Plano ISD hires Theresa Williams as district's new superintendent

The Plano ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a new contract for Theresa Williams to take over as the district's new superintendent June 1.

Theresa Williams, the district's current deputy superintendent and chief operating officer, was named as the district’s lone finalist for the superintendent position Feb. 28. School districts are required by state law to wait 21 days after naming a lone finalist for superintendent positions before officially hiring them. The district’s current superintendent, Sara Bonser, informed PISD’s board of trustees Jan. 25 that she plans to retire at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family.

“I'm honored by your support and your confidence in my leadership,” Theresa Williams said to the board following the approval of her new contract during a special called meeting March 21. “I love this district, and I am so grateful and thankful for each of you entrusting me with the leadership of Plano ISD. I'm up to the task. And I'm so proud to get to work with each of you, this amazing leadership team ... and our very talented staff.”

Over the next couple of months, Theresa Williams said she plans to look at any current work that needs refinement as well as anything else that may need to be addressed. She said she also plans to host opportunities to meet with district families and staff to “listen and learn.”

“The future is bright for Plano ISD,” Theresa Williams said. “I'm passionate about our teachers; I'm passionate about our staff; [and] I'm passionate about our families. [After] 27 years, there is no other place that I would rather be than Plano ISD, and there is no other position that I would rather have than to be your next superintendent.”

During the special called meeting, the board also approved a resolution that delegates authority over the incoming superintendent’s husband, Todd Williams, who is principal at McMillen High School. The resolution gives that responsibility to PISD’s assistant superintendent for employee services and final authority to the board. It also states Theresa Williams will not have access to any personnel files or materials for Todd Williams.

“The board felt that this would be very important for us to have an established delegation of authority regarding chain of command relative to the management for Todd [Williams] that keeps Theresa [Williams] out of any decision-making process,” board President David Stolle said. “We, as a board, felt that this would be very important to have these protocols so that everybody's aware of what the situation is, what the protocols are and what the expectations are on a go-forward basis.”