Interim principalships: filling an 11th-hour need to buy time for a permanent successor.

Eduardo Carballo was in a tight spot. It was two weeks before the start of the current school year, and Carballo, superintendent of the 7,300-student Holyoke, Mass., School District, needed an elementary school principal.

He'd followed the protocol, conducting an exhaustive national search, narrowing a field of 17 candidates to one. She'd shown up for work for just a week or so before telling Carballo she'd changed her mind and departed.

So there was Carballo, left holding the ball and desperate for an instructional leader to run Dr. Marcella R. Kelly Elementary School, a school that had seen six principals in a decade.

To solve his dilemma, Carballo embraced a remedy being used increasingly in school districts across the country: He hired an interim.

"I felt like a coach with players on the bench," Carballo says. "Who am I going to put in there right now? Where are you going to go two weeks before school starts and find somebody to put in there ?"

Common Turnover

Many of Carballo's counterparts from coast to coast can empathize with his position, Some superintendents and school boards are grappling with a teacher shortage and enrollment boom even as they're facing a dearth of educators with an ambition to become school leaders. The Chicago Public Schools, for example, began the 2002-2003 school year with about 43 interim principals and another 154 principals with contracts set to expire at year's end.

A report by the Educational Research Service estimates that 40 percent of the country's principals will retire over the next 10 years. And when those charged with hiring their successors look down the pike they don't see qualified replacements queuing up to take their places.

Often, convincing standout instructors to leave the classroom for the main office can be frustrating and fruitless. Pair that reality with the impending retirements and you've got yourself a significant gap between principal supply and demand--a phenomenon now confronting rural, suburban and urban districts. That's why 60 percent of the 853 superintendents surveyed in 2001 for the Public Agenda report "Trying to Stay Ahead of the Game" said they expect to lower their professional standards when faced with filling an open principal position.

But that doesn't have to be the case, Carballo says. Using interim principals can buy superintendents time to find a more fitting candidate. Or, as in Carballo's case, the interim might just be the one with the glass slipper.

A 4th-grade teacher turned middle school assistant principal who was completing her doctorate in education policy research and administration, Linda Carrier had helped resuscitate an ailing Holyoke middle school. Carballo liked her drive and enthusiasm, so he asked her to step in to the top spot at Dr. Marcella R. Kelly Elementary, a building with 490 students and one of the lowest-performing schools in the district, located 50 miles west of Boston.

Carrier agreed to a year, but she embraced the school as if she'd never leave. By January parent involvement had increased and the school's curriculum was being overhauled. Carrier had become a favorite among staff and families alike.

When Carballo asked Carrier to stay permanently, she said yes.

"Everybody thought she was the greatest thing," Carballo says. "I think she'll turn that school around."

Carballo was taking a chance even appointing an interim for Kelly Elementary. The last interim there, appointed before Carballo began his superintendency in December 2001, had stayed two years. Carballo thought that was too long. But he did need someone who would commit to a year, giving him a chance to look for principal candidates during the winter and spring hiring seasons.

Even as the interim principal, Carrier began to effect change. She instituted a schoolwide leadership team, a data-driven school improvement plan and new literacy and math curricula. When Carrier arrived at the school, the staff made their expectations clear, she says.

"The teachers wanted someone to stay with them and see it through," Carrier says. "1 never felt like I wasn't the principal."

An Unappealing Role

Although scant research exists documenting the increasing use of interim principals, anecdotal evidence abounds.

"I think there is a trend, but the trend is based on the difficulties in finding principals," explains Milli Pierce, director of The Principals' Center at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. "Most districts have the best intentions. The reason they use interims is so they don't rush to use the wrong person."

Factors contributing to the principal shortage are varied. For starters, more principals are reaching retirement age, according to a staffing survey by the National Center for Education Statistics. And many aspects of the job-the long hours, the grueling pace, the relatively small pay differential between the principal and veteran teachers-aren't enticing enough educators to leave the classroom.

