Once a month, about two dozen men and women drive hours to a hotel conference room in Macon to learn how to run a school district.

With the average tenure of a superintendent in large American school districts being just three years, some of them joke about the perils of their quest.

“If they don’t like you, you’ll get fired,” quipped Ed Shaddix, an assistant superintendent in Gwinnett County, one of the classmates in the training program for superintendents.

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A woman holds a sign in protest during an Atlanta School Board meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. APS held its final vote on school consolidation plans, approving several school closures. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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Managing Partner at Atlantica Properties, Darion Dunn (center) talks with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens during a tour following the ribbon cutting of Waterworks Village as part of the third phase of the city’s Rapid Housing Initiative on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025.
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