Overlapping Superintendencies
February 01, 2026
Deliberate succession plans involving the incoming and the outgoing superintendent take center stage
Betsy Hargrove thought retirement as superintendent from Arizona’s Avondale Elementary School District was two years away when she attended a superintendents’ conference in fall 2024. But those plans quickly shifted as the conversation among her colleagues naturally turned to their own futures. She learned they had something Avondale didn’t have — a successor and a leadership transition plan.
Hargrove knew the value of thoughtful transitions. She’d experienced it herself when moving into the superintendent role 13 years earlier after working for more than two years as assistant superintendent, alongside her predecessor. By the time she stepped into the top leadership role, she felt comfortable and confident to lead.
Within a week of the conference, Hargrove proposed to her school board that she’d retire 18 months early, in June 2025, but stay on for another full year to mentor her successor. “They were all in from minute one,” Hargrove says.
Now, Hargrove and Avondale’s new superintendent, Eric Dueppen, are several months into a year-long mentorship period. During this past fall, they communicated three or four times a week — via a quick text or a longer phone call. For Dueppen, that ongoing connection has helped keep any feelings of imposter syndrome at bay. “I’m not trying to do it all alone,” he says.
Extended Hand-off
In recent years, significant turnover, some of it admittedly unplanned, has marked the high-visiblity role of the superintendency. Between 2019-20 and 2024-25, 44 percent of districts nationwide experienced one superintendent departure, according to the University of Texas’ Superintendent Lab, while nearly 14 percent shuffled through two leadership changes.
To avoid disruption and ensure smooth transitions, some school districts, such as Avondale, are finding success in a collaborative hand-off, building in an overlapping period between outgoing and incoming school system leaders.
These intentional leadership transitions aren’t new, says Stephanie Burrage, CEO of search firm Ray & Associates and a former district leader. But with so much movement in the superintendent ranks, these arrangements might be becoming more visible and formalized, she says.
And, under the right conditions, these overlaps can prepare the incoming superintendent for the unique needs and nuances of the district and ease anxieties that come with any leadership change, Burrage says. “People then know that things won’t get lost, that information won’t get lost, that our culture won’t get lost.”
Sharing Backstories
Superintendents can develop budgeting and leadership skills through professional development programs or discuss general challenges with regional peers. But every school system has its own history and local dynamics that outsiders may struggle to grasp.
The reasons behind particular district practices — why a beloved but aging playground is maintained, not replaced, or how specific clauses ended up in teachers’ contracts — all have backstories. A formal transition between outgoing and incoming superintendents can ensure that institutional knowledge isn’t lost.
Knowing the why behind how a school district runs doesn’t mean the incoming superintendent must follow suit, Burrage says. It just gives the individual some context when beginning to make their decisions.
Overlap Operations
In some cases, districts deliberately develop succession plans that train internal candidates for the superintendent role. Former superintendent Ray Queener, owner and principal consultant at TeamWorks in Centerville, Minn., which provides training to districts, has worked on several such transitions in recent years, including at Willmar Public Schools in Minnesota.
“What we found is that when the models run well and it’s communicated, there’s very, very little disruption to the system,” Queener says, because the incoming superintendent understands the culture, has been involved in the strategic planning and has established relationships within the community.
Other transition arrangements vary widely, depending on whether districts hire externally or internally. Some involve the incoming superintendent shadowing the outgoing leader, while others feature the departing superintendent staying on as a consultant or mentor. Agreements range from a few weeks or months to a year or more.
These approaches require careful planning with the school board and clear contracts for both leaders, with built-in transition periods, exit clauses and boundaries, experts say. For instance, should the outgoing superintendent maintain an office in the district while serving as a mentor? To help a new superintendent become established as the decision maker, Jennifer Cheatham, senior lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education and a former superintendent, recommends against a district workplace, saying video conferencing should work fine.
Additional compensation for an incoming leader who starts early or an outgoing leader who stays on is also common. Among the six sets of superintendent pairs profiled by School Administrator (pages 18-25), most transitions involving occasional consulting, or interim work came with nominal fees. Costs can climb more quickly when districts keep two leaders on staff at the same time.
