COVID-19 School Closures: Professional and Personal Impacts on Building Principals

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global impact resulting in an altered reality for educational systems around the world. The mandate by the governor of Washington State to close all school buildings produced immediate and significant impacts to the educational systems throughout the state, which resulted in professional and personal challenges for building leaders. The researchers, two school administrators at different levels in separate districts, had a unique "front row seat" to the challenges being faced by educators in the region and across the state. Based on this positionality and the current reality, the overarching question of this study focused on the professional and personal impacts to elementary and secondary public-school principals during the COVID-19 crisis to develop an understanding of these impacts on school leaders in Washington State, as well as the potential long-term effects. A survey of Washington State school administrators was conducted with a focus on the professional demands of the job during a crisis, social-emotional and physical well-being, the technological and learning challenges of remote learning, and the inequities associated with a virtual platform. The data analysis examined levels of job satisfaction pre- and post- the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the availability of support systems and coping mechanisms employed by administrators during the crisis. Recommendations for potential support systems in the time of crises and further research are based on the survey data and subsequent analyses.