Hydraulic fracturing has altered the face of rural communities across the United States, creating new demands for educational leaders. This in-depth qualitative study explores how rural educational leaders in a heavily drilled community experience and respond to these challenges with a focus on increased local student transiency, homelessness, and the influx of newcomers, including English language learners. The research finds that leaders respond to transient outsider needs through a discourse of compliance and engage in contextually responsive, collaborative responses to meet the needs of community insiders. The authors find little evidence of critical place-conscious leadership in this rapidly changing social and economic context.