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WHEN KHALID MUMIN interviewed for the superintendent job in Reading, Pa., in 2014, he came away with two legal pad pages full of issues the district was facing. Reading鈥檚 schools had recently been designated 鈥渇inancially distressed鈥� by the Department of Education and 鈥渉ighly dysfunctional鈥� by the auditor general and were heading toward a potential state takeover. Despite mounting challenges, he accepted the offer. 鈥淲hen I took on this job, I had five predecessors in four years, but I looked in the mirror and said, 鈥榊ou know what? Those five weren鈥檛 one of me!鈥欌�� says Mumin, who was honored as one of four finalists for 2021 National Superintendent of the Year. 

The two legal pad pages from his interview turned into a strategic plan with five main points focusing on safe schools, academics, fiscal responsibility, communication and community engagement, and partnerships. Mumin says he began by keeping the kids in mind and pushing staff members to have empathy for all students in the district, where 99 percent qualify as underserved.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about inspiration and having that humanistic ability to be able to meet your staff where they are and move them forward,鈥� Mumin says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just talk the talk, you鈥檝e got to walk the walk 鈥� filled with nothing but your head and heart in alignment for the kids that you鈥檙e serving.鈥�

Six years later, the nearly 18,000-student district, located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is in a much better position.

鈥淥ur now-former Pennsylvania auditor general said this is the most miraculous turnaround he鈥檚 ever seen in his career 鈥� that means a lot,鈥� Mumin says. 鈥淣ow that can be seen as an accolade for a superintendent, but do you know what that statement did for my team, my community? They weren鈥檛 the 鈥榖ad news bears鈥� anymore! They are a district that models things nationally. I鈥檓 very proud of that.鈥�

The dramatic performance turnaround and subsequent boost in esteem are some of the things that helped Reading鈥檚 assistant superintendent, Jennifer Murray, when she was a principal in the district. She says Mumin even inspired her to advance to district leadership.

鈥淲e鈥檙e making lots of progress in different directions, we鈥檙e becoming well-known in the county, as well as across the state and even in the nation,鈥� says Murray. 鈥淗e definitely talked me into [coming to the central office] at first, but it鈥檚 a leap I鈥檓 very glad I did with him especially.鈥�

Encouraging his students and staff to take leaps and then essentially getting out of their way so they can do so is a hallmark of Mumin鈥檚 leadership. When the Reading communications director came to him with a new idea for the 2020-21 opening day staff video in which Mumin only appeared for about 30 seconds rather than the usual five minutes or so, he happily stepped aside for 9-year-old Jermaine, the 鈥渒id superintendent,鈥� to give Reading鈥檚 teachers a pep talk. The video went viral with more than four million views from around the world.

鈥淚t shows, from a leadership standpoint, having a title is simply a title. You have to be open to rich ideas, you have to be willing to take risk to get to that end result,鈥� Mumin says. 鈥淛ermaine was the player that needed to be in the game and right now, we鈥檙e winning off his influence. Selfishly, hopefully that inspires kids to want to become a superintendent one day.鈥