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Jun 20, 2021 - Politics & Policy

School superintendents opting not to return this fall

headshot
Superintendent Austin Buetner fist bumps Kindergartener as students finish up their first day of school.

Superintendent Austin Buetner fist bumps a kindergartener, as students finish their first day of school. Photo: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

School superintendents nationwide are leaving their posts in far greater numbers than in past years — the trend likely a result of the difficulties brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: The growing departures are being seen in both large cities and midsize and smaller districts in suburban and rural areas, according to the School Superintendents Association.

  • In New Hampshire, roughly 20 superintendents and assistant superintendents are retiring or taking new jobs, up from 12 in the previous year, per the Post.
  • The superintendents who are leaving have done so by pursuing similar positions in different locations, retiring early, or having been forced out because of differences with their local school boards.
  • “We have worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week — truly 15 hours a day, truly seven days a week,” Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, told the Post.
  • “It has been exhausting, and my guess is, from talking to other superintendents, this year has been like none other,” he added.
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