By Julie M. Cohen, Belmont Voice correspondent
Colleagues reflected on the life and legacy of Peter Blakeley Holland III, the former superintendent of the Belmont Public Schools, who died on April 16 at age 82.
In his role, which he held from 1988 to 2008, the married father of two brought innovation to the district while successfully leading students, staff, and the community through several crises, including a long teachers’ strike and a school fire.
“He brought change, and it worked … but he did it in a collaborative way with everyone in the town,” recalled Pat Brusch, who was part of the search committee that chose Holland, who had been the Lynnfield Public Schools assistant superintendent, as a finalist. “He saw the school system as part of the community.”
Jeanne Widmer, the chairperson of the School Committee that chose Holland, said at that time, Belmont was a more traditional town that resisted change to its school system.
Her colleague on the School Committee, Anne Marie Mahoney, said Holland, a Kentucky native and Lexington resident, was able to judiciously and thoughtfully “start moving Belmont forward to become more innovative.”
Some of those changes were directly related to academics, including supporting more Advanced Placement offerings, teaching algebra to younger students, and entering special education and regional collaboratives. Other changes focused more on relationship building.
“He cared about what kind of people the students [would] become,” said Widmer.
In order for all students to feel connected, he and the School Committee traveled to Boston to meet with parents whose kids were part of the METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program. They would hear from them directly so they wouldn’t have to go to Belmont at night.
“He really cared about that,” said Widmer.
He also walked the walk. As a hands-on leader, he would visit different schools to speak with teachers and students and could often be found in the audience at various performances.
Rather than be an administrator who remained in his office, “he was an active superintendent,” recalled Widmer.
Holland’s efforts extended to the rest of Belmont, as well.
“He thought it was important that the schools function as part of the community,” said Brusch.
For example, when the school system started integrating “new math,” Holland made sure night sessions were offered to parents and the community at large to explain the changes and educational strategies. At the time, computers were also being set up in school buildings, so he helped arrange lessons for residents as well, said Brusch.
Weathering challenges
The year 1995 proved to be a doubly challenging time for Holland and all of Belmont. In January, teachers went on strike for 10 school days, and in July, a fire destroyed Chenery Middle School.
A strike can “tear the community apart,” said Widmer.
Each year, when Holland presented the school budget, he would justify every element but knew that “the schools weren’t going to get everything they wanted,” she said.
“He respected taxpayers who could not afford raising their taxes” at the time, said Widmer.
Schools did not close during the strike because volunteer teachers stepped in. Department of Education officials then made sure the classes would count toward the required number, and they did.
After the strike, Brusch said Holland brought people together by holding community meetings and listening sessions so that schools could go back to normal.
“We weathered it mainly because of him,” said Widmer, who added that Holland wanted to make the teachers’ return “as smooth for the children as possible.”
“He did a lot of outreach” after the strike, said Mahoney. During the next teachers’ contract bargaining session, a facilitator was brought in to ensure all parties worked together more successfully.
In the middle of the summer, Holland and the community faced another blow when Chenery Middle School was destroyed by a fire on July 9, 1995. By a stroke of luck, Chenery was due to be replaced, and plans for a new school had already been made. However, decisions had to be made about where the displaced children would attend classes.
He was a “calming influence” during times of crisis, recalled Mahoney. Soon, arrangements were made to set up modular classrooms and to use areas in the high school for the Chenery students.
“It was extraordinary, really,” said Widmer.
Lasting impact
Aside from curriculum updates and improvements, ensuring community involvement, and many other innovations during his tenure as superintendent, Holland was also pivotal in planning the district’s future.
“Peter is the person who got the ball rolling on the rebuilding of Belmont High School by appointing a study group in 2004 that was charged with looking at all the various options of how to make the building work with the current educational methods,” said Brusch.
By the time the new $256 million facility (which includes the new high school and middle school) was being rebuilt, Holland had long retired, but he attended the groundbreaking in 2019, and then he came to the open house when the high school side opened in 2021, according to Brusch, who last saw him at the dedication of the new building this past October.
The high school’s library was named after him “with gratitude for his clarity, compassion, and humor in guiding the district for 20 years with an unswerving focus on the best interests of the students,” according to his obituary.
When asked what they’d like the community to remember about Holland, Widmer said, “Above all, he transformed our schools.”
“He always put the good of the students first,” said Mahoney.
To read Holland’s obituary, memorialsource.com/memorial/peter-blakeley-holland-1
