EDITOR’S NOTE: A third-grade teacher is a third-grade teacher, whether they’re in Bonners Ferry or Boise. It’s not the same for superintendents, whose tasks may vary from lobbying the Legislature to driving a school bus, depending on the district. That breadth of work makes hiring and retaining superintendents difficult in Idaho.
To illustrate the differences, EdNews spent a day with a superintendent in a small town and a superintendent in a mid-sized, college town. The reporting of this story was supported by a grant from the Education Writers Association.
CRAIGMONT — On most days, it’s easy to find Highland Superintendent Tana Kellogg.
She’s tucked in her office, the size of a walk-in closet, sitting behind her computer, doing paperwork.
Kellogg, 62, could have the larger office down the hall, complete with a window and conference room table, but she ceded that and many of the more fun parts of her job to the school’s principal.
Instead, Kellogg spends her time writing grants and completing the hundreds of state and federal reports required of school districts. When she’s not doing paperwork, Kellogg might be organizing sports schedules, also serving as district athletic director.
“I know that people think being in a little district, it’s way easier, a lot less work,” Kellogg said. “Not the truth.”
Kellogg has led larger school districts, her most recent position was as superintendent in Notus. She even managed government schools in the United Arab Emirates until the COVID-19 pandemic brought her back to the United States.
But leading a small district does have its perks, Kellogg said. She gets to interact with students daily, seeing her work’s impact.
Teachers also know to go to her for their special education needs, since she’s co-special ed director, working with her special education teacher.
“Basically, you do everything and what you don’t do, your principal does, or your office manager does or your business manager,” Kellogg said. “Everybody here wears so many hats.”
About Highland
Highland is nestled in the Palouse. It used to be a farming community, where families worked land passed down through generations, or worked at the lumber mill in Winchester. The mill has since closed and corporations now do much of the farming, so traditions have dwindled with the population.
The communities of Craigmont, Winchester and Reubens combined their school districts in the 1950s to form Highland. The only school building was built in 1953 with a gym added in the 1970s. Many parents of the current students work at a long-term care facility in Winchester or commute to Lewiston. About 65% of Highland students receive free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of poverty.
“Everybody just supports everybody,” Kellogg said of the community’s approach to school.
That support goes beyond kids, it extends to the school and staff, a rarity in a time when many district leaders feel public education is under attack.
“In other places that I’ve been, there’s often a faction of people who have a loud voice against us,” Kellogg said. “And we don’t … we don’t really have that here.”
She attributes that in part, to the fact that a private or charter school would probably not be viable in the area. Families have an incentive to support the district. The community also has an understanding that their students’ success shouldn’t be measured just by test scores, Kellogg said.
“It’s really about: How are your kids as people?’” Kellogg said. “We’ve got some pretty good people here. And I think their families feel like that, too. They know that if their kids need something, we’re going to help them.”
There’s no store in town and no medical care. The school donates clothing, school supplies and provides speech and occupational therapy virtually.
“We just try to be all things for all kids,” Kellogg said.
Highland statistics
Students: 196.
School Buildings: One.
Teachers: 18.
Annual budget: $3.1 million.
Whatever it takes
A knock on Kellogg’s door interrupts her paperwork flow, as a student arrived to eat lunch outside her office. A treat for behaving well in class that seems to be working, she said.
“Whatever it takes,” Kellogg said.
The moment is a reprieve from budgets and bills, where she sees how just one family going on vacation can significantly drop the district’s average daily attendance and impact funding.
Hiring and keeping teachers can be difficult in a small district, but Kellogg said she’s lucky. Former students are coming back to teach. When she arrived, Kellogg promoted a teacher to be the school’s principal, a unique choice in a small district where superintendents often serve as principals. The principal can be the go-between when there’s a behavioral issue.
“You really need to have that intermediate step to try and solve some problems with your secondary kids before they just have to go straight to the board,” she said.
Rural trustees often have less experience, and in Highland, most are appointed after a trustee resigns. They see the role as volunteering to help their school, instead of as a political stepping stone.
Kellogg is the first experienced superintendent for this board, after years of hiring first-timers who stayed for less than a handful of years.
Board Chair Monica Smith said the district doesn’t get many applicants for superintendent.
“That’s what we end up with because that’s who applies,” Smith said.
Not only do they typically get applicants with little experience but it’s a tough role, Smith said.
“There’s a lot more that they have to do than in a larger district, plus small schools can’t pay as well,” she said.
The thing that would make the biggest difference for districts like Highland, Smith said, is having more funds to hire additional administrators so the superintendent doesn’t have to take on so many roles.
When Kellogg started, it took a while for her to build a relationship with the trustees and with the community, Smith said.
“Having her get to learn kind of how our community cooperates and get together,” Smith said. “It has been getting pretty great.”
The school day is full of moments that fit the district’s family-like atmosphere: “Crazy Train” blasts over the school speakers to signal the end of lunch, a perk of running a small district, she said with a chuckle.
At the end of the day, Kellogg attended a baby shower for one of her teachers in the staff lounge. Colleagues filled a stroller with presents and supplies, and they munched on colorful cupcakes.
“What happens in the school happens in the community, and everybody’s impacted by it,” she said. “And so we have to make sure that we’re making kids smarter, but we’re also making them better people.”
Kellogg, like most school leaders, worries about funding and implementing new laws, but she doesn’t want those administrative tasks to overtake her priority — helping kids become successful young adults.
“Education changes people’s lives and people change the world,” Kellogg said.
At the end of the school day, “Who Let the Dogs Out” blasts from the school’s speakers. Kellogg steps outside to send off each student by name.
