0.9 Moody, m. (september 2011). superintendent–board relations:  (Page 5/9)

The superintendency

In terms of the historical development of school governance and administration, it is important to note here that the school board/local school district configuration of public school governance came into being in the very earliest years of our history—long before the advent of the school superintendency. Unfortunately, a detailed history of the development of the public school superintendency does not exist and the information available is sketchy at best. Konnert and Augenstein (1990) suggested that the lack of a detailed history of the superintendency may well rest on the fact “that the superintendency evolved as a product of growth in the public education arena. It was not a carefully orchestrated and planned addition to education” (p. 3).

According to Norton et al. (1996), the origins of the superintendency can be traced to a time when the previously mentioned school committees were still actively involved in the “supervision of instruction, textbook selection, facilities management, the examination of pupils and school visitations” (p. 2). As the number of students increased and the complexities of school governance expanded, a new position of school visitor or school inspector was developed. This addition to the governance team was a precursor to the modern day superintendent of schools. Much like the state role in educational governance, the role of the superintendent has evolved over time. In fact,

[t]he position of superintendent of schools in the United states did not have its origins in a pronouncement of a board of education or the creative mind of some board member. Rather, it is a position that evolved as the schools of this country evolved. (Norton et al., p. 1)

While most of what is known about the early development of the superintendency must be gleaned from imprecise historical artifacts, by most accounts the very first superintendent was appointed in Buffalo, New York in 1837. The validity and accuracy of this claim has generated some debate because of the fact that the individual originally appointed to the Buffalo superintendency was said to have been “a lay person who served for no salary and basically was assigned the duties of the school inspector then common in New York state” (Norton et al., 1996, p. 3). By 1839; however, “Louisville and several other cities in Kentucky [had] appointed ‘agents of public schools’ who were paid small salaries” (Norton et al., p. 3). The formal position of superintendent of school was well established in many jurisdictions (predominately larger cities) by the end of the 19 ^th century. In fact, by 1890, 39 major U.S. city school systems had a superintendent of schools on record. According to Knezevich, (1984) during the period of time from 1839 to 1890,

There existed a full-time professional executive as well as some part-time lay standing committees that continued to be involved in managerial or operational responsibilities. The existence of two agencies with administrative responsibilities precipitated misunderstanding and conflict then as it does today. The origins of many school board-superintendent controversies can be traced back to how the position was created and how long board committees continued to assume operational functions . (p. 292, emphasis added to the original)