I have a question for my reader families. Do you know the principal in your child’s school? Is it the same one you had last year or the year before? There were 19 new principal appointments listed for the Knox County for the 2024-2025 year to date.
As a former principal in two different schools where I cherished the relationships in both, I know the demands of fostering the relationships between the administration, the staff, the parents and the students to create a united vision for all.
The principal is pivotal in shaping the environment of the school and advocating for the school’s vision within the community and elsewhere. Continuity of leadership is crucial to the stability in the school.
McCrel International, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education research organization, has called principal turnover an avoidable crisis. In a study done over five years ago, they reported, “On average, principals are staying at their schools for four years, before leaving for other schools, taking on different jobs within their districts or simply exiting the profession altogether.”
As teachers, parents and more importantly students realize, and McCrel confirms, “This constant leadership turnover in a school is a tragic waste of human capital that has negative consequences for teaching and learning.”
As Learning Policy Institute chief Linda Darling-Hammond was quoted as saying, “you’ve got to reboot those schools” every time a new principal is hired.
Any educator, parent or student can attest to the difficulty of adjusting to new leadership when the new principal comes in and changes the norms.
The question could also be asked as to why some schools have a rotating principal and some have principals lasting till retirement.
Families, ask the questions. Why does my school have a new principal? What can we do to sustain the current leadership?
There is a flipside to every story and I might tell it! Send a topic to susan@knoxtntoday.com
