https://www.wacotrib.com/news/education/city-of-marlin-hires-former-waco-isd-superintendent-nelson-as/article_0d881c8e-9522-5852-8a88-2a3b385bdcc5.html#tncms-source=infinity-scroll-summary-siderail-latest
The Marlin City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to hire former Waco Independent School District Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson as a consultant to study the possibility of creating a charter school if the embattled Marlin school district closes this spring.
Nelson, the only applicant for the position, will receive a stipend of $10,000 to help the city file an application for a charter school, Mayor Carolyn Lofton said. The charter school idea is a backup plan in case the state shuts down the district after this school year.
Nelson's experience in turning around schools, creating charter schools, being a voice for students and advocating for the education system resonated with council members, Lofton said. Nelson helped create Transformation Waco, a five-school charter system that partnered with Waco ISD to ensure those schools remained open when they were on the brink of state closure in 2017.
"We were blown away. We felt privileged to be in his presence," Lofton said. "With his credentials, his background, his experience, his expertise, I feel honored and privileged that he's willing to come to a district like Marlin and help us to create something better for our students. God is purposeful. I believe God puts people in the places where he wants them, and maybe he created this situation for him to come here because we need him. Our students need him."
The fate of Marlin Independent School District has been uncertain for years. The district has not met state academic standards based on standardized exam scores since 2010, longer than any other Texas school district.
Since then, the district's student population has shrunk by more than 200 students, as more students transfer out of the district each year. The Texas Education Agency intervened in an effort to improve student academic performance, beginning in 2015 with an agreement between the agency and the district to keep Marlin ISD open, despite failing standardized test scores. It replaced Marlin's board of trustees in 2017 with a state-appointed board of managers.
In November, the board approved another abatement agreement to keep Marlin schools open for at least one more school year. The district also is overseen by state-appointed interim Superintendent Jean Bahney and conservator Diana Vaughn.
The Marlin City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to hire former Waco Independent School District Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson as a consultant to study the possibility of creating a charter school if the embattled Marlin school district closes this spring.
Nelson, the only applicant for the position, will receive a stipend of $10,000 to help the city file an application for a charter school, Mayor Carolyn Lofton said. The charter school idea is a backup plan in case the state shuts down the district after this school year.
Nelson's experience in turning around schools, creating charter schools, being a voice for students and advocating for the education system resonated with council members, Lofton said. Nelson helped create Transformation Waco, a five-school charter system that partnered with Waco ISD to ensure those schools remained open when they were on the brink of state closure in 2017.
"We were blown away. We felt privileged to be in his presence," Lofton said. "With his credentials, his background, his experience, his expertise, I feel honored and privileged that he's willing to come to a district like Marlin and help us to create something better for our students. God is purposeful. I believe God puts people in the places where he wants them, and maybe he created this situation for him to come here because we need him. Our students need him."
The fate of Marlin Independent School District has been uncertain for years. The district has not met state academic standards based on standardized exam scores since 2010, longer than any other Texas school district.
Since then, the district's student population has shrunk by more than 200 students, as more students transfer out of the district each year. The Texas Education Agency intervened in an effort to improve student academic performance, beginning in 2015 with an agreement between the agency and the district to keep Marlin ISD open, despite failing standardized test scores. It replaced Marlin's board of trustees in 2017 with a state-appointed board of managers.
In November, the board approved another abatement agreement to keep Marlin schools open for at least one more school year. The district also is overseen by state-appointed interim Superintendent Jean Bahney and conservator Diana Vaughn.
