Parenting in the Public Eye

Type: Article
Topics: School Administrator Magazine

January 01, 2025

When School Administrator put out a call last year to hear from superintendents whose children attend or previously attended the schools in the same community, we heard from quite an array. Many of them openly shared how that experience played out for them and their sons and daughters.

A small sampling of their observations:

A small-city superintendent (male) in Massachusetts: “I have 9-year-old twins, and I am sure this job has an effect on them.”

A suburban superintendent in New England (female): “My children know they can’t expect me to be at home every night and will preemptively ask me if I am available. I am not sure if other families have a schedule that permits their own children to assume that their parent will be around for all evening functions, but my children do not make that assumption. They are used to eating late or coming with me into the office as needed if something comes up.”

A former superintendent (female) near Madison, Wis., with three children: “Oftentimes, I thought my children paid a bigger price with all of the scrutiny they faced.”

A rural superintendent (male) in Massachusetts: “When my kids were younger, they did not like knowing I was in their schools visiting, and in some cases, would ask to see the nurse or use the restroom if I visited their class. My oldest has come around, while my youngest — not so much.”

The number of superintendents who have school-age children largely is an open question. One of the only surveys to explore this subject is the periodic Snapshot of the Superintendency run by the New York State Council of School Superintendents. In its 2020 study, NYSCOSS reported 45 percent of the state’s superintendents had school-age children. Only 19 percent attended school in the district, a sharp drop from the 46 percent in 2015 whose children attended class in the superintendent’s district.

Four of the veteran superintendents we reached out to — Dan Bittman of Elk River, Minn.; LaTonya Goffney of Houston, Texas; Terry Ward of Baldwinsville, N.Y.; and Marie Wiles of Guilderland, N.Y. — prepared short essays on sundry aspects of the parenting life they’ve experienced.

Jay Goldman is editor of School Administrator magazine.

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