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School Administrator, August 2020

Dan Domenech’s Executive Perspective column (“An Unprecedented Crisis Stretches Superintendents’ Role,” May 2020) about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the work of school district leaders is spot on.

The coronavirus has DECIMATED SCHOOL REVENUE STREAMS in ways not seen since the Great Depression. The funding of our public schools will require intense coordination and creativity between our state and federal government.

Some of our students manage this crisis in comfortable homes with abundant technological and family support. Other students, however, are lonely and secluded in poor housing with scarce food and minimal support from outside intervention. Family members and friends may have died during their separation from the norm, and this will have an impact on student readiness to resume education in our schools.

The pandemic will have serious ramifications on the practice of education and on the PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STATUS OF STUDENTS and teachers. As states struggle to ease restrictions, superintendents must decide when, how and if we are to reopen our schools.

We must support those school leaders and AASA to design the solutions for school operations under this microbial assault on life as we knew it.

THOMAS P. COYNE
SUPERINTENDENT EMERITUS,
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.

 

Navigational Expertise
I couldn’t agree more with the views expressed by Susan Enfield and Kristine Gilmore in their co-authored article, “Women on a Plateau in the Superintendency,” in the March issue. 

I really appreciated the thought and perspective of their cover story. So many times as administrators we wonder if we are floating out alone until a perspective is released into space that shows we are not.

I am thankful for their leadership as we navigate these unchartered waters. It is clear these superintendents represent not just their own districts but education leaders in their respective states and across the nation.

RACHEL DAVENPORT 
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, 
NORTH KITSAP SCHOOL DISTRICT
POULSBO, WASH. 

 


Guidance Worth Pursuing
Roark Horn exhibits his compassion and wisdom in his Board-Savvy Superintendent column, “Forgiveness or Permission From the Board?” in your May issue.

I appreciate his leadership of our state association and thank him for sharing his great work in your magazine. His message will make a difference in the lives of many, and I need to take his clear, practical guidance to heart.

GARY MCELDOWNEY
SUPERINTENDENT
SIOUX CENTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA




Jim Collins’ Advice

I found value in Larry Nyland’s “Conversation With Jim Collins” in your December 2019 issue.

I’ve shared the article with school board members to think about. They can assist in both avoiding a negative, what Collins calls initiative fatigue, and in promoting a positive, the stability that allows naming and improving a flywheel for continuous improvement. Both support and sustain the efforts of superintendents.

 

RICK MALONEY

GOVERNANCE TRAINER,

WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION

LACEY, WASH.



 
 
Letters should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org