Clarification: Due to a technical error, an earlier version of this story was incomplete. The full article now appears below.
Superintendent turnover in the nation's 500 largest school districts has slowed and returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to research released Monday by ILO Group, an education strategy and policy firm.
Between July 2025 and July 2026, 87 of these districts — or 17.4% — experienced a leadership change. That's a decline from the past two years, when 23% of superintendents exited in 2024-25 and 20% left in 2023-24. Before the pandemic, turnover was around 14% to 16%.
Superintendent transitions began occurring more frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the years that followed.
Despite turnover reaching its lowest level since before the health crisis, those who did leave their positions in 2025-26 were either early in their careers, with less than two years in the role, or were veterans with six or more years under their belts. Mid-career exits decreased.
Of the 94 superintendent changes from the past year, 53 — or 56% — handed off their superintendency to a permanent successor with no interim in between.
“Turnover may finally be moving back toward pre-pandemic levels, but the pandemic’s impact on school system leadership is unmistakable,” said Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, co-founder and CEO of ILO Group, in a Sept. 14 statement. "The lesson is not that leadership should never change. It is that sustained progress requires enough time to move from a plan, to implementation, to results. And then when a transition does happen, districts have to protect the work through the handoff.”
