But 15 months later, the superintendent in Gainesville was after the district defied Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 ban on school mask mandates. DeSantis appointed a board member who tipped the majority 3-2 against her. She was the district鈥檚 sixth leader in close to a decade.

鈥淢y district will have a hard time explaining the turnover rate of superintendents and convincing the right person to pull up roots and move to our community,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he governor’s culture war has impacted the work environment so negatively that a school superintendent would be working to push back a very strong current of low morale.鈥�

Far from being an isolated incident, her termination is part of a COVID wave of superintendent firings from the to . The charged atmosphere is a sign of the times, as toxic national and state politics filter down to local school districts.

A recent poll showed a clear decline in parents鈥� opinions toward their local schools. Those on both sides of the culture war have turned out in force at school board meetings 鈥� sometimes calling for superintendents to. But the issues have not been limited to closed schools or classroom controversies. Even run-of-the-mill decisions, like renovating buildings or replacing staff, have toppled careers. With alarming national test scores released Monday and pandemic relief funds running out in two years, the temperature is only likely to increase.

鈥淲e鈥檙e about to hit a different level of vitriol,鈥� said Julia Rafal-Baer, co-founder of ILO Group, a consulting firm that helps future district chiefs find jobs. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking our leaders to be a sponge for divisiveness.鈥�

鈥楾aking a risk鈥�

The job of leading school systems has always been tricky. As they navigate complex bureaucracies and clashing constituencies from parents to teachers unions, superintendents are paid well (average salaries are in the ) but frequently burn out.

What鈥檚 changing, according to Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, is that now 鈥渨e鈥檙e seeing a whole range of issues migrate into districts that in the past were somewhat buffered.鈥�

Recent and point to a general increase in superintendent turnover, but none has directly examined the spike in terminations. In conversations with district leaders and their advocates, however, many say the phenomenon is inescapable.

Kevin Brown, executive director of the 3,800-member Texas Association of School Administrators, said in his 31 years in the profession, he鈥檚 never seen more superintendents fired than he has in the past two years. And Steve McCammon, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable, a 100-member network, said it鈥檚 becoming common for members to be fired 鈥渨ithout cause鈥� 鈥� legal language that allows school boards to part ways with their chief executives without offering a reason, a hearing or other elements of due process. Previously, he recalled only one instance in the past 20 years. 

鈥淭he stories are out there all over the place,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything has become a political decision.鈥�

To get a sense of the scope of the issue, 社区黑料 reviewed news clips detailing nearly 40 no-cause firings or forced resignations in 26 states since the beginning of the pandemic. 社区黑料 also sent an informal survey to leadership networks, including the National Superintendents Roundtable, the Council of Great City Schools, Chiefs for Change, ILO Group and Education Counsel, another consulting organization. Out of 70 superintendents who responded, 15 said they鈥檝e seen several district leaders fired or forced to resign since the pandemic began. Twenty said there have been many more. Nineteen worry they might be next.

鈥淭he role of the superintendent has become a punching bag 鈥� during the pandemic and the attacks are personal,鈥� one wrote. 

Another said: 鈥淚 have board members running to remove me, and I run a very strong and high-performing school district. It is a dark and sad time for superintendents.鈥�

As in Alachua, debates over polarizing issues preceded firings in dozens of school systems across the country. 

Snapshot

A COVID Wave of Fired Superintendents

When school boards fire their leaders, it is seldom done with transparency. Payouts to superintendents and non-disclosure agreements typically mean the public doesn鈥檛 get the full story. The map reflects a sample of school superintendents fired 鈥� primarily without cause 鈥� since the start of the pandemic.

When conservatives took over the board in Spotsylvania, Virginia, last January, they , who was set to step down just five months later. The district was embroiled in debates over books with LGBTQ themes, with some board members calling for not only banning, but burning, library books they deemed 鈥渟exually explicit.鈥� After banning several books, the district after a public outcry. 

In 2021, Kevin Purnell of Oregon鈥檚 was among a for simply complying with the law 鈥� in this case, a state mandate that students wear masks. The terminations prompted lawmakers to pass this year that protects superintendents from being removed for following laws. 