However, says Michael Lubelfeld, superintendent of North Shore School District 112 near Chicago, the cost is worthwhile. ‑He is in the midst of a two-year transition with his successor. “The investment is solid, and it is in the taxpayers’ best interest because it really continues this massive forward momentum and stability,” he adds.
Caution: Egos Ahead
Success, of course, isn’t a guarantee. An outgoing superintendent may struggle to step aside, says former superintendent Mary Herrmann, a teaching associate professor at the University of Illinois.
District culture may be so entrenched that it becomes difficult for the newcomer to get established. Or the incoming superintendent might have vastly different philosophies about instruction or priority needs, creating tension. “Context really does matter,” Herrmann says.
A formal transition may not be feasible when a district leader has been forced out for ethical issues, but, in most situations, skipping a basic conversation with the departing leader is a missed opportunity. Says Cheatham: “There will be circumstances where that beautiful, formal transition period that’s baked into contracts just can’t happen. But that doesn’t mean you cannot talk.”
Ultimately, experts say, these arrangements should focus on what’s best for students and teachers and setting up the new superintendent for success — not on egos. “It’s all about the kids,” Burrage of the Ray search firm says. “And to be healthy, communication is key.”
School Administrator interviewed six pairs of superintendents who jointly paved smooth transitions for themselves and their districts. Here’s how it worked and what they learned.
AVONDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT, AVONDALE, ARIZ.
As plans came together for Betsy Hargrove, then outgoing superintendent of Arizona’s Avondale Elementary School District, to support her successor for a full year, she saw herself as a bridge between the district’s past and its future.
The planned transition would ensure her successor understood the district’s history, knew its key stakeholders and maintained its positive momentum. For the past decade, Avondale, which serves 6,100 preschoolers to 8th graders, had been working successfully to boost student achievement and other wins.
“We wanted this new leader to come in and take us way further,” Hargrove says.
But leadership changes can bring anxieties about the future. Particularly in Arizona’s school choice-rich environment and amid teacher shortages, Hargrove wanted to ensure that her retirement after 13 years in the top berth didn’t disrupt what had been working so well.
“The last thing I wanted to do was to lose incredible people because the staff here is just phenomenal,” she says. “And Arizona certainly has a lot of options for parents, and so we didn’t want our families to think things are changing, so we’re just going to make a change.”
Mentoring Appeal
When Avondale began its national search in December 2024, finding a leader who embraced this mentorship transition was essential for the school board, Hargrove says. “There was definitely a sentiment that if we are getting a leader in and this is not something they see as a benefit, it’s not the leader for us.”
Avondale didn’t have to look far — just to the other side of Phoenix where Eric Dueppen was assistant superintendent of teaching and learning in the Creighton School District. Dueppen already was familiar with Hargrove’s work and Avondale’s tenure of success. When he took the job at Creighton and was seeking ways to boost student achievement there, a mentor suggested he reach out to Hargrove.
“I was really, truly able to take some of the things that I learned here [at Avondale] and put them into place in my district with some modifications, and we started to see very positive results,” he says.
It became clear early on in the recruitment-and-interview process that the Avondale role included a year of mentorship with Hargrove, which made the opportunity, Dueppen says, “all the more desirable.”
He was hired in February 2025 for a July 1 official start date. Starting in March, his previous district allowed him to travel to Avon-dale for about one day a week for the remainder of the school year to begin building relationships within the district and to attend governing board meetings and conferences. Avondale provided nominal compensation for his time.
During the spring, as the district issued contracts to returning teachers, both Dueppen and Hargrove say, a priority was for those in the school district to get to know him. As Dueppen built internal relationships and learned district systems, Hargrove continued to nurture community partnerships, gradually introducing him to key stakeholders and preventing any partnerships from getting dis-rupted during the transition.
“That would have been an easy thing to let drop, and that would have resulted in disrupted partnerships and, perhaps, even a loss of partnership in the long term,” Dueppen says. “She’s able to care and maintain those deep relationships.”
