Sean Maika was out for dinner celebrating his daughter’s birthday when someone recognized him and struck up a conversation. At the time, Maika held a demanding, public-facing position: superintendent of the second-largest school system in San Antonio and one of the largest in the state.
“I sat down, and my daughter said, ‘See, this is why I never want to go anywhere with you. You’re never with me,’ ” he recalled. “That pretty much sealed the deal.”
Article continues below this ad
“On my gravestone, if it says ‘great superintendent, but kind of an OK dad,’ I’m not OK with that,” he said. “I’d rather be a great dad and an OK superintendent.”
In January, he resigned from his role, kicking off a school-year-long trend of superintendent departures across the area’s largest districts. In eight months, five of the largest San Antonio school districts lost their leaders. None left for another superintendent job.
One district leader was fired, two retired and two resigned, setting off a scramble to name interim successors and search for permanent replacements in the Northside, North East, San Antonio, Judson and Southwest ISDs. Together, the districts educate nearly 240,000 students and face tremendous challenges as a new school year begins.
San Antonio and Judson ISDs are at a pivotal academic point with chronically struggling schools at risk of tripping a state law that could bring mandatory state intervention — required campus closures or a districtwide takeover.
Article continues below this ad
All five districts are also struggling to retain students while grappling with deficit budgets that threaten student programming and staffing. Four of the five school systems have shuttered schools in recent years to deal with declining enrollment. The only exception, Northside ISD, began discussions about possible closures last academic year.
Experts say new challenges — declining birth rates, competition from new schooling options and a flattening property tax base — are putting more pressure on superintendents, making it difficult to keep quality leaders.
Former North East ISD Superintendent Sean Maika at the school district’s headquarters on Jan. 6, 2026.
Andrew J. Whitaker/San Antonio Express-News file photo
“I think finding qualified people to do the work is getting harder and harder,” Maika said.
Article continues below this ad
Since his departure, North East ISD found a permanent successor in Anthony Jarrett, the chief instructional officer who worked alongside Maika throughout his time as superintendent. San Antonio ISD trustees recently hired a Houston-area district administrator to fill their vacancy. But the other three districts remain without a permanent leader.
The stakes are high, and the question remains: Who wants to be a school superintendent?
Tenure and a timeline of departures
The average tenure of a school superintendent isn’t long, even in favorable circumstances. The Texas Association of School Boards estimates it’s about four years in the state. Departing leaders from the area’s largest districts had an average tenure of 3.8 years.
Article continues below this ad
“It is a 70-to-80-hours-a-week stressful and rewarding experience, where the demands on leadership do not stop, and are complicated by the state expecting districts to do more with less,” said Juan Jasso, who previously served as superintendent in Southside ISD. He now helps prepare future superintendents at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
When a superintendent departs, the leadership change can distract academic leaders, teachers, support staff, students and parents and disrupt the ongoing work of a school system.
“Technology plans, transportation replacement plans, staff development plans and safety and security plans may all be compromised in some way when shakeups occur,” Jasso said.
Former Southside ISD Superintendent Juan Jasso in 2013.
Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News file photo
San Antonio’s most recent bout of superintendent turnover began in January when Maika’s resignation took effect. Maika, who served in his post for seven years, didn’t give a reason for resigning at the time and had no job lined up after his departure. The North East ISD school board quickly named Jarrett as interim superintendent and eventually promoted him permanently to the top job.
Article continues below this ad
In early January, the neighboring Judson ISD school board placed Superintendent Milton Fields on administrative leave pending the findings of an investigation related to allegations he had mishandled district finances and academics and jeopardized student safety. The board voted 4-3 months later to finalize his firing.
Fields, who held the post for nearly three years, questioned the legitimacy of the district’s investigation into him and described the current period as “an incredibly challenging time to serve as a superintendent in Texas.”
“District leaders are navigating declining enrollment in some communities, financial constraints, staffing shortages, increasing accountability expectations, and heightened public scrutiny,” Fields said in a statement.