The perception that schools prolonged closures to protect teachers rather than serve students fueled a huge backlash from parents. Dozens of parents鈥� rights groups have sprung up since 2020, and Republicans have seized on the issue as a critical plank for upcoming midterm elections.

鈥淪chool leadership failed students and catered to union agendas during the pandemic,鈥� said Sharon McKeeman, founder of Let Them Breathe, which sued unsuccessfully over California鈥檚 mask mandate. McKeeman, who鈥檚 also in the Carlsbad Unified district, told 社区黑料 that 鈥渋t鈥檚 time for leadership that will put students鈥� needs first and help them recoup the learning loss and social-emotional damage they incurred during school closures and COVID restrictions.鈥�

Part of the problem in tracking the issue is that such firings are typically shrouded in secrecy. For 社区黑料, Rafal-Baer of ILO Group analyzed the departures of 210 chiefs who vacated their positions in the nation鈥檚 11 were fired. But based on news coverage, she suspects many more were forced to resign. Superintendents fired without cause often and agreements for everyone involved not to discuss the terms.

鈥淲e never hear the real story,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey legally can鈥檛 talk.鈥� 

Issues over district management 

But Cheryl Watson-Harris, fired in April from her post as superintendent of the DeKalb County schools in metro Atlanta, refused to go quietly.

Her termination capped off a two-week media storm following the posting of a that exposed mold, crumbling ceilings and other safety hazards at the district鈥檚 oldest school. High school students shot the video after the board voted not to renovate the facility 鈥� an action she . 

Even before she walked into the job, Watson-Harris knew the district had a reputation for turmoil. Before they hired her, board members named former New York City schools Chancellor Rudy Crew as the sole finalist for the job, only to vote against hiring him two weeks later. for discrimination based on age and race, and the board later paid out a $750,000 settlement. Rafal-Baer of ILO Group said she even advised another candidate not to pursue the position.

Nonetheless, Watson-Harris, who previously served as second-in-charge under former New York City Chancellor Richard Carranza, hoped her status as an outsider would help her rise above the district鈥檚 troubled politics. It didn鈥檛 take long for controversy to find her.

She proposed that would require top deputies to reapply for their jobs in an effort to address what she felt was a lack of accountability over school improvement. She the district鈥檚 chief operating officer last year, according to local news reports, after an investigation found he bullied other employees and drank too much alcohol at a work conference. He , arguing that he was falsely accused of 鈥渁 handful of minor violations鈥� and that she retaliated against him for raising questions about accounting irregularities. 

In an interview, Watson-Harris acknowledged 鈥渟potty recordkeeping鈥� in the district, one reason she brought in outside evaluators to review finances and was upgrading outdated systems for managing staff and operations.

The former employee died in a car accident in September near Detroit, according to police reports. His attorney declined to comment on the status of his lawsuit.

Board Chair Vickie Turner declined to answer questions about Watson-Harris鈥檚 termination. The other three board members who voted to fire her, along with the school district鈥檚 attorney, did not respond to requests for comment. 

鈥淲hen you’re dealing with personnel matters such as this, you have to be very, very careful,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淚 don’t think it would be wise to speak to that, because we may have some things that are still not closed.鈥� 

Watson-Harris鈥檚 firing shocked many in the community, even drawing a from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, who said the board chose 鈥減olitics over students, families and educators.鈥�

With just a month left in the school year, the board spent $25,000 to without her signature. 

鈥淚 could have closed out [the school year] and given people some stability,鈥� Watson-Harris said.

Because she was fired without cause, Watson-Harris believes she was denied a chance to respond to the accusations against her. For that reason, she said, she鈥檚 refused to accept a $325,000 severance package and is considering legal action. 

After watching the district go through four leaders in three years, state Superintendent Richard Woods finds the volatility troubling.

鈥淵ou cannot get any continuity of services and support,鈥� he told 社区黑料, adding that consistent leadership is needed to 鈥渉ave some forward growth.鈥�

鈥業n the spotlight鈥� 

Such churn is becoming commonplace. In her review of the nation鈥檚 500 largest school districts, Rafal-Baer found more than 20 have had two leadership changes since COVID鈥檚 arrival. 

Watson-Harris was both hired and fired during the pandemic. So was Florida鈥檚 Simon, who said she faced similar resistance from a board reluctant to challenge the status quo.

