduction.
“I’m sorry to see him leave, that school has had so much turnover,” said former longtime District 103 school board member Joanne Schaeffer whose great granddaughter, who lives with Schaeffer, is an eighth grader at GWMS. “It’s a shame. They need stability over there and they need somebody who is strong with discipline and can control the building.”
Schaeffer said that fights occur frequently at GWMS and that there is a lack of discipline at the school. She said that she fears for the safety of the students and believes that GWMS students are not being prepared for the expectations they will encounter in high school.
Dakins came to GWMS after serving as an assistant principal at Bardwell Elementary School in Aurora, a post he held since 2019. From 2013 to 2016, Dakins was the principal at Currier Elementary School in West Chicago. He resigned from that position in 2016, officials said.