As Montana schools work to recruit and retain teachers, data suggest superintendent turnover in the state is among the highest in the nation.
Research nonprofit the Superintendent Lab tracks how often school leaders leave their jobs. Its latest data show nearly two-thirds of Montana schools replaced their district superintendents over the last five years. Only Alaska and Utah posted a higher rate of turnover.
Superintendent Lab founder Rachel White says the issue has likely flown under the radar for years.
“If anything, though, the pandemic did put a spotlight on superintendents in that it became very clear that superintendents were really, really important during that time,” White said.
White says superintendents had to make difficult decisions about masking requirements and moving school online — and frequently became the targets of political pressure.
Montana School Boards Association director Lance Melton agrees, and says pay is part of the issue, too. The average superintendent salary in Montana is $106,000 — a third less than the nationwide average.
“Superintendents are kind of a strong and silent bunch, so they don't do a lot of amplification of their voices in terms of pay and benefits,” Melton told MTPR.
Melton hopes Montana lawmakers next year will change the way schools are funded to help them keep up with the rate of inflation, which could help raise administrator pay.
The state Office of Public Instruction told MTPR it doesn’t have any programs to help schools recruit and retain superintendents.
