According to a letter from the Texas Education Commissioner, the Texas Education Agency will be taking over Marlin Independent School District, appointing a new board of managers and promoting the current monitor to a conservator.
The school district failed to meet the academic accountability ratings for the fifth year in a row, causing the state to step in. Last year, the district made an agreement that if they failed the accountability ratings again, the state could appoint a board of managers.
Dr. Michael Seabolt became superintendent of Marlin ISD a little over a year ago, while the district was struggling to meet state standards.
In that year, Seabolt has put systems in place to make sure the kids are learning what they need to.
Seabolt said he wasn’t surprised to get the letter from the TEA last week. After taking the job in Marlin, he quickly realized there was a lot more work to do.
“The problem with Marlin is a lot of the kids, there’s a lot of disparity in their ability. You could have in a fourth grade reading class kids reading at a kindergarten level, kids reading at a fourth grade level and everywhere in between,” Seabolt said. “So that's a hard situation. It’s hard for a teacher and it's years worth of damage for Marlin.”
Parents said they noticed the problems, too, but they are hoping these new changes can turn things around for Marlin.
"They'll see what the problem is and then bring better teachers, better objectives and better materials the kids need to pass everything,” Nikolas Rutkoski, a parent of Marlin ISD, said.
"I think that they have improved as much as they can on their own and with the proper steps their taking then hopefully, and I do mean hopefully, that it can improve,” Jodie Deleon, a parents of Marlin ISD, said.
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