Momentum Maintained
Starting in July, Hargrove, who also earns a small fee for her work after her official June retirement date, moved out of her district office and into more of an advisory role. By September, the two were communicating three to four times a week via e-mail, text or phone. Many of the issues focused on maintaining continuity, Dueppen says, from continuing work on new operating procedures to professional training that Hargrove had started with the district’s leaders.
Dueppen describes the ongoing mentorship as crucial during his transition into the superintendency. “It’s the difference between operating without a safety net and operating with a safety net,” he says. “Her guidance allows me to navigate that transition with greater awareness, with greater sensitivity and greater respect for the history and the practices and the people that have gotten Avondale to where it is.
HIGHLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BURIEN, WASH.
When Susan Enfield arrived in Highline Public Schools near Seattle, Wash., to take over as superintendent, she got this word of warning from the interim leader: “Whatever you do, don’t mess with Waskowitz.”
The school district’s outdoor education center is a beloved institution, and it was in no danger of being messed with. But the warning reflected a reality of school leadership. Every district has its history and traditions, and incoming leaders do well when they know about them.
A decade later, in 2022, as Enfield prepared to hand over the reins to Ivan Duran, their collaborative transition helped to ensure he understood Highline’s unique nuances too, even if it was just the cadence of cabinet meetings.
“I always have in my mind from previous roles that whenever you’re going to change something, you’ve got to find out who built that fence in the first place,” Duran says. “That was just super helpful to have that level of insight so that I didn’t step in any real holes.”
Lasting Tenures
Highline, an urban, 17,000-student district, has benefited from a long line of stable leadership on the school board and in the super-intendent’s office. Enfield served for a decade, as did her predecessor.
When she announced her plans to leave in 2021, the district launched a national search but ultimately found her replacement next door. At the time, Duran was chief of recovery and acceleration at nearby Renton School District, and the two already knew each other. When he moved to Washington to lead another district, Duran visited Highline and met Enfield to learn about the district’s success in strategic planning and student achievement.
“Susan was leaving it in a good place, in good terms, and I think that makes a huge difference in the decision to have really strong succession plans,” Duran says.
Duran was hired in March 2022, and Enfield, now working as executive director of the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington, was staying through June. Coming from a nearby district, Duran had the flexibility to get time away and begin work early. Highline’s board approved a 15-day contract that allowed him to meet the cabinet and get to know community members.
“I didn’t have to wait to start doing a listening and learning tour after I was starting in July,” he says. “I was able to do some of that right away.”
The two never sat down to sketch out a formal succession plan. But once Duran was hired, the conversation immediately shifted to ensuring a smooth transition for both Duran and the district. There also was work to be done to prepare for the coming school year, and Enfield let Duran take the lead on some of it.
Key leadership hires at the principal level and elsewhere needed to be made, and Duran was involved in the decision making. “Even though I was still in the seat, it wouldn’t have been appropriate for me to hire someone for Ivan’s cabinet,” Enfield says.
That November, a $518 million bond measure was on the ballot to replace three aging schools and make other facility improve-ments. Highline had a mixed history with bond passage. “One of the things that Susan was fabulous with was connecting me with really key community stakeholders: Influencers [and] people who have been very supportive of the district. [It helped to] ensure that that bond was going to pass,” Duran says.
The bond passed with nearly 70 percent of voters approving, and two of the new schools recently opened.
Weekly Coaching
Once she left, the board paid Enfield a nominal fee to continue weekly coaching calls with Duran for six months. “I used every one of them,” he says. “I’d usually have a list.”
Through it all, Enfield was careful not to step on his toes or act as a shadow superintendent. She made herself available when Du-ran had questions but wouldn’t reach out to offer unsolicited advice. Today, Enfield serves on the board of the Highline Schools Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the district, but checked in with Duran as a professional courtesy first to ensure he didn’t have any qualms about her involvement.
“One of the big takeaways for succession planning is you’ve got to let go,” Enfield added, “and really say, ‘It’s not my district anymore.’”