Alachua board member Tina Certain, who voted against Simon鈥檚 termination, said the former superintendent鈥檚 and creation of a teacher advisory committee that included non-union members likely contributed to discontent. 

鈥淓very department I looked at had financial efficiency issues and basic management concerns 鈥� lots of 鈥榯his is how we do things around here鈥� excuses,鈥� Simon said.

That issue came to the fore when she raised questions about the that runs outdoor education programs. She found that scholarships meant for poor students were being awarded to those without financial need, including the child of a former superintendent on a six-figure salary. She 鈥� and shared with 社区黑料 鈥� a text message between the camp鈥檚 director and a former staff member about scholarships given as a 鈥渢hank you for being business partners.鈥� 

An internal investigation of wrongdoing, but the district continues to push for of the camp. The director filed a against Simon, the district and the former camp staffer. He denied the allegations and said he didn鈥檛 violate policies because there weren鈥檛 any in place. His attorney didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment.

But for DeSantis, it would appear that Simon’s vocal opposition to his COVID policies was the tipping point. 鈥淪he went on the national news and put us in the spotlight in a very negative way,鈥� Mildred Russell, the DeSantis appointee who cast the deciding vote to fire Simon, told 社区黑料.

Simon now leads that backs board members and superintendents who push for equity and inclusion. She doubts she could find another superintendent job in the state. 

鈥淚 think every board in K-12 or higher education would be taking a risk of being in DeSantis’s crosshairs in the event they consider my employment,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are asking for people to risk financial and professional stability.鈥� 

The governor鈥檚 office did not respond to requests for comment.

DeSantis 鈥� who is setting the GOP鈥檚 agenda on education policy and is widely seen as a potential 2024 presidential contender 鈥� expanded his reach into nonpartisan school board elections this year, 30 candidates in 18 districts. The majority won their races or have moved to a November runoff. Several of the governor鈥檚 candidates were also backed by the conservative organization Moms for Liberty, a parents鈥� rights group, and the , which has spent over $2 million on school board races in several states.

The charged atmosphere nationally is producing leadership candidates who aren鈥檛 seasoned or politically astute enough to withstand the pressure, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no time to learn,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going into battle now.鈥� 

That鈥檚 why Alachua is holding off on looking for a new superintendent, said Certain, the board member.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to get anybody who is worth anything at this point because of the turnover,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e keep cohorts together during lunch, so if you’re in a mask-required classroom, you’re eating as a group 鈥� socially distanced,鈥� said Superintendent Mark Hansen. 鈥淲e’re keeping those bubbles pretty tight.鈥�

Until now, elementary schoolers couldn鈥檛 get a COVID-19 vaccine. No longer. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday endorsed the unanimous vote of a CDC vaccine advisory panel recommending Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 pediatric coronavirus vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11. That means as many as 28 million children can begin receiving shots this week. 

But just as parents split on masks, they鈥檙e also divided on vaccines: Nearly half say they may pass on vaccinating their children for now, mostly because they aren鈥檛 especially worried their children will get seriously sick from coronavirus 鈥� even as doctors warn the virus will become endemic and virtually unavoidable in coming years, much like the annual flu.

That could set up a tense confrontation in coming months between schools and parents as public health officials push to make the shots part of mandatory school vaccine regimens. And as with the divide over masking, social distancing, and other practices, it could also change how schools operate, as pro-vaccine parents insist on keeping their kids apart from unvaccinated classmates.

Even requiring the vaccine for enrollment might not settle the dispute: An Oct. 23 poll found that 46 percent of parents simply wouldn鈥檛 send their child to school if COVID vaccinations are required.

In southern California鈥檚 ABC Unified School District near Los Angeles, Superintendent Mary Sieu said many cautious families are already hesitant to send their children back to school 鈥� about 700 have remained in remote instruction programs this fall. Overall, she said, the district has lost more than 1,400 students over the past two years, forcing her to consider closing one of her schools next year.

鈥淚 just feel that a lot of people are afraid of coming back to school,鈥� she said.

While suggests that children remain at a lower risk than most adults of contracting serious illness due to the virus, outbreaks happen. In , conducted in early October, nearly one in three parents said their child鈥檚 schooling had been disrupted by COVID-19.