But over the last few decades of school reform, the role of the principal has changed. They are no longer just their buildings' instructional leaders. They're social workers, one-person human resources departments and budget officers. They must wade through labyrinthine federal rules, answer the demands of students with wide-ranging social problems and cater to the needs of their staffs and the schools' families.

Yet one fact of the principal's job hasn't changed. Principals still are held accountable for their schools' successes or failures; in fact their compensation can be directly affected. Twelve percent of the more than 1,400 middle-school principals surveyed in 2000 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals reported their salaries were linked to school performance.

So superintendents and school boards are loathe to quickly hire any warm body with a principal's certificate to permanently fill open positions. Often, too, district leaders don't want to temporarily use someone from within the district ranks. Such situations sometimes cause their own set of troubles, Pierce says. If a faculty member is elevated to interim principal, he or she might find it difficult overseeing those who were peers just days before. And keeping a building staff on task can be the most frustrating part of any interim principalship, Carballo says.

"It's kind of like substitute teaching," he says. "I think that's probably the most difficult thing with an interim person."

Retirees Return

Sometimes the best solution to finding a qualified interim principal quickly lies in the ranks of the retired. In districts large and small, rural and urban, retired superintendents, central-office administrators and principals often return to schools to keep the buildings running while the search for a permanent placement goes on.

When Bernie Pelc retired as superintendent from the Fulton School District in Middleton, Mich., in 1995, he wasn't ready to quit working. But he also didn't want to continue indefinitely as a school superintendent. Pelc quickly realized he wasn't alone.

"A lot of experienced administrators were retiring as early as 50 years old," PeIc said. "A lot of educational experience and knowledge was walking out the door."

Pelc and his partner, James McKimmey, retired superintendent from the Midland County Intermediate School District in Midland, Mich., saw a business opportunity in their newfound freedom. They knew from experience that school districts often needed veteran administrators to fill in when vacancies occurred. But the two weren't sure how best to meet that need with the cadre of retirees they knew existed. As in many other states, Michigan law prohibits those who've retired from the state's public school system to work for a school district and maintain their pensions.

Pelc's company, Professional Contract Management Inc., manages that problem this way: School districts hire the company to fill interim positions ranging from assistant principals to curriculum specialists. PCMI hires the educators and leases them back to the districts, which have final say over which interim candidates get placed.

It's an ultimate savings for the school district, which isn't responsible for providing health insurance or state retirement--costs that are borne by PCMI. Districts pay PCMI their going per-diem rare, which varies greatly around the state, Pelc says. PCMI pays its employees a salary.

"It's a win-win-win-win-win all the way down the line," Pelc adds.

PCMI got off the ground slowly, winning seven contracts over two years. But now the company maintains a database of 225 job candidates and employs about 40 people on any given day within Michigan's schools.

The Illinois Association of School Administrators was thinking along the same lines as Pelc when it began its Interim Superintendent/Consultant Service Corps some years back. The corps provides a matchmaking service for districts searching for interim leaders of all types and retired administrators willing to sign on to help, Almost 800 of the state's 892 school districts subscribe to an online job bank that's free for job-seekers, who merely post their resumes.

When a match is made, it can be heavenly for both parties, says Walt Warfield, the association's executive director. Warfield recommends that school boards convert the salary of the person being replaced to a per-diem rate and compensate interims that way (although pay generally is worked out between the job candidate and the district).

"Retired people don't need the fringe benefits," Warfield says. "They're just looking for a little extra money."

And maybe a little mental stimulation, too. Illinois retirees from the public school system can't work more than 120 days without compromising their pensions. Most work that much or less, with a few sharing interim assignments, Warfield says.

A Second Career

Hank Boer of Streator, Ill., has been an interim administrator seven times in the last seven years. He was 52 when he retired in 1996 as superintendent of the Streator Township High School District, a north-central Illinois district with about 1,000 students. Although most of his interim assignments involved superintendencies, earlier this year he assumed a combined superintendent/principal position, something he vowed he'd never do.

"When you wear two hats as principal and superintendent, it's difficult to do both well," says Boer, who also is an instructor at Aurora University in suburban Chicago.

