BATON ROUGE - BREC voted Wednesday afternoon to begin negotiating with the commission's pick to be the next superintendent.

The BREC commission unanimously voted for Brooks Williams, the city manager and chief executive officer for the city of Ferris, Texas. He was a finalist alongside Chris Maitre and Daniel Betts.

Williams also holds a doctorate in public administration and has a background in municipal government, strategic planning and organizational transformation.

The superintendent seat opened up after Corey Wilson chose not to renew his contract in March 2025; Janet Simmons had served as the interim superintendent since. 

The WBRZ Investigative Unit has been following the controversy surrounding finance and the turnover of employees in BREC for years.