City of Marlin hires former Waco ISD superintendent Nelson as charter school consulta

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UBBY
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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.
UBBY
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Quotes from Nelson:

"This is not something where we're talking about coming in and starting from scratch. We're talking about taking the best of what's in Marlin and building off it and totally changing things that are not working," he said. "It all starts with what we do with kindergartners and what we graduate in 12th grade. At the end of the day, it's all teaching and learning. We really have to come together and make sure that the future of public education in Marlin, Texas, is protected, and that's my role."

The students of Marlin and the work that has to be done to create quality public schools in Marlin is Nelson's focus now, he said.

"There's kids in Marlin who come from two-parents homes, and they've been well taught and well educated and they're going to be very successful in life. Those kids deserve quality leadership, which I'm sure they get from their home," he said. "But there's other kids in Marlin that have made mistakes, that have fallen off track, and they need someone like me who brings hope and resiliency and clearly holds them accountable."
BellCountyBear
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Marlin sort of deserves better. Although pigs do tend to wallow in their own filth.
UBBY
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I know someone who worked in Marlin. She said that the city council is complete crap and only care about their own self interests. It's why Ricky Scaman took himself out of the running for Marlin police chief. Here is a quote from him:

"While the frame work to address the legal concerns for the cooperative arrangement clearly exists, the political bodies are not sufficiently in agreement for me to ensure a successful result for the citizens of Falls County,"

Also, just over four months ago Marlin police chief Nathan Sodek had sex with a 35-year-old check forgery suspect who told investigators in a sworn statement she felt like she "had no other option but to have sex with him if I didn't want to go to jail." Then the Texas Rangers went to his home to serve warrants. Nathan ran inside and shot himself.

BellCountyBear
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I wonder if $10,000 buys a lot of weed?
UBBY
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BellCountyBear said:

I wonder if $10,000 buys a lot of weed?


Haha. I understand you're joking but I think he deserves a second chance. He did more for the entirety of Waco High then i have seen in my lifetime. It would be a great story if he could somehow work his magic at Marlin. Its arguably a worse situation that Waco High. I'm pulling for him
Yogi
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Hey, leave the guy alone. The seeds for success stem from subsequent chances.
"Smarter than the Average Bear."
BellCountyBear
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Listen, I know more about some of his shenanigans while at Waco ISD than either one of you. It was a dumpster fire when he was canned. It will slowly get better now that competent leadership is in place. I don't wish him ill, but he would be better off being a postal employee or used car salesman.
BrazosBear
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BellCountyBear said:

Listen, I know more about some of his shenanigans while at Waco ISD than either one of you. It was a dumpster fire when he was canned. It will slowly get better now that competent leadership is in place. I don't wish him ill, but he would be better off being a postal employee or used car salesman.

^^^^
I can't stand it when people say they think he did a great job. He had 1-2 year plan that had no shot at long term success. I actually think that it was a good thing for Waco ISD that he got arrested. Had he remained in his position it likely would have taken a few more years of his detrimental leadership before the board realized that he was no good.

Thankfully, the new Superintendent seems to actually be an educator who is focused on putting a structure in place to succeed long term rather than a quick fix. She has spent more time on campuses in her short tenure than Nelson did in his 2 years with the district.
UBBY
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Wow I haven't heard anything like that. Anyone I've ever talked to said he did a fantastic job.
BellCountyBear
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UBBY said:

Wow I haven't heard anything like that. Anyone I've ever talked to said he did a fantastic job.
Maybe you're talking to the wrong people. Or you're a bot.
UBBY
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BellCountyBear said:

UBBY said:

Wow I haven't heard anything like that. Anyone I've ever talked to said he did a fantastic job.
Maybe you're talking to the wrong people. Or you're a bot.


I guess I've been talking to the "wrong people." You apparently are flabbergasted I haven't heard about him from your perspective. Where would I have gotten such info unless doing a thorough investigation into it. Almost every article or comment I've read or person (at random) I have talked to had glowing things to say about him.

I'm not saying you are wrong, you may be right. I would like to know where you got your info about him from if you don't mind.
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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Anyone that disagrees is a bot.

Amazing logic.
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
BrazosBear
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It's not surprising to me that public perception was that he did a good job. He's a charismatic guy and he got quick results (at least in the way of standardized testing). I only know what I know because I'm married to a WISD employee. As a result I probably watch things a little more closely and have more of an inside view of the way things are going.

The good news is it sounds like the new superintendent is off to a very good start. She's clearly an educator who happened to work her way to this spot. She's been very involved and present at struggling schools already which is a positive sign.

Nelson was basically a politician who happened to be in education. Good on TV and from a far, but not particularly capable at running the show.
UBBY
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Thank you for that explanation. That makes more sense now.
Stranger
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His kind will fit the culture in Marlin real well.
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