4 finalists for Baltimore County schools superintendent make their case at town hall

Four candidates vying for Baltimore County’s top education job spoke to the public for the first time Tuesday night about how their professional backgrounds would help them lead the third-largest school district in Maryland.

A medium-sized crowd gathered at George Washington Carver Center for Arts & Technology for a town hall-style Q&A, where the finalists for Baltimore County schools superintendent shared their thoughts on connecting with the school community, supporting staff and closing learning gaps among student groups.

All four are longtime educators, and all have Maryland connections. Two previously worked in Baltimore County. But they fall into two buckets: superintendents who lead small districts, and large district leaders who’ve never held the top job.

Not many districts are as large as Baltimore County’s, limiting the pool of candidates with experience leading a system of that size, said Rachel White, a University of Texas at Austin associate professor who studies superintendent leadership. More important is a strong background in teaching and learning — something they all bring to the table — and the ability to get “the right people in the right places and then knowing how to lead those folks and help grow them,” she said.

The school board is expected to select a new superintendent this week.

Here’s what the final four had to say:

William “Bill” Heiser

The chief operating officer for Anne Arundel County’s school system, Heiser made clear that Baltimore County’s graduation rate had to improve, from the current 84% to 90%. Pass rates for Algebra I scores need to increase by 10 to 20%, he added.

“Now those aren’t empty promises,” he said.

Heiser could’ve been a professional soccer player. After graduating from Loyola University Maryland in 1995, he was drafted by two professional soccer teams, but pursued a career in education instead, according to Loyola.

“I realized in graduate school that I wanted to make a positive impact on students,” he said in a Q&A published by the college.

His first gig was assistant principal at Gwynn Park High School in Prince George’s County in 2006, according to his LinkedIn. The Bowie native transferred to Annapolis High School (in Anne Arundel) two years later, then became principal of North County High School in the same district in 2010, where he was named Maryland’s high school principal of the year.

He did a two-year stint at Catonsville High School in Baltimore County between 2013 and 2015, followed by eight years as the head of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore, where for 16 years every graduating senior was accepted into college, he told WBAL in 2023.

Now he’s one of the top school district leaders in Anne Arundel, where more than 85,000 kids attend school.

A spokesperson for the district did not respond to an interview request for Heiser.

Penelope Martin-Knox

She told the audience that she doesn’t have an open door policy because she doesn’t believe in staying in the office. Throughout the town hall, Martin-Knox stressed the importance of connecting with the community where they are. One example was joining teachers during their professional development.

As a reward for perfect attendance, she gave teachers at her current district a day off and substituted in their classes while they were gone.

Martin-Knox is the first person of color and first woman to head Raytown C-2 School District, a school system in Missouri with 8,100 students — less than a tenth of the size of Baltimore County Public Schools, but with a similarly large proportion of Black students.

She was also the superintendent of South Carolina’s Sumter School District, where about 14,000 students attend, for three years.

But Martin-Knox previously held high-level administrative jobs in Baltimore County: In the 2010s, she was assistant superintendent, community superintendent and chief of school climate and safety. Before that, she was a principal and assistant principal in the district, according to her LinkedIn.

As of 2024, she was married to Eric Knox, executive director of Baltimore County’s school safety department, according to video of a promotion ceremony at a school board meeting.

White, the school leadership researcher, said that relationship would not be problematic if the school board set up guardrails that would, for instance, prevent Martin-Knox from evaluating Knox if she got the job.

She holds bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from Morgan State University and a master’s degree from Notre Dame of Maryland University. She began her career as a high school music and reading teacher.

Raytown Schools declined an interview request on Martin-Knox’s behalf.

Edward Ryans

During a tough budget process, Ryans noted that his Prince George’s County team made the tough decision to cut popular programs so more money could be spent on math support. Specialized math teachers were housed in more than 22 Title I schools, which are schools that receive federal funding and teach large populations of students from low-income families.

It took him longer to graduate from college because of a remedial math course he had to take. He wants to prevent Baltimore County students from running into the same issue.

Ryans has spent his entire 32-year public school career at Prince George’s County Public Schools, where more than 132,000 students attend, rising to associate superintendent for high schools and non-traditional programs.

The Ohio native was a classroom teacher in 1994 at Crossland High School before becoming a principal 10 years later at Friendly High School. By 2010, he was the director of school turnaround. His duties included providing instructional leadership to six middle schools that were identified as low achieving, his LinkedIn profile states.

Four years later, he oversaw 18 schools as one of three instructional directors. It meant tracking the students’ reading and math achievement data, reducing the number of freshmen who repeat a grade and increasing graduation rates.

He landed his current role one year ago.

While working as a Prince George’s educator, Ryans worked as a part-time adjunct professor at Trinity Washington University for five years and at American InterContinental University for seven years. He earned a bachelor’s from Morehouse College and advanced degrees from Bowie State University.

He did not respond to an interview request.

David Sovine

Sovine said he saw investing in students early on as a way not only to make a difference in academics but in the workforce. While education leaders say third grade is when learning to read is the most crucial, he said he believes preparing kids in second grade is key. And using apprenticeship programs to identify aspiring teachers can help with the teacher shortage, he noted.

The outgoing superintendent of Washington County Public Schools, Sovine has the most superintendent experience among the four finalists, though in smaller school districts.

Before arriving in Western Maryland, Sovine spent his entire career in Virginia. He spent 11 years as the head of theFrederick County, Virginia school system, which has 14,600 students. Washington County has 22,700 students, state data shows.

His bio on the school district’s site states that he increased safety and security efforts and strengthened mental health support for students. Under his leadership, Washington County schools became No. 1 in the state for apprenticeship programs, according to the district.

He was previously president of the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland and testified before lawmakers on Capitol Hill as part of the national School Superintendents Association’s board.

Prior to becoming a superintendent, Sovine was an executive director of K-12 curriculum and instruction in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Newsweek identified Monacan High School twice as one of the best high schools in the nation while Sovine was principal, the district’s website stated. And he received the prestigious Sallie Mae Teacher Award when he was a teacher.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University, a master’s from Virginia Commonwealth University and a doctorate from the University of Virginia.

Sovine did not respond to an interview request.

About the Education Hub

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