鈥淟ook at your ZIP code and see what your vaccination rates are, and your infection rates are,鈥� said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. 鈥淭hat’s going to tell you the quality of education that those kids are getting in those schools. If a child isn’t in school consistently, they’re not going to be getting the quality education that they need. That’s the bottom line.鈥�

Domenech, a former superintendent in Fairfax County, Va., said he fears that the vaccination gap taking shape between districts could replicate the existing achievement gap. Recent research in has found, for instance, that communities with high poverty rates had COVID-19 infection rates in 2020 that were two to three times as high as those in wealthier areas.

鈥淲hat we’ve seen is that the areas that are suffering the most in terms of lack of a vaccine and high infection rates are exactly [high-poverty] areas, where families of color are afraid to get their kids vaccinated and are afraid to send their kids to school,鈥� Domenech said. 

鈥楻ipe for a contentious situation鈥�

Though they typically get a raft of vaccinations just to attend school, children鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccination rates have already shown evidence of parental hesitation. In September, the CDC said just of children ages 12 to 17 had gotten at least one shot and 32 percent had completed the two-shot dose by July 31. That鈥檚 more than two months after the FDA granted it emergency use authorization 鈥� and more than seven months after it first approved the vaccine for adolescents aged 16 to 17. 

In Marshalltown Community School District, northeast of Des Moines, Iowa, as many as 90 percent of school employees are vaccinated, said Superintendent Theron Schutte. But just 40 to 50 percent of eligible students have been vaccinated so far. For the youngest eligible students, ages 12 to 13, the vaccination rate is closer to 40 percent. 鈥淢y guess is that a lesser percentage of the younger kids’ parents will probably get them vaccinated,鈥� he said. 鈥淚’m hoping that more of them do.鈥�

Dr. William Raszka, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont鈥檚 Larner College of Medicine, said the risk-benefit analysis for vaccination 鈥渋s just so overwhelming. I have trouble understanding why someone wouldn’t get vaccinated at this point in time.鈥�

So far, he said, life-threatening illnesses associated with the vaccines 鈥渁re awfully rare.鈥� One of the most common reactions to Pfizer鈥檚 vaccine 鈥� the only one approved for emergency use in children 鈥� is 鈥渁 sore arm,鈥� he said.

From the beginning of the pandemic, said Schutte, 鈥淲e operated on the premise that we know COVID’s going to come into the school. There’s no way we can know whether it is or isn’t coming in 鈥� but what we can control is its opportunity to spread.鈥�

He couldn鈥檛 immediately predict how his school board would respond to the recent FDA approval of childhood COVID vaccines. 鈥淭hey’re a reflection of our community. So if our community is split on whether we should or shouldn’t require vaccinations, I think it’s always going to be ripe for a contentious situation.鈥�

Mandates are years off

Once COVID vaccines earn full FDA approval, states could move quickly to mandate them for school attendance 鈥� California Gov. Gavin Newsom has he plans to add it to the list of vaccinations required to attend school in-person for middle and high school grades, as with vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, and the like. 鈥淲e want our kids back in school without episodic closures,鈥� on Oct. 27.

Speaking after he received a COVID booster shot in Oakland, Newsom said children already receive 10 other vaccinations in order to attend school. 鈥淭he politics around this are disturbing to me. Lives are quite literally at risk.鈥�

Leaders in four of the state鈥檚 鈥� Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and Oakland 鈥� have already said students must get a first shot of the vaccine or attend school virtually from home in January.

But former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb in October predicted that any COVID vaccination mandate for school attendance would be 鈥渁 couple of years away, perhaps a little longer,鈥� for children ages 12 to 17, and even further for children ages 5 to 11. Appearing on CBS鈥檚 , Gottlieb said CDC has typically taken several years to add most childhood vaccines to their immunization schedule. 

That will leave the decision for now to parents like Debra Garrett, a mother of four children, all of them under 12, in Troy, N.Y. 

Garrett said she鈥檚 vaccinated, but added, 鈥淚’m not really sure about my kids getting it done right now.鈥� Parents need more information about how the vaccines affect children, she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all brand new. We don’t know how anybody’s going to respond to it.鈥�

That sensitivity is heightened, Garrett said, because she grew up Black in a country with a history of mistreating Black research subjects in the name of medicine. 鈥淚 just don’t want my child to be looked at as 鈥榯he tester,鈥欌�� she said.