Boer, however, has used retirement to take on professional challenges, and running the 195-student Hampton Elementary School District in Hampton, Ill., certainly is that, he says. As interim superintendent, he has to keep the district running; as interim principal, he has to keep the building operating. That includes refereeing fights, dealing with discipline problems on the school bus and keeping teachers working as a team.

"It's more difficult to be a principal than it is to be a superintendent," Boer says.

But the temporariness of the assignment can be good for him and the district, he says. A politically neutral interim will be left alone by employee unions, the news media, parents and, often, the school board. At the same time, an interim with experience often can get by with implementing changes that would meet resistance coming from a permanent leader, Boer says.

"I'm not there to develop a career," he says. "I'm there to help everyone get back the direction of the school."

Accepting the interim assignment in Hampton meant Boer lived five days a week in a motel. But that sort of travel doesn't appeal to other retirees. Most retired superintendents, such as Joe Fusco of Queensbury, N.Y., don't mind filling in temporarily as long as the job doesn't disrupt his personal life too much. Fusco retired in 1997 as superintendent of the 2,000-student Ilion Central School District in central New York, and he and his wife moved to Queensbury, a town on the fringes of the Adirondack Park in upstate New York.

Fusco connected with his interim assignments through the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services, an agency that coordinates programs for school districts through a wide swath of the upstate region. Fusco since has served as an interim three times: as a superintendent and assistant principal in the 3,000-student Greenwich, N.Y., School District and as an elementary principal in the 1,300-student Glen Falls, N.Y., School District. Both jobs were within 30 miles of his home and lasted only a few months. Fusco wouldn't want it any other way.

"I've turned down as many as I've done," Fusco says. "1 really don't want to work any more. I enjoy my retired lifestyle."

After 35 years in education, Fusco doesn't relish the long hours and late nights that accompany work as a school administrator. He considers

attending board meetings and community events the least appealing aspects of the job.

Yet it's hard to say no to the money an interim assignment brings. As an interim superintendent, Fusco made $325 daily, with $25 daily in travel expenses. His elementary principal job brought him between $275 and $300 a day. And for that, he can put up with a few months of administrative hassles, keeping things going until a school board can find the right person for the long term.

Extended Stints

That's how Pat Dolan feels, too. His first interim principal job occurred during the 2001-2002 school year, when he stepped into the head job at C. Ray Bodley High School in Fulton, N.Y. Although Dolan hadn't filled an administrative position since leaving the superintendency of the 1,200-student Onondaga Central Schools near Syracuse, N.Y., he was happy to step in to the job at Bodley. There he helped out one of his former students--who had been the school's principal--when she took a leave of absence to battle cancer.

Then last September, Dolan stepped into the interim principalship at Oswego High School in the 5,100-student Oswego City School District on the shores of Lake Ontario. The school was about a half-hour from Dolan's home in Bald-winsville, N.Y.--abour as far away as he wants to roam for an interim job. And though he agreed to fill the position only from September through November, the job stretched almost to March when the school board couldn't find a candidate it wanted permanently, Dolan says.

He quickly realized during his two interim stints that staying beyond a few months made it difficult to leave. "In the short term, people think of you as a substitute," Dolan says. "They don't take problems to you."

That changes the longer an interim stays, he discovered, which makes it difficult to maintain the status quo until a permanent leader takes over.

But more often, interim appointments are lengthening, says Bill Silky, a professor of educational administration at the State University of New York at Oswego. Silky sees interim appointments such as Dolan's latest running far longer than districts promised because of the difficulty in finding qualified candidates. It's not unusual for districts to conduct a national search for a principal and come away unsatisfied with the candidate pool.

"Or they wait for the peak hiring time, hoping for better success," Silky says.

A Hiring Edge

School districts walk a fine line when they use interims to weather the storm left by an administrator vacancy, Silky says. Interim employees from outside a district, no matter how experienced they are, face a steep learning curve they must climb in a relatively short period. Typically they are not expected to make significant changes, just keep the school running smoothly and safely. Meanwhile, district administrators are buying time to find an appropriate permanent replacement who can do more than maintain the status quo. So interim appointments by definition should be short to bridge the gap between old and new.

