School Administrators and COVID-19
by Andrew Henry
From closing up restaurants and retail stores to finding ways to work remotely, this pandemic has definitely changed a broad spectrum of industries — education included. The education system has gone through many changes since the end of the last school year, and the upcoming fall start will look very different from previous ones. School administrators — whose jobs are already demanding — are noticing that the pandemic has added more stress to their jobs. This stress and the fear of contracting COVID-19 has resulted in many principals considering early retirement.
This Chalkbeat article talks about the health scares that the education system has already faced due to COVID-19.
School leaders tend to be older than classroom teachers, increasing their chances of becoming seriously ill. The median age for a principal last year was 48, about eight years older than that of teachers, according to the Independent Budget Office. Almost 400 school leaders — almost a quarter of the city’s public-school principals — were 55 or older.
As of the end of June, 79 education department employees have died from suspected COVID-19 cases. They include two administrators. Among them was Dez-Ann Romain, a deeply committed principal at a Brooklyn alternative school for students who struggled in traditional settings. The first known education department employee to die from the virus, Romain was only 36.
Considering your health is important. School staff and administration face a lot of tough decisions this year about keeping the people in their buildings safe. The stress of that is weighing on some.
If, as the Chalkbeat article suggests, many principals do retire The Independent Budget Office estimates that some 400 candidates are in various training programs to become principals, but it’s unclear how quickly those educators could be put in charge of schools. What would be the impact of so many new school building leaders? No one knows.
Although this crisis has made it hard for anyone to tell what the future will look like let’s continue to support and encourage school leaders. They face a ton of challenges.
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CITE is the Center for Integrated Training and Education. For over 25 years, CITE has and continues to train TEACHERS (Masters in General and Special Ed, Special Ed Extension,Grad Courses, Bilingual courses, TESOL, DASA); COUNSELORS (School, Mental Health Masters, Advanced Certificate); and ADMINISTRATORS (School Building Leadership, School District Leadership, Public Administration, Doctorate) in all five boroughs of NYC, Yonkers, Westchester, and Long Island.
CITE PD offers CTLE-approved professional development tailored to your school’s needs and your vision. Our PD for staff and parent workshops can be virtual/remote. Info: citepd.com
Currently, during COVID, our summer courses are all online.
