The School Committee has extended Superintendent Jill Geiser’s contract through the 2026-2027 school year.
Specifics of the contract, including salary for the fourth year, will be negotiated at a future date, according to School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty.
The three-year contract began on July 1, 2023, and the vote to extend it for at least another year followed a formal evaluation last month by the School Committee.
“I feel proud of that work, but that’s also the work of the team,” said Geiser.
According to Geiser, the district’s various subcommittees play a significant role in the schools’ success.
According to the evaluation by the School Committee, the superintendent received an overall average rating of “proficient” (out of a four-point scale of “unsatisfactory”, “satisfactory”, “proficient”, and “exemplary”) for the progress she made in the district in the past year. Some of the superintendent’s strengths outlined in the report include strategic planning, instructional leadership, collaboration, and commitment to the community.
“Dr. Geiser has successfully developed and advanced the ambitious [Belmont Public Schools] 3-year strategic plan,” stated the report. “She also made strategic budget and staffing decisions to arrive at a balanced budget while maintaining key positions and making important new investments to promote academic excellence for all.”
District Improvement
In September 2024, Geiser presented her three-year strategic plan to the district. Part of her work included crafting a new mission, vision, values, and Vision of a Graduate for Belmont Public Schools. The superintendent also formed a strategic planning advisory committee, which has provided guidance on adjustments to the strategic plan.
“The development of the plan was an intensive and inclusive process,” the evaluation report stated.
School Committee members said Geiser made significant progress on the annual goals set for the first year of the strategic plan.
Some of the specific efforts included updating the math curriculum for elementary schools, reviewing the K-3 literacy curriculum, developing the annual budget, and launching a multi-year process to strengthen the district’s multi-tiered student support system (MTSS).
“My goal is for students and families to get what they need from the school system,” she said.
Geiser has strengthened social-emotional learning programs at the schools and hired the district’s new Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Well-Being, Darnell Thigpen Williams, to advance these efforts.
Geiser has also grown the district’s capacity for family communication by visiting parent-teacher organizations, writing blog updates and letters to the community, and responding effectively in “critical situations such as bomb threats and inclement weather,” the report stated.
Student Learning
The committee credited the superintendent with raising the academic bar for underperforming students.
“Dr. Geiser has demonstrated a consistent focus on strengthening teaching and learning,” according to the report.
Some of the efforts she made in the past year include working with school leadership teams to develop “a culture of inquiry and focus on core instruction;” analyzing student gains and growth over time in addition to just achievement and proficiency levels to more accurately measure the performance of the district; and examining data on inequities in student outcomes to inform the new MTSS system.
Strengthening District Leadership
The superintendent’s third goal is to “strengthen the collective and individual efficacy of district, school, and department leaders focused on instructional leadership and data-driven decision-making” according to the report. The School Committee found that the superintendent made significant progress on this goal.
“It is rare to see a Superintendent so deeply committed to instructional leadership when so many pressing issues compete for attention,” a principal stated in the evaluation report.
Allocating Resources
The School Committee unanimously concluded that Geiser successfully analyzed student needs and allocated resources appropriately.
Prioritizing competing needs was integral to the budgeting process, according to Geiser.
“Our work is about understanding those [varying] perspectives and figuring out how to prioritize those decisions,” she said.
When planning for fiscal year 2026, Geiser began with a budget proposal that exceeded the school’s allocation from the town by approximately $2 million.
“When directed to revise the budget to meet a 5.6 allocation target, she did so responsibly, engaging with her leadership team and cabinet, making difficult choices, and clearly communicating the rationale behind them,” the report stated.
Her ongoing communication with the School Committee and parent teacher organizations (PTOs), was also one of her strengths, according to the report.
“These conversations were transparent and clear with issues like whether and when to use staff exchange and how positions added mid-year were counted towards roll-over costs,” the report stated. “This is a big change in culture and greatly contributed to the improving relationships between the district and the town.”
Geiser said she also enjoys living and working in the same town, which has allowed her to attend more events and become more interwoven into the community as the superintendent.
“I’ve appreciated that connection to the community,” she said.
