The Ballot Box
Discuss this year's local and national political races -- the candidates, the issues, the coverage.
Superintendent: The Revolving Door
February 11th, 2008, 11:53 am · 2 Comments · posted by Scott Kent
Mosley High School Principal Bill Husfelt last week announced his candidacy for Superintendent of Bay District Schools, making him yet another district employee who has sought the top office.
The superintendent’s job has been a revolving door for principals to jump back and forth between 1311 Balboa Ave. and their schools. That can make for an incestuous relationship among administrators and staff — and for some awkward moments. Look no further than the epic clash between current Superintendent James McCalister and former Bay High Principal (and former Superintendent) Larry Bolinger. Mac defeated Bolinger for the super’s job, and later was responsible for hiring him at Bay — and then transferring him to Jinks Middle School. That sparked a costly legal battle between the School Board and the Superintendent over who had the ultimate authority to place personnel. You can’t help but think the whole thing started as a clash between political and professional rivals.
Does the current setup make for a healthy system? Once you’ve held the top spot, how hard is it to transition back to being a principal? As a superintendent, how hard is it to oversee people who have been in your shoes — and might think that they did a much better job than you?
Furthermore, what about all the politicking that a principal may do to earn the votes of other school personnel? Does that corrupt the educational system by highly politicizing it? Does a superintendent who was part of the school administration — and who may be interested in returning to it after he leaves the super’s job — be inclined to operate in the best interest of his former (and perhaps future) colleagues than that of the taxpayers?
Would it be better to have the superintendent be an outsider appointed by the School Board? That would eliminate the politics, the power struggles (if the super doesn’t do what the Board wants, he gets fired) and all the potential conflicts of interest between current and former supers and principals.
Quite a few former School Superintendents live close by and are retired. Why not have the NH take an anonymous poll - elected vs. appointed - among the former Superintendents and see how they vote after considering all of the points in your blog?
It doesn’t matter if the super is elected or appointed. The school board is elected. Anyone who is elected is going to be looking out for their political interests. Would you rather an elected super, or a super chosen because a political payoff?