"And you really don't want that gap to be that wide," Silky says.

In Holyoke, Mass., Eduardo Carballo found seven acting principals when he took over the district. And for that, Carballo was grateful to his immediate successor, Holyoke's interim superintendent. The non-permanent appointments at the building level gave Carballo the chance to hire administrators who shared his philosophy.

During his first 18 months at Holyoke, Carballo appointed six new principals, which is allowing him to move forward with reforms that better serve disadvantaged students. That said, he isn't afraid to use interims in the short term. Indeed, the judicious use of interim principals, such as hiring Linda Carrier at Dr. Marcella R. Kelly Elementary, can be golden.

"For me, it was key in many instances," Carballo says.

RELATED ARTICLE: Where to Find an Interim Principal

When school district leaders find themselves facing a new school year short a building principal, they might be inclined to panic.

That's a reasonable reaction. But once the initial anxiety over filling the position passes, superintendents can concentrate on where they can turn to quickly find a competent, qualified school leader.

* Look within the district.

Sometimes the best interim comes from within the school itself, advises Gene Haycock, executive director of the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals. If a school is large enough to have at least one assistant or associate principal, one of those persons likely can fill the shoes, at least temporarily, of the building leader.

That can be problematic, though, if the assistant or associate would be interested in the job permanently. Hiring such a person on a temporary basis would give a superintendent and school board the chance to see whether he or she can handle the permanent assignment.

Superintendents also should consider whether any principals recently have retired from the district. In some states, those individuals could be rehired temporarily.

"There's a pool of available people to fill in," says Gerald Chapman, an associate with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates in Glenview, Ill.

* Consult state associations of superintendents and principals.

These organizations routinely keep a log of recent retirees, who often are more than willing to handle interim assignments, Haycock says.

Retirees bring a wealth of experience and usually a steady hand to temporary assignments, says David Erlandson, an educational administration professor at Texas A&M University. Erlandson believes retirees are the safest route to an interim. This is a known quantity, and people will accept it," he says.

* Contact schools of education at universities within the state.

Often educational administration faculty members at colleges and universities know of retired school administrators willing to take on interim assignments.

Bill Silky, an educational administration professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, periodically helps school districts find qualified interims to fill positions vacated at the 1 hour. He maintains a list of active retirees who don't mind working now and again but who aren't looking for permanent assignments.

"I see myself as a facilitator to help those people," Silky says.

* Contact the state department of education.

At the very least, the state education department likely maintains a list of recent administrative retirees. At the most, the department plays matchmaker, hooking up potential interims with needy school districts.

That's what often happens in New York. There, the state's 38 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services assist member districts whenever there's a building-level administrative vacancy. Often that's as easy as sending a BOCES vice principal to run the building for a while, says Sheila Wallenhorst, director of human resources for the Monroe No. 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services in Rochester, N.Y.

But often the BOCES ends up recommending a retired administrator. New York law allows districts to ask that the rule forbidding retirees from returning to work within the state's public schools be waived.

* Ask a consulting firm for help.

Across the country, search firms specializing in filling jobs in school administration stand ready to help districts find new leaders. Although most traditionally have conducted searches for new superintendents, they're beginning to receive requests for principal candidates and interims, Chapman says.

Interims' Role: Steadying the Ship

Interim principals are, by nature, lame ducks. But they can't act that way.

"The 'interim' title shouldn't dictate what the leader should be about," says Richard Flanary, director of the Center for Principal Development at the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They should accomplish things, go to events. They're the principal, regardless of how long they're there."

As school districts deal with a principal shortage that's only going to get worse, using interim principals to handle vacancies likely will become increasingly common. Those are uncharted waters for some superintendents, who might be wondering how to make the best use of such a situation.

