About Those Endless Administrative Meetings

My View

Back in 1984, I became the superintendent in Upper Darby, located just outside of Philadelphia. My job move was hardly planned.

Within a span of four years, two formidable superintendents in Upper Darby had succumbed to heart attacks because of the extreme pressures of what had been happening in the district: declining enrollments, union strikes, news media criticism and loss of faith by the public.

And so, the Upper Darby school board named me, as one of the still-standing assistant superintendents, to the top leadership role. I began my superintendent career on an ominous note with great trepidation.