May 2026: School Administrator
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Additional Articles
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Buyers Beware: Shopping for Classroom Observation SystemsEnsure your tools for high-stakes staff performance decisions are guided by research-based vehicles that are reliable, valid, unbiased and fair.
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Principle 3: Attract, Hire, Retain and Reward the Best PeopleLeaders from AASA鈥檚 Center for Leading and Learning focus on how school districts can ask: 鈥淗ow well are our systems supporting and growing the staff we already have?鈥�
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Route to the Top JobThe pathway to the superintendency differs for women and men.
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Taking Privilege into AccountOur ethics panel analyzes whether personal life circumstances ought to be factored into staff hiring decisions.
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From AI to EI: Strengthening Human ConnectionsUse artificial intelligence to save you time, then reinvest that time in relationships and feedback.
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Guidance for Effective Workplace Harassment PoliciesA school district cannot describe every prohibited behavior, but effective harassment policies need clear and comprehensive definitions to reduce risks.
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Providing Goal Updates that Board Members WantWhen your board shapes progress reports, members become more invested and better retain key information.
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Telling a District鈥檚 Story Minus a Communications ProfessionalTo share his small district鈥檚 experiences with the public, an ambitious superintendent created videos. He shares four considerations.
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Funding Double-Digit Raises on a 3% Budget IncreaseA three-point blueprint used by a school district to turn structural savings into staff salary support.
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No Longer Chasing Others鈥� Definitions of SuccessIn turning away from a doctoral pursuit, a superintendent revisits her beliefs about what goals are important to her sense of self-worth.
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Tips for Leading the Hiring ProcessFour guiding principles for locating and retaining the best talent.
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Why People Systems MatterHiring is one of a leader鈥檚 biggest decisions. Keep it student-centered.
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Hugs from a National PacesetterThe 2026 National Superintendent of the Year manages rapid growth in a Texas district.
Staff
Editor's Note
Heightened Attention to HR
When Carrie Hruby first stepped into a superintendent job, she had built her career largely on curriculum expertise, an unwavering dedication to serving students and strong-willed ambition. What she and many others typically lack when reaching the top level of district administration is formal training in human resource management, leaving them, as she told me, 鈥渦nprepared for the complexities of supervising staff, addressing employee concerns and navigating legal HR requirements.鈥�
Now 16 years into her superintendent career, she opted to write a book Making Personnel Personal: Human Resource Leadership for K-12 Schools (Bloomsbury, 2025) to fill in those gaps. Her published work includes replicable forms, checklists and practical questions, along with tools and graphics. It was a no-brainer, as editor, to invite her to contribute our cover story this month, 鈥淢attering at Work: The Missing Piece in the Burnout Conversation,鈥� in an issue that鈥檚 focused on human resource work.
In a similar way, Ryan Smith鈥檚 contribution, 鈥淪o You Want to Lead HR in a School District?鈥� appealed to us. Smith had spent time in the superintendency, but when he took on a new role in 2024 as a deputy superintendent responsible for districtwide personnel, he discovered he needed to learn a few things. He shares five such lessons about personnel affairs.
We鈥檒l be revisiting the subject of personnel management again before long, so I would welcome fielding your feedback on our offerings this month.
Jay P. Goldman
Editor, School Administrator
703-875-0745
jgoldman@aasa.org
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