BAY MINETTE — Marty McRae arrived at the Tharp building ahead of the 5:30 p.m. start time for the Baldwin County school board meeting as interim superintendent, smiling and greeting board and community members.

By the time he left the board of education's Bay Minette headquarters Thursday afternoon, he had been promoted. His title remained similar, but the "interim" prefix was dropped.

McRae, whose 36 years of experience in public education has all been within Baldwin County Public Schools, was voted to become the district's next superintendent in a 5-2 vote; board member Ken Bradley and president Tony Myrick were the two no-votes. The yes-votes were Andrea Lindsey, Rondi Kirby, Jason P. Woerner, Cecil Christenberry and board vice president April Bradley.

“Thank you guys for the confidence in me to do this,” he said after returning to the room after the vote was made, overcome with emotion.

The other finalist for the position was Mississippi-based Tony McGee, who is the superintendent at Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District. He did not attend the meeting.

McRae will lead a growing school system with more than 30,000 students and about 4,500 employees in Baldwin County and will transition to the role “effective immediately,” according to a press release from the district.

“This is just such a great place … I love Baldwin County. I raised my family here, and … I'm proud we're going to continue on with our reputation as being one of the best school systems in the state,” McRae said to the media after his win.

According to the BCPS press release, from 2015 to 2022 he served as the BCPS assistant superintendent of secondary education and also the district's athletic director. He had most recently been serving as assistant superintendent of prevention and support/student services, overseeing multiple departments and districtwide initiatives, including transportation, child nutrition, attendance, alternative education, after-school programs, counseling and health services. He took on the role of interim superintendent when former BCPS Superintendent Eddie Tyler retired June 30.

At the beginning of the meeting, the board opened up the discussion to the public. Community members addressed the board about the importance of the superintendent vote.

"Tonight, you're not simply filling a position; you're choosing the person who will help shape the future of thousands of children, support thousands of teachers and staff and influence this community for years to come," Fairhope resident and mother Rebecca Watson said.

“We will see how this goes,” she said after the vote. “I'm looking forward to working with Mr. McRae.”

According to the press release provided by BCPS, McRae earned a Master of Education from the University of South Alabama; a Bachelor of Science from Auburn University at Montgomery; and McRae also has administrative certification from the University of South Alabama and completed the Superintendent Academy at the University of South Alabama in 2020.

McRae began his career as a math teacher and coach at Fairhope High School, according to the BCBE website and press release after the Thursday vote. He later served as the school's technology coordinator and administrative intern before being named assistant principal for the Pirates from 2004 to 2010 then principal at Spanish Fort High School from 2010 to 2015.

“You don't imagine that you ever want to get to this point. You know, my whole dream at that point was just to be working with kids, and I could have been a teacher my whole career,” McRae said after the meeting. “But opportunities opened up, people that believed in me, gave me opportunities, and I guess I done pretty well. So I was able to move through the ranks. There's nothing in education I haven't done. So at this point, I want to try to give back to those people that gave to me.”