There is one primary reason for superintendent turnover, regardless of a district’s size. However, the number of students correlates to how likely a superintendent is to leave voluntarily.
A job in another district, retirement, resignation and termination were the main paths of departure tracked by Burbio, the K12 data hub, over the past 12 months. The firm drilled down by size, starting with large school systems of more than 10,000 students, followed by medium districts (3,000-10,000 students) and small (less than 3,000).
The good news is that superintendents, across the board, are most likely to leave of their own volition, either by retiring or finding a new job in education.
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Superintendents of small districts were most likely to retire, which was the reason for nearly half (47%) of departures, followed by resignation/termination (27%) and a new job in education (26%). Superintendents of small districts were the most likely among their peers to find work in another district.
The same holds for medium districts, where retirement the most prevalent reason for superintendent turnover (53.8%) among systems of all sizes. Medium district leaders were fired or resigned 30% of the time.
Resignation/terminations were highest in large districts, where they accounted for 37.7% of superintendent departures. Still, leaders of the biggest systems were, like their peers, most likely to leave by retirement, which they did 47.3% of the time. They only left for new education jobs 15% of the time.
Earlier this year, Burbio noted that out of 400 open superintendencies, nearly two-thirds were filled by an external candidate, while the remaining hires were promoted from within.