New Trier Township High School District, Winnetka, Ill.
Leadership stability long has been the storyline at New Trier Township High School District 203 just outside of Chicago. When Peter Tragos became superintendent last July 1, he was only the district’s eighth leader across its 125-year history.
“My eight years brought down that average,” his predecessor Paul Sally joked.
When Sally announced his retirement in May 2024, New Trier’s school board conducted a national search before hiring from within. Tragos is a 28-year veteran of the 3,800-student suburban high school district. He already had served eight years as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction under Sally, who held that same position before becoming superintendent. “I’m following him for the second time,” Tragos notes.
During the interview process, board members expected a formal transition plan from each superintendent candidate and required everyone — internal and external — to present one. But the smooth handoff between Sally and Tragos also benefited from their long working relationship.
“One of Paul’s gifts is giving other people the opportunity to grow and shine,” Tragos says. “Paul’s skill is passing the ball and allowing people on the admin team to take on responsibilities, to stretch a bit, and he just does that naturally.”
Constant Contact
The transition unfolded in two phases. The first started after Tragos got the job in November 2024, and the second began last July 1.
During the first phase, Tragos focused on honing his leadership skills and extending his network. His priorities included professional development, attending conferences and finance seminars, and meeting with staff and community members.
Tragos also helped fill two vacant administrative roles and craft the district’s annual plan in the spring before the July approval. It made sense for Tragos to take the lead on those decisions since he’d be the one to implement the adopted plan and work with the new hires, Sally says.
“Every decision we’re making, I’m not living with,” he adds. “There really were moments where it was Peter’s decision.”
During those early months, the day-to-day moments and discussions around unexpected challenges also were just as important. Including Tragos in those conversations allowed him to constantly reflect on how he would have handled a similar situation.
“It was really a philosophical look at decision making because there are some practical things that just have to be decided,” Tragos says. “But, also, the way decisions are made is sometimes as valuable as the decision itself. That was an important part to learn from Paul.”
A Consulting Role
After July 1, Sally, who is being paid a small fee for the continued support, shifted to a consulting role. By the start of the school year, the two were checking in about once a week. The formal arrangement continues through the end of the academic year.
“The way that I see my role now is really whenever Peter needs to talk through something or there might be some support with various things … but it’s really at Peter’s guidance,” Sally says.
The smooth transition owes much to their long professional relationship and deep knowledge of the district, they agree. But it also requires humility on both sides and a shared focus on what matters most.
“We’re fortunate because we have worked together for all these years,” Tragos says. “A real deliberate relationship and learning from each other serves the district and students best.”
North Shore School District 112, Highwood, Ill.
Four years into his five-year contract leading suburban North Shore School District 112 near Chicago, Michael Lubelfeld had a counteroffer when the school board proposed a five-year extension: Make it four years, and let’s talk succession.
Lubelfeld rattled off the usual options for finding his successor such as hiring an executive search firm or headhunter before landing on his preference. “I said, ‘You can look inward and see if anybody who’s here happens to want a job, like, wink, wink, Monica Schroeder,’” he remembers saying about his deputy superintendent. “She is a peer. She is a superior leader. She’s a very strong person. If you’re interested in her, I suggest you find out if she’s interested in you.”
Schroeder was interested. Over the years, the two had chatted about Schroeder’s career plans, and Lubelfeld had created opportunities for her to grow professionally.
Long Connections
Their shared history within North Shore also ran deep. Lubelfeld joined North Shore as a middle school principal in 2002, and Schroeder followed him in 2006. After serving as an assistant superintendent for four years, Lubelfeld left in 2010 to lead two other Illinois districts before returning in 2018 for the top job. A few months earlier, Schroeder had moved into the deputy superintendent role.
In a district shaped by a complex history, that deep institutional knowledge has helped smooth the transition. North Shore formed from an unpopular 1990s merger of three districts. About 4,000 preschoolers to 8th graders now attend district schools.
