Jim Ritter's situation as interim superintendent is not uncommon.

Employing an interim superintendent is becoming more popular, said Daniel Domenech, the executive director for the American Association of School Administrators.

The reason for increased popularity of interim superintendents is two-fold. Firstly, many superintendents retire at an early age and are young enough that they want to continue to work, but do not want to fully come out of retirement and lose their benefits or pension.

Working as an interim allows retired superintendents to go back to work for a short time, said Domenech.

"Interims are becoming more popular primarily because there's more availability," Domenech said. "It affords the district opportunities."

Secondly, districts can use the interim to set up the position for whomever is coming in full time.

"Interims have the opportunity to pave the way and set things up, so when the full time superintendent comes in, they're ready to go," Domenech said.

Domenech cites a lack of continuity as the main disadvantage of bringing in an interim, rather than seeking a permanent replacement for the outgoing superintendent.

"In general, a district prefers to hire someone full time, but sometimes the circumstances are such that it's not possible," Domenech said.

This was the situation when retiring Columbia Schools superintendent Phyllis Chase announced her retirement, leaving the school board with little time to find her replacement. In this case, Domenech said the school board made the best choice in choosing an interim, rather than scrambling to find a permanent superintendent. He said it would be worse to hire someone who is not right for the district.

"The circumstances are such that the board had its hands tied," Domenech said. "If she (Chase) had made her intentions known a year ago, the board would have had time to find a full time superintendent. But when the announcement is sprung on them, the right approach is to find an interim."

Domenech said that interims still hold as much power as a permanent superintendent would.

"They are still vested with the authority to make the decisions they have to make," Domenech said.

He noted, however, that it is unusual for a superintendent to work only part time, as Ritter has signed on to do.

"In that situation, we have to assume with his familiarity with the district that he's probably familiar with the assistants and pretty confident at their ability to carry on," Domenech said.

Ritter's appointment as interim begs the question: how much can an interim do in a year, especially if he's working part time? Do you think an interim can be effective?

--Written by Ashley Dillon