In some instances, interims might function as placeholders, only staying for a few weeks or months--at the most a full school year--until superintendents can find a permanent successor, says Eugene Haycock, executive director of the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals. Other interims can end up staying for more than a year.

By their very nature, interim principals aren't permanent appointments. Yet they must function as such. If superintendents choose to go the route of hiring an interim from outside the district, they and other district administrators should make every effort to provide a quick and complete indoctrination, advises David Erlandson, an educational administration professor at Texas A&M University.

That doesn't necessarily mean just hooking up the interim with central-office staff, though. Incoming principals, interim or nor, need to seek out information from all relevant stakeholders, Erlandson says. "You need to make this person succeed. If he or she doesn't succeed, everybody fails."

Using retired administrators as interims often solves that problem, he says, because of their experience handling problems. And most aren't looking to use the interim job as a stepping stone to further their careers. So if the number of work hours don't cause problems for retirees collecting state pensions, they should make every effort to function as if they were permanent hires, Erlandson says.

That means remaining in constant communication with the district administration and putting in face time at school and district events--just like a district's permanent principals, Erlandson says.

"This is not a half-time position," he says.

Realistic Goals

Many interims see themselves as utility players, able to keep a school functioning until the real team captain shows up. That's the attitude Haycock took when he assumed the interim principalship at Halstead High School in Halstead, Kan., with an enrollment of 250 students.

Handling crises as they arise is part of the job description; instituting fullscale reform isn't, Flanary says.

Haycock wholeheartedly agrees. "The most significant thing that an interim principal does is steady the ship," Haycock says.

With most interim appointments lasting a year or less, there's scant time to implement full-scale reform. And using an interim to do so is risky, Erlandson says.

So there's still the lame duck issue. The best way to solve that problem, says Eduardo Carballo, superintendent of the Holyoke, Mass., School District, is to use interim principals for as short a period as possible. Often their employment is necessary but requires prudent use, he says.

"Reform is difficult to do with interim principals," he says. "It's hard for interim people to muster the support for change at the building level."

The Wild Ride of an Interim Principalship

BY BOB WALLACE 

Boom! October 5, 2001, marked my first day as interim principal at Johnston High School in Johnston, RI What an auspicious beginning.

The sequence of my first morning:

6:35 a.m.--Students begin to arrive at school.

6:55 a.m.--As a practical joke, a student sets off a "chlorine bomb."

6:58 a.m.--Building is evacuated as fire department is called.

7:01 a.m.--With lights flashing and sirens screaming, fire trucks and rescue crews descend on the high school.

7:45 a.m.--Covered head to toe in protective clothing, personnel from the Hazard Materials Unit of the Rhode Island Department of Health enter the building.

10:15 a.m.--Students, agitated, concerned and skeptical, return to classes (after assurances of safety by the fire chief).

10:45 a.m.--With the superintendent's approval, students are dismissed and school closed for the remainder of the day.

Welcome to the world of an interim principal.

Instant Credibility

This is not how any school leader envisions the beginning of a new job. For me, it was a poignant reminder that in accepting the offer of an interim principalship I had committed myself to the stark vagaries of public school administration. I am hard pressed to point to another American social institution where the potential for the unexpected exists to the degree it does in this venue.

The emotional drain of my initiation at Johnston notwithstanding, I derived considerable benefit from that experience. My measured words and decisive and proactive actions that one day gave me instant credibility with the entire staff--the single most desirable factor in the success of an interim principal.

While serving as interim principal in another high school during the previous school year, I worked hard to gain early credibility with the building staff. In September the teachers engaged in a work stoppage when contract negotiations with the district broke down. A superior court judge subsequently ordered the teachers back to work. While the teachers honored the court order, they adopted a "work to rule" posture. Eventually the student body felt it was being cheated by the teachers' actions.

In early October about one-third of the school's 800 students conducted a sit-in in the school foyer to protest the situation. The day before the sit-in I became aware of the students' intentions through a flier promoting the event. This gave me ample time to prepare. The sit-in passed without incident and the educational process was not interrupted for those students who chose nor to participate. I believe my handling of the episode earned me credibility with the staff as well as parents and members of the school committee.

