BIG SPRING, TX — On May 8, 2025, the Big Spring ISD Board of Trustees held a special meeting in closed session for the annual superintendent evaluation. On Wednesday, May 14th, KBest News verified that the board gave an unfavorable evaluation for BSISD superintendent Jay McWilliams and voted 5-2 to not extend his contract at this time. McWilliams still has 2 more years in his current contract with the school district and the board still has the option to extend his contract during a future evaluation.
A regular school board meeting was held last night with an overflowing amount of people present including a mix of staff, students, and the public; however, a quorum was not present. Only Fabian Serrano, Board President and District 7 Trustee, and Julie Harris, District 3 Trustee, were present. Board members not present for the meeting were Tom Olague, District 1; Jesse Salazar, District 2; Tonya Gilstrap-Becker, District 4; Trent Trinidad, District 5; and Alton McGruder, District 6. Although there weren’t enough board members to hold a meeting, they could still allow public comments to continue. Public comments were noted as an opportunity for staff and students to make their voices heard for any topic.
During public comments, at least 11 staff and students addressed the board to show their support for Superintendent McWilliams. Some commented on his leadership style, noting he leads from the front. Many spoke about how much he cares about the students and staff. Multiple staff members noted how far the district has come under his leadership and others pointed out that less than 1 year ago the BSISD school board had unanimously nominated him for Superintendent of the Year. Over the past 7 years, the BSISD board has given McWilliams multiple favorable evaluations and raises.
After the comments, McWilliams began thanking everyone for their support and became overwhelmed with emotion.
“It is very humbling to me that people are willing to do that, come out here on Wednesday night to voice their opinion,” said McWilliams. “I will never forget it. I won’t as long as I live, I will never forget what community members, staff members, and students did for me tonight in terms of just speaking, and giving their appreciation of what we’ve done here in Big Spring. When I say we, I mean all of us because this is not me by myself, this is a team that we’ve built up. We operate as a team and everything we do as a team with one goal and that is what’s best for our kids.”
McWilliams says he plans to keep moving forward with the district. Operationally speaking, he’s still the Superintendent and he’ll continue to serve the BSISD the best that he can.
(Photo by KBest Media)
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