“We have street credibility and gravitas and an understanding of the communities of Highland Park, Highwood and Fort Sheridan, and a literal connection to the history,” Lubelfeld says. “That gives us the ability to work through conflict, controversy, tumultuousness, opposition and support.”
That foundation enabled a deliberate two-year-long succession plan, which runs through June 2026 when Lubelfeld formerly retires. A carefully written roadmap has been a key component to the transition’s success, Schroeder says. “I really do believe there needs to be a plan in place, something that’s in writing because, when times get tough, that’s when you can say, ‘Hold on, what did we agree to?’”
Gaining Know-how
Pre-planning work for the transition began in December 2023. The district needed an updated strategic plan, so Schroeder began looking for partners who could help with the process. In June 2024, the school board appointed Schroeder as Lubelfeld’s successor, and the transition began in earnest.
Early on, Schroeder started co-facilitating board meetings on policy, facilities and finance. Lubelfeld still ran the meetings, but behind the scenes, Schroeder was asking questions about board packets and communications. Working with the board was one area where Schroeder lacked experience. “Mike was basically pulling back the curtains and saying, ‘This is what’s happening,’” Schroeder says.
They’ve worked deliberately to keep the process transparent, smoothing out awkward moments, such as when a staffer avoids one over the other, and ensuring nobody thinks Lubelfeld is being pushed out. Sometimes, Schroeder says, they’ve had to close the office door to talk it out. “There’s so much, and it’s so complex,” Lubelfeld says, “but we just own it, and we just talk about it.”
Last July 1 marked a new phase of the transition, and Schroeder added more responsibilities to her plate, such as taking over leadership of the superintendent’s executive team. “I’m part of it, and I’m still the superintendent,” Lubelfeld says. “But it’s Monica’s deal, and it’s really fun.”
A Tranquil End
This fall, Lubelfeld shifted to “special projects,” running the district’s educational technology and artificial intelligence committee, a personal passion. And this spring, as the transition winds down, Schroeder will handle more community-facing work as Lubelfeld manages day-to-day operations before he retires on June 30.
As the end of his decades-long career in public education nears, the two-year transition has given Lubelfeld peace. Retirement can bring complicated emotions, especially when leaving a place where he’d invested so much.
“I not only want to leave the campfire better than I found it, and we have,” he says. “I want to set up Monica … and the organization, in a way that now I know I can, I should and I’m going to.”
Willmar Public Schools, Willmar, Minn.
The two-year-long transition from Jeff Holm to Bill Adams as superintendent of Willmar Public Schools in Willmar, Minn., started as an offhand joke at a local Chamber of Commerce event. Holm was attending with the school board’s chair when a local government leader mentioned hiring an operations director.Holm jokingly elbowed his board chair and asked, “Are you going to hire one of those for me?” And the chairperson responded: “Should we get you an assistant?”
Holm quickly declined, but the idea wasn’t so far-fetched. A consultant had previously discussed the benefits of succession plans rather than searches, and Holm had announced recently his plans to retire after signing his final three-year contract in January 2021.
Pretty soon, that offhand joke turned into a board-approved plan. The school district would hire an assistant superintendent to work alongside Holm during his final two years at Willmar, and that assistant would be a leading candidate to replace him.
As luck would have it, Willmar’s school leaders found their new assistant superintendent right next door. Adams was in his third year as superintendent at nearby New London-Spicer School District and had served seven years in the role at J.W.P. School District in Janesville, Minn.
Quick Integration
Adams was intrigued by the opportunity to lead a larger and more diverse school community, he says. Willmar Public Schools, located about two hours west of Minneapolis, has about 4,000 students.
“None of us anticipated that we would end up with someone like Bill, who was quite experienced as a superintendent and also pretty experienced with local people,” Holm says. The two were even members of the same Rotary Club.
Adams joined Willmar in July 2022 and served as assistant superintendent for two years before taking over as superintendent in July 2024 after Holm’s retirement following nine years in the top role. As assistant, Adams quickly proved himself to be an integral part of the team. When an unexpected budget crunch forced the school district to pursue a referendum, Adams’ experience with successful referendums proved invaluable to passing it, Holm says.
