Can a former soccer star rebuild trust in Baltimore County schools?

Growing up, Bill Heiser had his sights set on a professional soccer career.

At Eleanor Roosevelt High School, the Bowie native said he struggled academically but was a “tremendous soccer player,” sought after by several colleges, even after injuring his ankle.

His priorities changed when his mother died the day before he turned 18.

Suddenly, college was more than what team he might play for. His school counselor, Judy Frank, helped Heiser through his grief and find a college where he could focus on academics and stay close to loved ones.

“The role she played never left me,” he said.

After a successful college soccer career, Heiser turned down an offer to play for the indoor soccer team now known as the Baltimore Blast. Instead, he earned a master’s degree in school counseling from Loyola University Maryland and went on to lead schools across the region.

“Education has — I don’t know if it saved my life, but it certainly was pivotal in giving me a career and also a lifeline to help other people,” said Heiser, now 53.

This summer, Heiser took the helm of Baltimore County Public Schools, whose headquarters are just down the street from Loyola. As a first-time public school system superintendent, Heiser has promised to raise graduation rates and test scores. And, he said, he’s committed to rebuilding trust in Baltimore County schools, where repeated budget cuts have taken a toll on morale.

“There’s a saying that culture eats strategy for breakfast,” he said. “We need to really think about the culture in our school system and take care of all those who work for the school system.”

The path to superintendent

It was 2013 when Heiser’s application for principal of Catonsville High School landed on Mark Bedell’s desk.

Bedell, now the superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, was an assistant superintendent in Baltimore County at the time. Heiser was in his first principal job at North County High School in Anne Arundel County, where he earned the state principal of the year award. News outlets at the time reported that during Heiser’s tenure, North County saw a rise in college scholarship money, SAT participation and Advanced Placement exams administered.

So Bedell visited North County unannounced to check him out.

He was impressed. No kids were in the hallways, and students looked engaged inside the classroom, Bedell said.

“Man, this guy is the real deal,” he recalled thinking at the time. “We went on and interviewed him, and he ended up being our top choice for Catonsville High School.”

Even after they left the school system, the two kept in touch.

When Heiser became the president of Baltimore’s Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a Catholic college-preparatory school, in 2015, Bedell gave him a pep talk.

“Hey man, you’re going to be basically a mini superintendent,” Bedell remembered telling him. Cristo Rey is an independent school, not part of a school system. “You’re going to be responsible for understanding operations, understanding finances, making sure that the system as a whole is running at a high level.”

Walter Reap, who worked under Heiser as Cristo Rey’s principal and then vice president of academic affairs, described his former boss as a supportive leader who empowered him to lead others. Heiser’s a former athlete, “so he understands the vision, goals, strategy,” Reap said.

He also called Heiser student-centered. When a Cristo Rey student was robbed at gunpoint, a regular occurrence for students who relied on public transportation, Heiser kept asking for details, Reap said.

“The reason I’m asking these questions is because I don’t want us ever to become desensitized to what happens to our students,” he recalled Heiser saying.

When Bedell became Anne Arundel’s superintendent in 2022, he floated a proposition to Heiser over a meal.

“What are your thoughts about coming to Anne Arundel County to help me move this school [system] forward?” Bedell said he asked Heiser. “I’ll do everything in my power to get you ready to be a superintendent.”

The idea hadn’t occurred to Heiser until then, but it was a job he could see himself doing. Heiser accepted the offer and became the district’s chief operating officer, overseeing the capital budget and a contentious redistricting process last year.

“Redistricting is a really difficult process for students and parents and community members,” he said. “It’s never easy.”

Anne Arundel students and parents accused Heiser of misunderstanding the link between school enrollment and state funding for school construction, and later sued to block implementation of the plan. Heiser said the way he handled the tense situation shows he understands how to build relationships.

“The art of the process is the ability to listen to people, to understand where they’re coming from, to not take things personally, even when sometimes they are personal attacks,” he said.

With Bedell’s encouragement, Heiser trained to become a superintendent through a national association and sat in for his boss during school board meetings. After three years, he was chosen to lead Baltimore County schools, beating out three other finalists.

“We believe he brings not only the professional qualities required for this role but also a deep commitment and a collaborative spirit needed for the critical work,” school board Chair Jane Lichter said after Heiser’s selection.

“It was just a matter of time,” Bedell said.

Building back morale

After starting the job July 1, Heiser set out on a listening tour, meeting with families at schools around the region and fielding their concerns.

Antoinette Barber, Owings Mills High School PTSA president, told Heiser during a July 16 meet-and-greet that staff positions at her school were cut by double digits over the last three years.

“Can we give our school a break?” she asked.

Heiser didn’t make promises but listened to the community’s feedback and told them it reflected their dedication to the school system.

Hundreds of positions were cut under former Superintendent Myriam Rogers as the district navigated rising expenses, declines in state funding and a promise to raise salaries over three years. Heiser will contend with many of the same challenges.

Trust among educators has eroded, said Kelly Olds, president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County. When she spoke with Heiser about rebuilding the relationship earlier this month, he seemed genuine, she said.

Olds asked Heiser to fix ongoing payroll issues she said were caused by a rocky transition to software. He didn’t make any promises to get rid of the system, she said.

“To his credit, he’s only a month in,” Olds said. “He has to find out what’s really going on and what the whole picture is.”

During his first school board meeting in July, educators caught Heiser up on other issues, including that school librarians were pulling double duty as classroom teachers. The board asked Heiser to revisit the issue.

Last week, he advised against changing course, saying it would increase class sizes and make it difficult to find part-time staff to take over the classes they were supposed to teach. He promised to look for a solution.

“I think it’s going to be another tough budget year, but this is a priority,” he said.

Board members didn’t push back; they decided to trust him.

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.