One superintendent, 19 years

Neil Pedersen announced this week that he'll retire as superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in 2011, leaving after 19 years in the job. That's the second-longest tenure among current N.C. superintendents, the district says, and an almost inconceivable stretch among bigger districts, where turnover every three to five years is the norm.

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which was formed by the merger of city and county school districts in 1960, Jay M. Robinson holds the record, leading from 1977 to 1986.

The separate districts had been led by long-timers: Elmer Garinger led Charlotte City Schools for 11 years, plus another two as the first CMS superintendent, while James Wilson led the county district for almost 16, according to a list compiled by retired administrator Chris Folk. But since then, everyone but Robinson has cycled through in three to six.

Peter Gorman is starting his fifth year with CMS. There's plenty of speculation about how much longer he'll stay, both from people who are afraid he'll leave and those who hope he will. He's gotten a lot of national attention; it seems likely he could step into a high-profile job if wanderlust strikes. But he said when he came he hoped to stay through his daughter's graduation (she's in middle school now). I haven't heard anything to the contrary, but I'm not sure I would. High-level job negotiations tend to be closely guarded.