A Calming Effect

In each of my interim appointments (three as superintendent, three as principal) in the seven years since I retired, I have faced upheaval, unrest and/or high levels of anxiety among the staff. Behind it were a number of factors: unresolved internal issues, strife between the staff and the exiting administrator, the departure of a popular principal or simply the status quo being disturbed.

In all cases, another powerful tool during my interim stints was the ability to bring a sense of tranquility to the school environment. The ability to create a calming effect is perhaps not so much a product of any administrative practice as it is a function of one's personality. I'm basing this perception on the feedback I received from staff at each interim position.

In addition, the interim principal sows the seeds of success by demonstrating an understanding of the problems that confront educators today. The interim principal needs to convey that he or she shares the same concerns. I know I am most effective when I engage people in an individual or small-group setting. School staff react most positively when I am able to create a supportive atmosphere and by example and deed show a real desire to advocate for education and children.

Seen It, Done It

An interim principal's success index is enhanced when the district superintendent takes the initiative to introduce the interim principal prior to his or her first day on the job. The superintendent has the opportunity to paint the interim principal in a positive manner. My experiences over 17 years as a principal and a superintendent aided me immensely in my interim work.

The superintendent also can be helpful to the interim principal by providing a thoughtful orientation that answers these questions: What are the unique issues that will likely surface? Who are the faculty leaders? What issues are perhaps best not dealt with given the interim's status? In short, where and what are the stepping stones and stumbling blocks?

The two questions I am asked most often about serving as an interim principal are these: What advantage does a former superintendent bring to the interim principalship? Why in retirement do you do it?

To the former, I can testify that as a superintendent I have seen and experienced just about every possible issue and act. Owning the big picture of educational administration makes the day-to-day realities of the interim principalship more manageable.

To the latter question, I can only say: I enjoy the work and it gives me a sense of personal satisfaction.

Bob Wallace, a retired superintendent, can be reached at 135 Francis Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02860. E-mail: [e-mail]

Why We Went to an interim

BY ROGER PROSISE

For various reasons, superintendents may find themselves in the unenviable position of having to hire a principal a few weeks, or even a few days, before the first day of school. The immediate need poses a serious dilemma.

Do you search for a new permanent principal for a school year that starts in only a few weeks? Do you promote someone quickly from within the organization or try to fill in with central-office administrators to get through the year? Or do you hire an interim principal to run the school for a year?

When I faced this predicament recently, I opted for the latter.

I hired an interim principal for the 450-student primary school in my district. The vacancy cropped up just three weeks before the opening day of school when the incumbent accepted an administrative position in another district. That late date did not provide me with sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive search for a worthy replacement.

Furthermore, a superintendent who begins a search for a new principal in July is unlikely to find a sufficient number of qualified candidates to consider for the vacancy. In all probability, the better candidates already will have been hired by other school districts.

I recommended the school board employ an interim principal so we could have time to recruit and hire the most effective educator for this vital role.

Making the Decision

Before settling on the interim option, I spoke with superintendents in neighboring districts who had faced a similar need on short notice. Rather than search for permanent replacements, these superintendents too had decided to hire interim principals-and all reported having good experiences.

I first considered the viability of promoting someone from within the district. If a qualified internal candidate had been available, I would have promoted him or her to the principal-ship. However, I did not have that option.

The other alternative--covering the various responsibilities by assigning central-office administrators--places a tremendous burden on staff and could lead to sub-par performances in critical areas. Further, you cannot measure the lost districtwide opportunities that may result when central-office administrators devote a significant amount of time fulfilling other duties.

In my district, other than the superintendent, the curriculum director is the only qualified central-office administrator available to assume some of the principal's responsibilities. If I were to share the work of a principal with the curriculum director, I'm certain that curriculum development would have been done at a much slower pace.

Obviously, the person hired to be the interim is absolutely critical. As with any key hiring decision, the superintendent must complete some homework, conduct a thorough interview and check references closely when appointing an interim principal. The decision is far too important to rush through just to have a warm body in place for the first day of school.

