Thomas Brenner, 60, has served as the principal of Cloquet Middle School for the last 24 years. But his history with the eastern Minnesota district runs deeper. He and his three children attended the middle school he now leads. As a principal, he worked alongside teachers who’d taught him at Cloquet Middle School.
“I’m fortunate to work in a community I grew up in and give back to a school system that’s done so much for my family,” said Brenner, who will retire at the end of this school year.
Brenner knows his last day is going to be emotional—he’s going to spend it with his teachers and 8th grade graduates at a school lunch.
The average retirement age for principals is between 57 and 65 years. While a newer crop of principals spends an average of four years in a job, older principals—like the ones retiring at the end of this school year—tend to have longer tenures in their schools.
School leaders like Brenner, with over two decades of experience, have seen big shifts in education that have reshaped the role of the principal.
Some have been positive, said Terri Daniels, 64, the outgoing principal of Folsom Middle School in Folsom, Calif.
“There’s been much more emphasis on getting principals into the classroom and to be able to serve [in] a coaching role,” said Daniels. Principals can mentor teachers instead of just judging their performance.
Other changes—sharp political divides, parenting styles, and rising student misbehavior—haven’t been as easy to digest and have made the principal’s job more complex.
Education Week spoke to three retiring principals about the biggest shifts in education and their advice to new principals about how to tackle their new and challenging role. Here’s what they said.
Heather Johnson, Tanana Middle School, Fairbanks, Alaska
When politics enter the building
Heather Johnson, 55, has only lost her cool once during her 11-year stint as an administrator, which includes the five years she’s spent leading Tanana Middle School.
It was when a member of the national right-wing parent group Moms for Liberty tried to enter Johnson’s school to “get all the pornography out of the library,” according to Johnson.
“Schools have legitimately become public enemy number one for some people,” Johnson said. “I think that was one of the reasons why I’m just done.”
State funding for public education has shrunk, which Johnson believes is a direct reflection of how the political leadership in Alaska views public schools.
The Fairbanks school district has closed five schools in the last three years. While Tanana Middle School isn’t one of them, Johnson said it’s increasingly difficult to tell teachers that they don’t have jobs next year.
Parents’ attitudes, too, have shifted. Early in her career, Johnson partnered with parents to improve their kids’ grades. Now, parents are quick to blame a failing grade on teachers. “The level of disrespect that I see toward our teachers, from students and parents, has been astronomical,” said Johnson.
Terri Daniels, Folsom Middle School, Folsom, Calif.
Student behavior in the digital age
The rate of increase in student misbehavior has surprised and challenged Daniels, who’s been a school leader for the last 18 years. Social media has worsened this behavior, enabling students to bully each other, and in some cases, their teachers.
At the same time, school discipline policies have swung from being more punitive to restorative approaches, which are now widely adopted but still debated in effectiveness.
A teacher recently complained to Daniels that students had used artificial intelligence to generate an “unfavorable” image of him and posted it online.
“Trying to find who did it is nearly impossible,” Daniels said, which makes it harder for educators to talk to students about why their behavior is wrong.
Even when it’s clear that a student misbehaved, handing out consequences or having a restorative conversation with them isn’t easy—they don’t see why their actions were wrong.
“There have always been kids who have done mischievous things [like] flushing things down the toilet. But [things like] TikTok challenges have really impacted schools,” Daniels said.
Last year, she had to prevent students from sticking pencils into their school-issued digital devices to make them spark, a stunt popular on TikTok at the time.
“They just thought it was funny because it was on TikTok. You know, those kinds of behavior didn’t exist when I started.
Thomas Brenner, Cloquet Middle School, Cloquet, Minn.
The expanding role of schools
Brenner has watched the school’s role expand to all aspects of a student’s life.
Earlier in his career, schools in his district had strong partnerships with community-based organizations or access to resources to tackle student mental health or behavioral challenges. All those responsibilities are placed on schools now without much external support, Brenner said.
It puts principals and teachers in a tough position—they have to provide the extra support while making sure students are also learning.
“Learning is our big mission. Learning how to read, learning how to do math at a higher successful rate. Sometimes, all that other stuff gets laid on us, and it blocks us from doing what our real mission is,” said Brenner.
Lack of funds has also put pressure on schools to do more with less. As school systems shrink, and schools lose students, principals now have to take away some of the mental health and behavior-support services. This includes piecing together money from different sources or raising grants.
“You’ve got to figure out ways to weather that period and also adhere to your core mission of teaching,” Brenner said.
