A high school department head, also called a department chair or head of department, is a teacher who leads the teachers of one subject, such as English, mathematics, science or career and technical education. In many schools they keep teaching their own classes while they coordinate the department’s curriculum, support its teachers, manage its budget and supplies, and carry information between the classroom and the school’s leadership. The role is easy to overlook, but it shapes daily teaching in every subject.
What does a department head do in a high school?
Duties vary by district, but written job descriptions share a common core. Centinela Valley Union High School District in California, for example, describes the chair’s primary role as providing instructional leadership, support and assistance to all teachers in the department. East Side Union High School District’s job description lists similar duties. Together they describe these roles and responsibilities:
- Curriculum. Leading curriculum development and alignment with state standards, and selecting textbooks and materials.
- Assessment. Sharing and examining assessment data with the department, often through common assessments across classrooms.
- Department meetings. Planning and running regular meetings, and building collaboration among teachers.
- New teachers. Supporting and mentoring teachers who are new to the school or the profession.
- Budget and supplies. Managing the department’s budget, ordering supplies and keeping inventory.
- Scheduling. Helping the principal with teaching assignments and the master schedule.
- Communication. Carrying school and district decisions to the department, and the department’s needs back to leadership.
Instructional leadership
At its core, the department head role is instructional leadership. Department heads help colleagues work through new standards, changes in teaching practice and new technology, and they are usually the first person a teacher asks for help with curriculum or resources. Researchers who study “middle leaders,” the teachers who lead between the principal and the classroom, describe them as bridges between levels of a school. A 2025 review of 52 studies from 21 countries found evidence of a direct link between middle leadership and student outcomes. A 2023 study of collaborative teacher teams found that how middle leaders run those teams shapes how well they work, from organizing meetings to guiding discussion and supporting teachers emotionally.
Do department heads evaluate teachers?
Usually not formally. In many districts, chairs observe and coach colleagues but do not write formal evaluations, which remain the principal’s job. East Side Union’s chairs assist with observation and evaluation only when the principal asks. The Edmonds School District contract in Washington states that department chairs shall not make formal observations for evaluation purposes.
Budgets, supplies and operations
Department heads often handle the department’s share of the school budget, from classroom supplies to lab and studio equipment. Some schools go further and have department heads build and defend their own annual budgets, a model described by the school finance firm EdOps. In departments with specialized equipment, such as science, fine arts and career and technical education, budget oversight also covers vendors, inventory and making sure teachers have what they need to teach safely.
Duty of care in science departments
Science department heads carry a particular responsibility for laboratory safety. Duty of care is a professional and legal obligation, and in many schools the science chair is the person who makes sure it is met. That work typically includes:
- Reviewing experiments and demonstrations before they are done in class.
- Making sure chemicals are stored and disposed of properly.
- Keeping the chemical hygiene plan and safety records up to date.
- Overseeing the use of personal protective equipment and making sure staff are trained.
- Checking that eyewash stations, ventilation and other emergency equipment work.
- Running safety checks and reporting hazards.
In this part of the job, department heads are both instructional leaders and risk managers.
How department heads are chosen and paid
Department heads are often chosen by the principal, sometimes from candidates proposed by the department. One principal’s process, described in Edutopia, has staff propose one or two candidates for each core subject before the principal decides.
The extra work usually comes with a stipend, often scaled to the size of the department. Three examples from district salary schedules:
- Hillsborough County, Florida, 2025–26: $2,379.54 to $3,153.94 a year for high school department heads, depending on the number of teachers.
- Sarasota County, Florida, 2026–27: $1,500 to $4,000 a year, depending on department size.
- Edmonds, Washington, 2025–26: $2,345 a year for chairs of core departments such as English, math and science, and $1,627 for other departments.
How schools can support department heads
Where department heads also teach, this work comes on top of their classes. Schools that want the role to work can:
- Pay a stipend that reflects the size of the department, or give release time from teaching.
- Offer professional development designed for department leaders.
- Include department heads in school improvement planning.
- Write down what the role includes, and what it does not, so chairs, teachers and principals share the same expectations.
Department heads connect a school’s plans to what happens in each classroom. When the role is clearly defined, supported and paid, it gives teachers a leader in their own subject and gives principals a way to reach every department.
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