SEATTLE Public Schools Superintendent Susan Enfield's plans to leave the district in June rather than seek the job permanently are surprising and disappointing.

Enfield's lame-duck status and eventual departure hinders academic momentum at a critical time. Few in this city have an appetite for the district's fourth superintendent search in five years.

Enfield says the problem is her, not Seattle.

"I've always felt, since I stepped into the role, tremendous support from the community," she said in an interview. "I've enjoyed every moment."

Enfield sounds like the consummate professional saying what an exiting leader should. The truth is probably something darker. Despite recent academic successes and new initiatives, Enfield was not sure she had proved herself to everyone on the seven-member School Board.

The uncertainty surrounding her long-term status existed despite overwhelming support from labor, business and parent groups. Many people in the community supported her. An Elway poll to be released later this month is expected to show strong public backing for Enfield.

But not everyone on the board thought highly of Enfield. Indeed, Enfield's résumé was less robust than most big-city superintendents. She had never held the top job before and had never worked in a large urban setting.

But she had strong potential and would have been competitive with any candidates for the job.

Once again, Seattle has burned through an educational leader. The collateral damage will be felt by the most vulnerable families and students.

Starting fresh can be an overrated endeavor. A new superintendent comes in with his or her own ideas and plans for new educational initiatives. No superintendent comes in and promises more of the same, even if the same is what the public has signed on to.

Superintendents have become our Rorschach test, where the public gets to color in what they want to see, whether it is realistic or not. We can have strong expectations for our educational leaders without expecting them to be superhuman.

A task that goes beyond the district is for the city to take a hard look at itself and its leadership requirements before hiring another schools chief.