At the August 14 school board meeting, the Board of School Directors appointed Dr. Jeffrey Beltz as Freedom Area School District’s next superintendent for a five-year term beginning December 1. To facilitate his transition, on October 9, the Board named him Assistant to the Superintendent for a term beginning November 3 and ending November 30, when current superintendent Diane Workman will officially retire after serving the district in the role since July 2021.
Beltz, a 1991 Freedom graduate, held a number of positions in his career before returning to his alma mater, including positons in the district.
Beltz and his sister were the first in his family to attend college. Beltz knew that he wanted to do something involving business because it was the broadest category. He attended Geneva College befiore earning a Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Youngstown State University. He went on to Robert Morris University to earn his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. He chose these schools mainly because of their affordability.
“I was actually coaching at the time, so I got a graduate assistant position and then continued in the MBA program at Robert Morris as a full time MBA student,” Beltz said.
After completing college, Beltz would go on to work in business with a sports agent law firm that represented 50 NFL clients. He was also a coach at Robert Morris for four years.
“There was still something missing,” Beltz said. “You think you have things figured out when you go through school, and you don’t.”
Beltz valued his time coaching sports, describing it as the backbone of discipline. He had past positions at Freedom: both the football and baseball coach. He realized that he could help others find their pathway of what they want to do in life.
“Coaching was my gateway to education,” Beltz said.
In his graduate program, he had never taken a psychology course, but he ended up tutoring athletes in the subject.
“That’s kind of when it took over,” Beltz said. “Tutoring a college-level psychology program — that’s what started to open up the door for me to consider education as a path.”
Beltz has 20 years of experience in the education field. He previously served as the principal of Beaver Area Middle School, assistant superintendent of the Moon Area School District, and superintendent of the Hopewell Area School Distrct.
As he settles into his new role, Beltz says he plans on listening to what the staff and students have to say rather than implementing changes immediately. He wants to listen to the concerns of the people whose decisions he affects before doing anything major to the school or the community.
“I think we have to look at all the facilities; I don’t have a specific in mind, but we do need to start to lay out that five to 10-year plan so that we aren’t doing emergency maintenance,” Beltz said. “Maintenance has been kept up nicely but there will be a time when things need to be replaced, refurbished and renovated.”
Beltz further stated how he planned on communicating well with staff, parents and students.
“To me it’s about listening and observing and being amongst students and the community, Beltz said. “I’ll have some ways, and the first is being visible and present. If you aren’t seeing me, I wouldn’t mind an e-mail. The second is taking an active role when people are trying to navigate an issue or challenge, so I can be involved with it. Not that I am going to have the solution, but so I can hear what that struggle is and try to help out and find a solution to it with them.”