OHIO — Ohio isn’t the only state seeing an exodus of K-12 superintendents this school year. One search firm that helps to fill those positions said it’s happening nationwide. 

What You Need To Know

• Superintendents of large urban and medium-sized, urban-suburban districts stay anywhere from two to four years

• Education experts indicate over 3,000 additional superintendents across the country, beyond normal attrition, will leave in the job 

• Many superintendents stayed through the pandemic because they felt a sense of obligation 

• Many are leaving due to issues stemming from the pandemic 

“It wasn’t a stepping stone problem. It was, 'I didn’t sign up to deal with that. I signed up to work with children and give them the best environment to learn,'” said Mike Collins, president of Ray and Associates, referring to those who have left their positions.

From political fallout with the last presidential election to critical race theory and bringing kids back to school, it all took a toll. As a result of that and regular attrition, Collins said the requests for his firm to find new candidates have jumped.

He said typically his firm does about 20 searches per year. They’ve done 22 in the last six months, which is the largest amount of requests he’s seen in the company’s 45-year history. 

Now, the demand for superintendents has outstripped supply. While some who left years ago returning, this still means that, “What you will see in the 24-25 school year, more educators jumping from the principalship to the superintendent than maybe in any time in history,” Collins said.

As search firms like his look to fill top-level cabinet positions for the future, he noted that a few things need to happen:

• More extensive partnerships with higher education institutions and other education sectors 
• Potential candidate mentorships will need to be increased  
• Those seeking the top jobs will need to zero in on social-emotional health and make it as important as academics, while tackling school attendance 

While it will take some time to prepare enough candidates to fill positions, Collins said we can expect to see thousands of positions open as superintendents leave over the next few years in addition to the ones who have already left.