[4][5][6] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed former Panama City, Florida City Manager Mark McQueen, a retired U.S. Army Major General to the position in August 2023 after the previous superintendent Bill Husfelt retired early in his term after being elected to the board in 2008.

BDS leaders credit the improvement to the Graduation Pathways program that began in 2015.

[10] In July 2023, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between BDS and the Association of Bay County Educators went into effect for one year.

The MOU allowed highly qualified teachers to make extra money by transferring to low-rated schools in the district.

Teachers who participated in the MOU received a $10,000 raise for transferring to Tier1 comprehensive support and improvement (CS&I) schools and $15,000 raises for transferring to Tier 2 CS&I schools.