Matching Needs

Interim principals tend to come from the ranks of recently retired principals and other administrators who have the energy, skills and desire to work in a leadership capacity in a school. Retirees will have appropriate credentials and relevant experiences in other districts so their perspectives on issues could be valuable to the superintendent.

Other districts' leaders might be able to provide names of potential candidates for the interim position, and university professors could serve as a resource.

The goal is to find an interim who would be a good match for the school. Is the school high functioning with an experienced staff or is it a low-performing school with a staff plagued by turnover? The answer should help guide your interim hiring choice.

In a school already running effectively, I'd want an interim with good interpersonal skills who has the ability to work well with staff, manage the day-to-day operations, develop a rapport with students and communicate with parents. In addition, cultivating the support of a school secretary is vital to the success of the interim principal.

In the case of a low-performing school, it may be prudent to hire an interim who could begin the hard work of school improvement. This could mean challenging the status quo, bringing order to the school or exploring models of instructional programs. In these circumstances, the interim will have to be able to make unpopular decisions and take a stand on controversial issues.

Setting Expectations

What do you want your interim principal to accomplish? Consider this question before completing your hire. It will help you establish clear expectations.

As the superintendent, you may want the interim principal to accomplish the following:

* Establish a good rapport with students and staff. The interim I hired for a primary school had a huge collection of stuffed animals and puppets that he used to tell stories when he visited classrooms.

* Communicate effectively with parents. Our interim attended special events after school hours, sent home monthly newsletters and participated in parent conferences.

* Work toward school improvement and contribute to the accomplishment of district goals. Our interim worked with staff and parents to develop strategies to accomplish school and district goals that would be carried out in the years following.

* Solve routine problems. Our temporary principal did not ignore the everyday problems that crop up. A principal's advisory committee, consisting of teachers and the school secretary, can provide a wonderful mechanism for problem solving and planning.

* Plan the next school year. In the spring, the interim developed the schedule for the following school year and assisted with interviewing teacher applicants. The interim also met with the newly hired permanent replacement to review pertinent matters to bring about a smooth transition.

Disadvantages Too

Hiring an interim principal has advantages and disadvantages. The primary advantages are twofold: It provides the school with an experienced administrator who is capable of fulfilling the responsibilities and it gives the superintendent sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive search for a new principal.

Another advantage is cost. Possibly the salary of the interim could be lower than the permanent principal as the interim may be expected to devote less time to the role on evenings and weekends than a permanent hire.

The disadvantage in hiring an interim is that staff, students and parents have to adjust twice in a short period to new leadership. During transitions, it's difficult to establish a routine. Procedures once taken for granted cannot be done until the new principal is set in place.

In addition, an interim may lead to problems with continuity and consistency. Following through on school-wide goals becomes mote difficult.

In addition, hiring an interim may require other administrators and staff in the district to assume responsibilities that otherwise would be assumed by the regular principal. It could become taxing for the staff, especially the school secretary.

Defining Duties

Our one-year interim appointment basically accomplished what I had hoped by buying me the time to find a permanent replacement who would serve the longer-term interests of our elementary school.

The interim principal I hired exceeded my expectations. He fulfilled all of his responsibilities in a professional manner, such as teacher evaluations, parent conferences, school newsletters, managing student behavior and scheduling special events. Within a short time, he developed a wonderful rapport with students and staff. During regular visits to classrooms, he wore silly hats and read to children. Students and staff became very fond of him. In fact, from time to rime, he visits the school and participates in special programs.

The interim was a retired principal from a local suburban school district. His administrative experience ranged from elementary to middle school. This was not his first interim position. He had a similar position the previous year. After completing the interim position in my school district, he decided to take a year off from working and spend more time traveling with his wife.

Roger Prosise is superintendent of Diamond Lake School District 76, 25807 Diamond Lake Road, Mundelein, IL 60060. E-mail: [e-mail]

Kate Deem is a free-lance education writer in Independence, Mo. E-mail: [e-mail].