EducationNews.org - Star Telegram
Tenure for district leaders is getting shorter as they deal with politics and burnout.
GRAPEVINE --
Superintendent Kay Waggoner is leaving the Grapevine-Colleyville school district for one twice its size the Richardson school district. She has been in Grapevine-Colleyville for five and a half years and according to district officials community members and Waggoner herself it has been a good fit.
As basically the chief executive of a small corporation -- the school district has a budget of $141.9 million with 1650 employees and 13621 students -- it may not seem like a long time to be in charge.
But Waggoner who said she was not seeking a new job is leaving corporate-style -- she was recruited by Richardson for the open job.
Research shows that Waggoners tenure in Grapevine is typical for a 21st-century superintendent.
Observers say that frequent turnover is inevitable. An urban superintendent must manage staff work effectively with the school board and boost educational standards and accountability.
The superintendency is a difficult difficult job and some people just get worn out said Bob Griggs of North Richland Hills. He now is a superintendent search consultant after retiring in 1993 as superintendent of the Birdville district. The stress is enormous on a day-to-day basis.
Often superintendents are hired in hopes that they will be a districts savior. But while national averages show it takes about five years for a successful new superintendent to turn around a troubled district urban superintendents are only around for an average of 31/2 years.
Mac Bernd who retired two years ago as the Arlington superintendent after serving 10 years in that post said school boards have become more politically active making the top jobs more dicey even under the best of circumstances.
Superstar superintendents can quickly lose their lustre. Hector Montenegro Bernds highly touted successor in Arlington resigned under pressure in 2008 after only six months on the job when his alliances with educational foundations became an issue.
The Dallas school district has been through a revolving door of superintendents. Current Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has not been offered the obligatory contract extension during his most recent review.
Schools are pressed to offer more services of all kinds education financing has become more difficult and regulations more complex.
Just in my 10 years in Arlington the change in the accountability system was profound Bernd said. You had to answer to the demands of both the feds and the state and sometimes those were conflicting.
Research
Superintendents in the Tarrant area are paid well but in terms of the CEO of a midsize company it isnt excessive. School districts are often their citys top employer with bigger operating budgets than those of the municipal government.
Fort Worth Superintendent Melody Johnsons base salary is $328950 and Arlingtons Jerry McCulloughs base salary is $235000. Northwest chief Karen Rue makes $215812 and Southlake Carrolls David Faltys gets $200000.
Former Crowley Superintendent Greg Gibsons salary was $179449. His new assignment at Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City pays $183000 and Jeri Pfeifer at Everman makes $161500.
Early on youve got to make a decision on whether youre career-bound or place-bound Bernd said. Career-bound superintendents make moves for bigger districts and higher salaries while place-bound ones live where theyre content with less money and less opportunity for advancement.
I was career-bound when I went to Arkansas said Bernd who only stayed in that assignment for a year. It was his second district. But when I went to Arlington I was place-bound.
Typically there are about 150 superintendent vacancies a year among Texas 1030 school districts said Mayo Neyland a consultant with the Texas Association of School Boards executive search firm.
He is currently coordinating superintendent searches for both the 15000-student Crowley and 33000-student Irving districts.
Smaller districts are usually where superintendents are developing Neyland said and moving up and away.
Results
Superintendent turnover in the Tarrant region actually isnt as high as in other areas of Texas said Richard Ownby director of Education Service Center Region XI which is based in Fort Worth.
The 10 counties in the region have about half the turnover rate of the state average he said and of the 77 school districts within the area only 10 had a superintendent switch last year.
Twenty-five percent of the new superintendents in Tarrant County have been hired from within Ownby said mirroring a trend of some cash-strapped districts forgoing the search-firm route altogether to save anywhere from $6500 to $30000 in fees.Before 1995 Texas superintendents once had a state-mandated pay scale that discouraged moves to other districts since the small raise was not worth the cost of relocation.
Now the era of hometown superintendents staying at districts for decades such as Crowleys Sidney Poynter who served the district for 40 years are definitely gone.
Rather than career-length longevity Bernd said school boards should look at whether the candidate is likely to stay long enough to accomplish what the board wants.
Boards can become complacent about salary Bernd said. They will let a good superintendent get away then pay more money for a new superintendent to come in.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/21/1985573/new-educational-realities-shrink.html