The board has since hired four different interim leaders, including retired educator Robert Jaklich, who abruptly stepped down June 30. He was replaced by education consultant Ann Dixon, who has held over 20 temporary superintendent roles in her more than half-century career.
Article continues below this ad
Leadership churn continued in March, when San Antonio ISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino announced his retirement at age 61 after running the district for four years.
Aquino said he planned to spend more time with his family after a term marked by a “rightsizing” process that resulted in closure of 15 schools in 2023, concerns about academic test scores and the threat of a TEA takeover. After trustees voted 5-2 in July to hire Houston-area administrator Adrian Bustillos as the new superintendent, Bustillos vowed to stave off state intervention.
The fourth domino fell in June as Northside ISD Superintendent John Craft, 49, announced his retirement, though his contract ran through April 2030. He didn’t give a specific reason for his departure. Just a few days before his announced retirement, the board was set to discuss his annual evaluation behind closed doors, according to a May meeting agenda.
Former Northside ISD Superintendent John Craft at Burke Elementary School in 2025.
Jo E. Norris/San Antonio Express-News file photo
Earlier this month, Southwest ISD became the latest district with a change in leadership after Superintendent Jeanette Ball unexpectedly announced her resignation. She said she stepped down to do “something new” and recently announced she would join the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas as CEO.
Article continues below this ad
Scope of the work
The job of a superintendent goes far beyond overseeing classrooms and campuses.
“There are a lot of pieces that most people don’t see that are more than just learning about schools,” said Eduardo Hernández, who has run Edgewood ISD for the last eight years and has a contract through 2030. “It’s compensation, transportation, safety and security — all the different things that come with or without funding.”
Hernández joined Edgewood ISD when it was led by a state-appointed board of managers and stayed on as the district transitioned back to local control. After serving as a high school principal and administrator in North Texas school systems, Hernández moved to San Antonio and quickly learned that community engagement was a major part of his new role.
Article continues below this ad
He said he goes to homes, churches and businesses in the district to answer questions and hear concerns.
“The fact that you’re willing to meet with them and listen really goes a long way,” Hernández said. “I earn my place every day to stay here.”
Edgewood ISD Superintendent Eduardo Hernández during a school board meeting at the Joseph M. Guerra Center on Sept. 16, 2025.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News file photo
Roland Toscano, the longest-serving superintendent in San Antonio, has led East Central ISD for the past 13 years. He attributes his tenure to his focus on what he can control locally — beyond state funding, school board politics and state academic mandates.
Article continues below this ad
“I know I am fully accountable and accept and embrace the fact that I’m fully accountable for getting results, regardless of all of these other things I can’t control that make it very difficult,” Toscano said.
Bucking the trend of declining enrollment in neighboring school systems, Toscano leads a growing district with about 12,000 students. The district has had highs and lows at the ballot box, losing bond elections in 2021 and 2024 but prevailing in 2022 and 2025.
East Central ISD was criticized earlier this year by some parents and social justice groups — and praised by others — after handing out suspensions and other discipline to 30 high schoolers who participated in a walkout protesting immigration policies. TEA has targeted districts it saw as encouraging the demonstrations.
Salary competition for quality teachers, school board politics and misplaced priorities of lawyers advising board trustees with personal agendas are among the dangers superintendents face, Jasso said.
Article continues below this ad
“Since much of this happens behind closed doors in executive session, (a school board and superintendent’s) interaction is only known when it leaks out of the meeting,” Jasso said of trustee shenanigans.
Jasso, who worked for 14 years as superintendent of Sabinal, Van Vleck and Southside ISDs believes high turnover among superintendents is “cyclical.” The annual attrition rate among the 1,200-plus Texas school superintendents is typically 13-15%, he said. But in the past year, 26% of Bexar County districts lost their leaders.
State pressures
A dozen San Antonio superintendents were gathered at the Metro SA Chamber’s annual superintendents breakfast in April when state Sen. José Menéndez delivered stern impromptu remarks about the Legislature’s role in public education.