Garrett鈥檚 four children all attend , part of the Uncommon Schools network of charter schools in six Northeastern cities. She said the school has given parents of students 12 and up the choice to vaccinate. 

But if Uncommon makes vaccination mandatory, 鈥渢hat’s when it’s going to be tricky 鈥� and it’s going to get tough for the school, and for parents. I just feel like there is going to be some kind of push and pull on both ends. I can’t say whether one is right or wrong, but what I do know for certain is that we have to educate people in order for them to be able to fully get it and fully feel like, 鈥楾hey’re not just pricking my kid.鈥欌��

Many parents will likely find themselves agreeing with Garrett. In a June survey , as the more-contagious Delta variant began to take hold in the U.S., the parents of just 51 percent of students under age 18 said they鈥檇 鈥減robably鈥� or 鈥渄efinitely鈥� have their child vaccinated, with vaccine hesitancy much higher for parents of younger children. They鈥檙e far less likely to say they鈥檒l vaccinate their kids compared to parents of high schoolers 鈥� 46 percent vs. 59 percent. 

Political party affiliation also plays a role: Republican-identifying parents of 35 percent of children say they鈥檒l vaccinate their kids, while that figure is much higher for Democrats at 66 percent.

A September Gallup poll suggests that of parents of children under 12 would get them an available vaccine. Parents鈥� own vaccination status strongly predicted their attitude toward their kids: 82 percent of parents who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 said they鈥檇 vaccinate their child, while just 1 percent who don鈥檛 plan to get vaccinated themselves planned to vaccinate their kids. 

Dr. Benjamin Lee, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and associate professor at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, said the findings are cause for concern.

鈥�It’s discouraging to me to see how many parents have already sort of expressed that they don’t want to get their children vaccinated as soon as vaccines are available,鈥� he said.

While it鈥檚 natural for parents to hold out a high threshold for vaccine safety, he said, no vaccine carries zero risk. 鈥淎nd that includes all of the vaccines that we use routinely鈥� for both children and adults. 鈥淚n all scenarios, the data are so overwhelming that risks from vaccination are far lower than the risks of natural infection.鈥�

Schutte, the Iowa superintendent, said it鈥檚 true that children are less likely than adults to get seriously ill due to COVID, but he urged parents to see the bigger picture: Even if kids don鈥檛 get sick, they could take the virus home. 鈥淲e have a lot of multi-generation (families) living under the same roof in our community,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it’s not only the parents, but the grandparents, and maybe in some cases, the great-grandparents.鈥� 

The longer it takes to get most people vaccinated, he said, 鈥渢he longer the situation is going to stretch out.鈥�

In reality, said Lee, the Vermont pediatrician, SARS-CoV-2 鈥渋s going to be with us from now on. Any chance to completely eradicate this virus is long gone. And this will become an endemic virus,鈥� like the annual flu, sticking around for years. Because it鈥檚 so contagious, he said, 鈥渨hat we should recognize is that all of us are going to get this virus. And the question is: Under what conditions or terms do we want to catch it?鈥�

So far, the only statistically significant side effect of the vaccine is a mild case of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, in adolescent males. But it鈥檚 enough to prompt physicians in a few countries to give young people of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, offering at least partial protection from the virus without this side effect. 

鈥淲e should acknowledge that that is a known risk of vaccination,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淗owever, when you look at the risk of myocarditis from vaccine versus the risk of myocarditis from COVID-19, the risks are far higher of catching myocarditis if you catch COVID-19 than from the vaccine itself.鈥� 

Also, he noted, 鈥渁lmost without exception鈥� the myocarditis associated with the vaccine is 鈥渁 very, very mild illness that completely resolves.鈥� COVID-19, by contrast, carries a higher risk of severe outcomes. 

Lee also warned against taking to heart the many unsupported claims about the vaccines鈥� quick development and emergency approval, claims that might turn parents, like Garrett, off to vaccination. 鈥淲hen all is said and done, these will end up being the most heavily scrutinized vaccines in terms of safety perhaps ever, compared to any vaccine that we’ve ever used.鈥