Across the country, labor shortages and staffing issues are being referred to as The Great Resignation. Sparked by the 2020 pandemic, employees have been stepping away, and the field of education has been hit especially hard. Several superintendents in North Texas schools have announced plans to resign in recent months.
The most recent announcement came from Dallas Independent School District superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa, who held a press conference on Thursday, January 13.
“My last official day will be December 31 of 2022,” Hinojosa said on Thursday.
According to a Dallas ISD press release, Hinojosa has had a career in education for 42 years. Thirteen of those years were spent serving Dallas ISD. After six years as superintendent, he spoke to the board about stepping down.
“I think it was just a good time for us to do this,” Hinojosa said during the press conference. “I did warn the board that being a lame duck is no fun. But I also told them, ‘I may be a lame duck, but I’m not a dead duck,’ so people better listen to me because we have to get a lot of things done for kids.”
Dr. Kent Scribner, the superintendent for Fort Worth ISD, also announced his retirement on January 13. Scribner will step down at the end of his contract, August 31, 2024.
Lewisville ISD superintendent Dr. Kevin Rogers will serve his last day on January 31, 2022. According to NBC, Rogers first announced his retirement through a district press release in November of 2020.
“It has truly been my honor to serve LISD for my entire career in public education, but especially the last seven years as superintendent,” Rogers said in the initial press release. “Education is first and foremost about serving our students and staff, and I believe LISD has the best students and staff in the country. LISD has always been an incredible district, and I am grateful I was given the privilege to try and make it an even better place than it was when I started. And I think we did that, thanks to the tremendous support of our students, staff, parents and the communities we serve.”
According to Dr. Stephanie Knight, the Dean of SMU’S college of Education and Human Development, the stress of being superintendent combined with the challenges of the pandemic have contributed to the number of resignations.
Knight spoke to NBC about the problems superintendents face. “There are political obstacles. High-stakes accountability. Funding issues. The challenge of meeting the needs of diverse students. Finding qualified teachers. I could go on and on. But you get the idea,” she said.
Knight explained that these day-to-day challenges are just as responsible for mass resignations as the pandemic is.
“I think perhaps the most detrimental of all is dealing with the polarization around any decision that the superintendent makes. There are fervent emotional responses by all groups, to vaccines, to face masks, to how learning takes place,” she told NBC.
Other North Texas superintendents who have announced their resignations include Jeannie Stone from Richardson ISD, Dr. Ryder Warren from Northwest ISD, and David Vroonland from Mesquite ISD.