The two leaders quickly developed an organic working relationship, and much of their partnership evolved naturally through daily conversations and debriefing sessions. “We just carved out what we were doing on our own,” Holm says.
In snowy Minnesota, Holm kept one critical task for himself, noting, “I feel compelled to point out that I didn’t make him make any decision about weather.”
But he immediately assigned Adams another key task — principal supervision. The role gave Adams a chance to begin coaching relationships he would continue as superintendent while spending time in Willmar’s schools and getting to know teachers, staff, students and families.
‘Peace of Mind’
By the middle of Holm’s final year, the Willmar school board announced Adams would formally take over. Holm began deferring decisions about the following year to his successor, though they continued to make most decisions collaboratively.
For Holm, knowing that initiatives he’d spent years building, particularly standards-based learning work, would continue under Adams provided peace of mind. “Whether your successor is sitting right at your elbow or is 50 miles away, you just are going to reach a point where you feel like a lame duck,” he says. “But it was nice for the people around us to know where to turn.”
Adams would enthusiastically recommend the transition model to others. By the time he took over as superintendent, Adams had built connections. “There was a level of trust in the community. There was a level of trust in the buildings. There’s a lot of trust among students,” he says. “When you don’t do that type of transition, that’s all up in the air and you lose momentum.”
Polk County Schools, Columbus, N.C.
Todd Murphy didn’t sleep much the night before the first school day of 2025-26. Over the summer, he had stepped into a new role, as superintendent of Polk County Schools, a rural 2,100-student district in western North Carolina.
With students entering the buildings, there was plenty to be nervous about. But Murphy also knew he had plenty of support. The previous superintendent, Aaron Greene, had intentionally prepared him for this role for more than a year, and the district boasts a strong history of leadership continuity.
Murphy is just the fourth superintendent in the past 32 years, and he can pick up the phone anytime to ask any of his predecessors, Greene, Bill Miller or Susan McHugh a question. The seeds of the smooth transition from Greene to Murphy were planted years before Greene’s retirement.
“I had Mr. Miller, who was my predecessor, to lean on,” Greene says. “It’s kind of understood that when we do that, that we’re there for that next person.”
A Path Paved
Greene retired last June 30 after 31 years in the school district, the past nine as superintendent. Murphy joined Polk schools about 12 years ago as a principal and was named human resources director two years ago.
After Murphy moved to the district office for the personnel role, Greene began gauging his interest in the superintendent job. “I never woke up one morning and thought I ever wanted to be a superintendent,” Murphy admits. “But his encouraging words and his support of me personally allowed me to see a pathway that it could be possible.”
Once Murphy expressed interest, the conversations became more formal. Greene gradually increased Murphy’s exposure to district leadership and decision making, giving him some behind-the-scenes access and encouraging him to pursue leadership development opportunities.
“He was very intentional with putting me in positions where I was able to meet people, make connections, and [he] continues to do so,” Murphy says.
It’s easy to execute smooth transitions in a district where big, wholesale changes aren’t required. Both Greene and Murphy agree. And Murphy also appreciates that Greene set a clear path forward for the district’s next five years by completing a strategic plan before his retirement.
“I can’t say enough about how much that meant to me, personally, to have that strategic plan in place and knowing that we kind of set the path for the next five years,” Murphy says.
A Longitudinal View
Going forward, continuity remains a priority, including leadership development for the next generation of educators and leaders. Succession planning extends all the way down to high school students who have expressed interest in becoming a teacher, Murphy says. The district stays connected with them while they’re in college and offers them opportunities to work as substitute teachers during winter break.
Taking that long view is best for the district, both leaders say, creating a stability that resonates throughout the community.
“For our staff and our community, people knowing that things aren’t going to change, there aren’t going to be radical shifts … it just gives people comfort,” Murphy says.
Adds Greene: “Our motto, and it’s been that way for a long, long time, is doing what’s right for students. ... If that’s not what we feel like is good for our kids or our community, we don’t do it.”
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