Volora Hanzlicek

In this series, we have been looking closely at the people load of leadership in schools. We have explored staffing shortages, retention, and the daily demands that shape the work of principals and superintendents. Those pressures are not theoretical. They are lived realities in schools every day. AASA’s 2025 American Superintendent Study found that leaders are navigating intense pressures related to finance, staffing, safety, and politics, and that staffing issues remain one of the most...

As this 7-week series on the people load of leadership in schools continues, I have found myself stretching the timeline a bit as the realities of work and life, along with a few distractions, caused me to fall behind in my posting. In some ways, that feels fitting for this particular topic. Burnout and overload do not only affect the leaders we serve. They are reminders of how easily important work can be delayed when demands keep piling up. That is why this post focuses on a reality many...

In many schools, retention conversations begin after someone has already decided to leave. The resignation is submitted, the exit interview is scheduled, and leaders are left wondering what could have been done differently. But by that point, the more important question may already be behind us. Retention is often shaped long before a contract is broken. It begins in the earliest experiences educators have with a school: how they are welcomed, how clearly expectations are communicated, how...