CMS needs a new superintendent — and there’s a shrinking pool to pick from
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the nation’s 18th-largest public school district, will be searching for its next superintendent at a time when top leaders are leaving the profession altogether.
CMS’ board fired superintendent Earnest Winston Tuesday, leaving the district looking for its fifth permanent superintendent since 2012. Two of those superintendents resigned and one of them retired.
Those in the profession say the job has always carried with it pressure-filled responsibilities.
“Superintendents in most school districts run the largest organization in that city,” said Lynn Moody, who retired from Rowan-Salisbury Schools in December 2020 after about seven years leading the district and led Rock Hill schools for eight years. “Outside of teaching and learning, they typically deal with large budgets … the weight of it all is an awesome responsibility that is quite a bit of stress.”
Enter the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, and the additional stresses are taking their toll.
“For everyone connected to schools it has been a very draining experience, filled with challenges that no one could have imagined: children in Zoom classes, teachers worried about their health and their students’ (health), parents juggling jobs while managing their children’s learning from home,” said Jack Hoke, the executive director of the North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association.
Hoke retired in April 2012 after serving 12 years as superintendent of Alexander County Schools.
“For the superintendent who is responsible for managing the district, and for the boards who are overseeing the superintendents and the systems’ policies, the pandemic has been a uniquely exhausting experience,” he said.
The turnover rate for the state’s superintendents this school year is 12%, Hoke said. The turnover rate in 2020-21 was 14%. It was 10% in 2019-20.
A pair of national surveys — the National Superintendents Roundtable and 2022 Voice of the Superintendent — show nearly half of superintendents across the country are considering leaving the post because of a shrinking teacher and staff workforce, challenges of learning recovery for students and social-emotional health of students and staff as well as long hours. Accelerated by the pandemic, political polarization of communities and parents also looms large.
Experts say it all makes it even tougher for CMS to find a superintendent. Winston faced the same pressure and scrutiny during his two-and-a-half-year tenure, including plummeting test scores and students’ social-emotional and mental health playing out in the form of weapons being brought on campuses and fights in schools.
“The community, districts and parents need to continue to exercise grace,” Hoke said. “Do your homework on the issues. Recognize that one size does not fit all. Overtly support educators at the local level who are doing the best they can in this new environment.”
Moody calls social media the greatest challenge facing superintendents because leaders are spending time managing half-truths and posts that are not true at all.
She also said classroom structures have changed.
“You have whole classrooms of kindergartners who never learned to walk in a line,” she said.
‘Over-the-top rage’
The National Superintendents Roundtable in a September survey found many of the 400 leaders who responded “encountered so much over-the-top rage during the COVID-19 pandemic that they considered leaving.” Respondents described an “upswing of abusive behavior on social media and physical threats.” They also said ever-changing state and local policies made it nearly impossible to do their jobs.
“When the pandemic hit, obviously superintendents were making decisions without clear direction,” Moody said. “There was a different direction than the day before with what is 6 feet, what about masks, is it safe to go to school. We’re making decisions for students based on that churn every day and no one knew what we were dealing with.”
EAB, formerly known as the Education Advisory Board, a national organization that partners with K-12 districts among other groups to “accelerate programs and drive results,” found in its 2022 Voice of the Superintendent Survey nearly half of district leaders are considering or planning to move on from their role within the next two to three years. The survey, filled out by 141 superintendents across 32 states between December and February, found eight out of 10 superintendents agree managing politically divisive conversations “is the most challenging aspect of their role today.”
“Most (superintendents) are looking to have an impact,” Ben Court, director at EAB, told The Charlotte Observer. “The work-life balance is something they sacrificed as long as they’re having a positive impact on students and communities. But many are starting to question whether that’s possible. It’s a completely different role to be the lead of the district. If we really want to be able to see long-term improvement in student achievement, we need strong relationships with the community. It takes time to build those relationships. The challenges are having an impact.”
EAB’s survey found 36% of veteran superintendents plan to retire within two to three years and another 14% will see how this year goes before deciding. New superintendents — five years experience or less — are leaving, too. The survey said 23% are either seeing how this year goes or actively looking for other work.
One superintendent in the Roundtable survey wrote: “It will be harder and harder to find quality candidates to fill superintendents’ positions. The political landscape has made the job increasingly difficult.”
That doesn’t bode well for CMS, a district with more than 140,000 students and 19,000 employees. CMS board members signed interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh to a contract that begins Monday and runs through June 30, 2023. They will now begin a national search for a permanent superintendent.
“With the job market the way it is, with many qualified people choosing to leave public education, it will be hard to lure a qualified candidate to CMS,” said Rose Hamid, who has served 18 years for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Interfaith Advisory Council.
Since she’s been on the council, the district has hired six superintendents, excluding interim superintendents.
Hamid said CMS needs to find someone with a proven track record. The record needs to be a reflection of the values of the entire community.
“A community cannot use public schools as the dumping ground/fix-all for societal problems,” Hamid said. “The issues in Charlotte Mecklenburg, which are reflected in the lack of upward mobility, have to be addressed as a whole, i.e. affordable housing, racial disparities, violent crime, etc.”
Charlotte, Mecklenburg County: Will you come together?
While the success of public schools is contingent on community support, EAB officials say, faith in public education also is faltering. More parents are opting to send their children to charter schools or home school.
And parents who choose public schools are becoming so split on everything from masks to books it’s disrupting learning and pulling superintendents away from core business.
“I have seen a sincere desire to do the right thing for all our community members, to right the wrongs of our past, to build bridges and to be a better place,” Hamid said. “Unfortunately, the reality of the political toxicity the whole country has been stuck in lately has stymied some of the best-laid plans. It seems everything gets painted with a venomous political brush that ignites passions and distorts meanings around important issues, which ends up stopping progress.”
CMS board chair Elyse Dashew told the Observer the community must have input on the district’s next superintendent. The African American Caucus of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party already has raised its hand, issuing a statement a day after Winston was fired saying it is “uniquely positioned” as an established community organization to hold critical conversations with parents, students and educators.
Greg Asciutto is in his eighth year of teaching. The 29-year-old teaches English language arts at Garinger High School. One of his requirements in the new superintendent is “someone who genuinely understands the needs of East, West, North, and South Charlotte and responds to them equitably.”
Ascuitto also wants: “Someone who can continue to work with community partners to strengthen workforce development, someone who has a plan to use the strengths of this district to fix its weaknesses.”
Moody said the best scenario for CMS and its search for a superintendent would be for the community to unite.
“Schools are a mirror reflection of the community. When a community is polarized and unclear, it’s difficult to find a leader who can lead in that environment,” Moody said. “If you look at long-standing superintendents, their communities support education and believe it’s the highest priority. How are the board of county commissioners and city government coming together to think and talk about their schools? It’s difficult to pick a leader when the governance is polarized. ... The more a community can come together, the more clear it becomes how you name a superintendent.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "CMS needs a new superintendent — and there’s a shrinking pool to pick from."
