Baltimore County’s new superintendent starts Wednesday. His contract is still being inked.

Baltimore County Public Schools is working down to the wire to get its new superintendent on the job by Wednesday.

William “Bill” Heiser is slated to start his term July 1, as required by state law. The school board voted Monday evening to approve his contract, but as of Tuesday morning, the contract was still waiting for at least one signature.

Gboyinde Onijala, a spokesperson for the school district, said in a text message that she expected the contract to be signed Tuesday but did not know which signatures were missing.

Jane Lichter, the school board chair, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

The contract for Myriam Rogers, the county’s outgoing superintendent, was signed by Rogers, the school board chair and the board’s legal counsel on June 13, 2023, the day she was formally appointed. Rogers announced her retirement in February, with more than a year left on her four-year contract, and her last day is Tuesday.

The search for a new superintendent has been rocky. The board had only a few months to conduct a national search for a new leader, and some community groups were critical of the process and outcome.

The board announced Heiser as the new leader less than two weeks before his start date. Then they formally approved his selection without a contract last week. On Monday morning, the school district announced there’d be a virtual board meeting to vote on Heiser’s contract later that night.

“Maryland law requires a Superintendent’s term to begin July 1, and we needed to complete the formal approval process and circulate the contract for signatures before then,” Lichter wrote in a text message Monday night.

She said the contract would be posted publicly online when all parties have signed.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.