As he stepped back and stared at his 66-year-old father and 12-year-old son following the family tradition of working on a car, Donald Fennoy made a life-changing decision. He needed more quality time with his aging parents and young children and less time dealing with other people’s parents and children. The stress of trying to handle the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic compounded by divisive politics on full display at hostile school board meetings was too much.
The Palm Beach County Schools superintendent turned in his resignation letter two weeks later, in July 2021, and gained a new perspective.
“When I stepped away and I had time to actually sleep, not answer phones 24 hours a day, play with my kids, you start to realize that I was somewhere different,” Fennoy said. “There were some really dark moments.”
Fennoy became part of what observers say is a growing trend of school superintendents leaving their posts since the start of the pandemic, even as experience and leadership is sorely needed.
