diff --git a/ballista/core/src/config.rs b/ballista/core/src/config.rs
index cb7f7c5d7..628821447 100644
--- a/ballista/core/src/config.rs
+++ b/ballista/core/src/config.rs
@@ -250,11 +250,16 @@ impl datafusion::config::ConfigExtension for BallistaConfig {
 
 // an enum used to configure the scheduler policy
 // needs to be visible to code generated by configure_me
+
+/// Ballista supports both push-based and pull-based task scheduling.
+/// It is recommended that you try both to determine which is the best for your use case.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, serde::Deserialize, Default)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "build-binary", derive(clap::ValueEnum))]
 pub enum TaskSchedulingPolicy {
+    /// Pull-based scheduling works in a similar way to Apache Spark
     #[default]
     PullStaged,
+    /// push-based scheduling can result in lower latency.
     PushStaged,
 }
 
diff --git a/ballista/scheduler/src/api/handlers.rs b/ballista/scheduler/src/api/handlers.rs
index 4d0366ff8..fc9d5842d 100644
--- a/ballista/scheduler/src/api/handlers.rs
+++ b/ballista/scheduler/src/api/handlers.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ pub struct ExecutorMetaResponse {
     pub id: String,
     pub host: String,
     pub port: u16,
-    pub last_seen: u128,
+    pub last_seen: Option<u128>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, serde::Serialize)]
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ pub async fn get_executors<
             id: metadata.id,
             host: metadata.host,
             port: metadata.port,
-            last_seen: duration.as_millis(),
+            last_seen: duration.map(|d| d.as_millis()),
         })
         .collect();
 
diff --git a/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/memory.rs b/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/memory.rs
index 759c52c82..918a0b682 100644
--- a/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/memory.rs
+++ b/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/memory.rs
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ impl ClusterState for InMemoryClusterState {
         spec: ExecutorData,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let executor_id = metadata.id.clone();
+        log::debug!("registering executor: {}", executor_id);
 
         self.save_executor_metadata(metadata).await?;
         self.save_executor_heartbeat(ExecutorHeartbeat {
@@ -223,6 +224,11 @@ impl ClusterState for InMemoryClusterState {
     }
 
     async fn save_executor_metadata(&self, metadata: ExecutorMetadata) -> Result<()> {
+        log::debug!("save executor metadata: {}", metadata.id);
+        // TODO: MM it would make sense to add time when ExecutorMetadata is persisted
+        //       we can do that adding additional field in ExecutorMetadata representing
+        //       insert time. This information may be useful when reporting executor
+        //       status and heartbeat is not available (in case of `TaskSchedulingPolicy::PullStaged`)
         self.executors.insert(metadata.id.clone(), metadata);
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -239,6 +245,7 @@ impl ClusterState for InMemoryClusterState {
     }
 
     async fn save_executor_heartbeat(&self, heartbeat: ExecutorHeartbeat) -> Result<()> {
+        log::debug!("saving executor heartbeat: {}", heartbeat.executor_id);
         let executor_id = heartbeat.executor_id.clone();
         if let Some(mut last) = self.heartbeats.get_mut(&executor_id) {
             let _ = std::mem::replace(last.deref_mut(), heartbeat);
@@ -250,12 +257,13 @@ impl ClusterState for InMemoryClusterState {
     }
 
     async fn remove_executor(&self, executor_id: &str) -> Result<()> {
+        log::debug!("removing executor: {}", executor_id);
         {
             let mut guard = self.task_slots.lock().await;
 
             guard.remove(executor_id);
         }
-
+        self.executors.remove(executor_id);
         self.heartbeats.remove(executor_id);
 
         Ok(())
@@ -271,6 +279,10 @@ impl ClusterState for InMemoryClusterState {
     fn get_executor_heartbeat(&self, executor_id: &str) -> Option<ExecutorHeartbeat> {
         self.heartbeats.get(executor_id).map(|r| r.value().clone())
     }
+
+    async fn registered_executor_metadata(&self) -> Vec<ExecutorMetadata> {
+        self.executors.iter().map(|v| v.clone()).collect()
+    }
 }
 
 /// Implementation of `JobState` which keeps all state in memory. If using `InMemoryJobState`
diff --git a/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/mod.rs b/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/mod.rs
index 5be42ee79..fd546f59b 100644
--- a/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/mod.rs
+++ b/ballista/scheduler/src/cluster/mod.rs
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ pub trait ClusterState: Send + Sync + 'static {
     /// Get executor metadata for the provided executor ID. Returns an error if the executor does not exist
     async fn get_executor_metadata(&self, executor_id: &str) -> Result<ExecutorMetadata>;
 
+    /// return list of registered executors
+    async fn registered_executor_metadata(&self) -> Vec<ExecutorMetadata>;
+
     /// Save the executor heartbeat
     async fn save_executor_heartbeat(&self, heartbeat: ExecutorHeartbeat) -> Result<()>;
 
diff --git a/ballista/scheduler/src/state/executor_manager.rs b/ballista/scheduler/src/state/executor_manager.rs
index 702d38ead..0248a85ef 100644
--- a/ballista/scheduler/src/state/executor_manager.rs
+++ b/ballista/scheduler/src/state/executor_manager.rs
@@ -192,20 +192,16 @@ impl ExecutorManager {
     }
 
     /// Get a list of all executors along with the timestamp of their last recorded heartbeat
-    pub async fn get_executor_state(&self) -> Result<Vec<(ExecutorMetadata, Duration)>> {
-        let heartbeat_timestamps: Vec<(String, u64)> = self
-            .cluster_state
-            .executor_heartbeats()
-            .into_iter()
-            .map(|(executor_id, heartbeat)| (executor_id, heartbeat.timestamp))
-            .collect();
-
-        let mut state: Vec<(ExecutorMetadata, Duration)> = vec![];
-        for (executor_id, ts) in heartbeat_timestamps {
-            let duration = Duration::from_secs(ts);
-
-            let metadata = self.get_executor_metadata(&executor_id).await?;
-
+    pub async fn get_executor_state(
+        &self,
+    ) -> Result<Vec<(ExecutorMetadata, Option<Duration>)>> {
+        let mut state: Vec<(ExecutorMetadata, Option<Duration>)> = vec![];
+        for metadata in self.cluster_state.registered_executor_metadata().await {
+            let duration = self
+                .cluster_state
+                .get_executor_heartbeat(&metadata.id)
+                .map(|hb| hb.timestamp)
+                .map(Duration::from_secs);
             state.push((metadata, duration));
         }
 
@@ -224,6 +220,10 @@ impl ExecutorManager {
     ///
     /// For push-based one, we should use [`register_executor`], instead.
     pub async fn save_executor_metadata(&self, metadata: ExecutorMetadata) -> Result<()> {
+        debug!(
+            "save executor metadata {} with {} task slots (pull-based registration)",
+            metadata.id, metadata.specification.task_slots
+        );
         self.cluster_state.save_executor_metadata(metadata).await
     }
 
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ impl ExecutorManager {
         specification: ExecutorData,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         debug!(
-            "registering executor {} with {} task slots",
+            "registering executor {} with {} task slots (push-based registration)",
             metadata.id, specification.total_task_slots
         );