Article continues below this ad
The San Antonio Democrat apologized for “crashing the party” and said a major school-funding bill approved last year “should’ve been called the ‘I don’t trust school superintendents bill,’” because it put too many restrictions on funding for transportation, insurance and teacher salaries.
The legislation, House Bill 2, raised the state’s per-student funding amount by $55 to $6,215 — far short of the $1,300 that public education advocates said was needed to keep up with inflation since the figure last increased in 2019.
School leaders have long complained of new unfunded mandates that add to the tasks school districts must accomplish each academic year.
Jarrett, from North East ISD, spoke before Menéndez at the breakfast, acknowledging that he has to think more strategically amid financial pressures and declining enrollment, even after voters in his district approved a $483 million bond issue last year.
Article continues below this ad
In North East ISD, district leaders have traditionally had to deal with new population growth as developers added housing in a booming part of Bexar County. But with new competition from charter schools and private schools taking part in the state’s voucher program, NEISD is now facing an unfamiliar challenge: contracting student numbers.
“There’s a possibility that we’re going to have to consider closing or consolidating schools,” Jarrett said. “So we’re not playing checkers with this. We have to play chess.”
North East ISD Superintendent Anthony Jarrett during a school board meeting on Feb. 9, 2026.
Charlie Blalock/For the San Antonio Express-News
The problem of enrollment loss and superintendent turnover isn’t isolated to San Antonio. Among the five largest school districts in Texas, only Kenneth Gregorski, who’s led Katy ISD since 2019, has more than five years in office.
Article continues below this ad
But Hernández, at Edgewood, said he doesn’t believe large, urban districts are at greater risk of superintendent departures, even though symptoms of declining enrollment might be more obvious there than in his district, which has fewer than 8,000 students.
“You can look at a lot of ISDs that are smaller than us, and you’re losing superintendents,” he said. “We’re all struggling with the same things.”
Searching for replacements
The pressures on public education are unlikely to change in the near future, so new school district leaders must come prepared to address persistent problems. These days, that includes financial sustainability and avoiding the threat of a state takeover.
Article continues below this ad
It’s important for elected school board members to hire a superintendent who reflects the community’s values and can deliver on issues important to the community, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD Board President Letticia Sever said. Her district last hired a new leader in 2024, when trustees selected Paige Meloni as superintendent.
“It isn’t like you have to recreate the yardstick that you’re using to pick a superintendent, because boards already have done a superintendent evaluation,” Sever said. “They have an evaluation set where they have already come up with metrics that are important.”
In a changing public education landscape racked by deficit budgets, it’s increasingly important to find someone with a background in finance and experience as an educator, she said, noting Meloni’s experience as a former chief financial officer at the Region 20 Education Service Center.
It’s also important for the board to have its leader’s back, she said.
Article continues below this ad
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD Superintendent Paige Meloni during a board meeting on Feb. 19, 2026.
Charlie Blalock/For the San Antonio Express-News
“It all boils down to the relationship that the board members have with the superintendent,” Sever said.
Heading into the new school year, Judson, Northside and Southwest ISDs have interim leaders calling the shots and have not launched superintendent searches. Districts often contract with outside search firms that can draw a diverse pool of applicants and survey the community about its priorities. The process can take months and cost thousands.
North East ISD chose to eschew this path entirely, promoting Jarrett from within and giving him a few months to try out for the job. Trustees posted the open role for a week before closing the position and hiring Jarrett unanimously.
Article continues below this ad
As vacancies open up locally and across the state, an increased focus on training future district leaders will be key, said Lindsay Whorton, founder of the Holdsworth Center, an education nonprofit focused on developing school leadership.
“I think across the state of Texas, we need to be doing a lot more to identify and develop future superintendents,” Whorton said. “So that boards, when they have a vacancy, have a lot of great candidates to consider and can really hone in on which of these great candidates is the best match for what this community needs at this time.”