Meet Alphonso Bates, Marlin Superintendent
Marlin ISD hired Alphonso Bates for the district’s superintendent position on Oct. 25, and he just wrapped up his second week on the job.
“If the welcome was any better, I’d probably be in heaven,” Bates laughed. “The people are nice, the staff members are nice, and our students are great. I haven’t had a chance to meet everyone in the community yet, so that’s kind of my next steps in the next few weeks, but you know, I’m a big boy, so I like to eat and I’ve had the chance to eat at the The Chicken Place, that Mexican restaurant across the street, El Charro... I look forward to the chance to be a little bit more in the town and meet some of the city officials and things like that.”
Bates brings 26 years of experience in education, with many of those years spent in leadership positions at districts much larger than Marlin.
”My previous district, Lamar Consolidated ISD, was right outside of the Houston area, bordering Fort Bend ISD and Katy ISD, right down I-20,” Bates said. “There I was a deputy superintendent, on human resources and student services. We had approximately 3,000 staff members, 58 schools and 48,000 students when I left; it’s the fastest growing school district in the state.”
Prior to Lamar Consolidated, Bates worked at Community ISD (3,100 students) for 6 years, where he stepped into central administration for the first time. Bates also worked in Lancaster ISD for 15 years, and De Soto ISD for 8 years in various leadership roles- principal, dean of instruction, associate principal, etc.
Marlin ISD is nearing the end of its TEA Conservatorship, but Bates only had positive things to say about the state’s involvement in the district.
“The TEA has transitioned to the full board coming back to the district at the end of January, and they’ve already hired two of the trustees. I’ve met both Judge Trotter and Ms. Thomson,” Bates said. “This is my first time being under conservatorship, but as far as working with TEA it’s not my first time. I’ve been in many places where we’ve had low student achievement- the state will do many things that’s not taking over the school, but it’s like, ‘let me provide you with all these resources before we have to get to the point where we have to take over.’ It’s been very welcoming and if you ask me, I would say the state is showing how much they
Photo pulled from Marlin ISD website still care about their schools and their school districts through TEA Conservatorship.”
Bates also recognizes the importance of partnership and community support, and hopes to hear directly from the Marlin community.
“The biggest thing is, when I get a chance to get in front of them, town halls or other types of focus meetings, be open and transparent,” Bates said. “What is their expectation for the school district? Marlin deserves to have what any other successful school district has and we don’t have to settle for anything. But at the exact same time, I’m pretty sure there are several traditions and things that they want to have intact, and I want to be very respectful of that- what makes Marlin Marlin?”
Bates understands the need for balance, but is excited to have the trust of the board in using his experience to approach problems in a new way when possible or needed.
“One of the things that the trustees told me that I will always hold dear to my heart is, ‘we respect the fact that you have a lot of experiences from many different sized school districts, and there are some things we want to keep Marlin, but there’s also some things that we do want from the outside to come in, and we hope that you can bring those.’ and so just hearing that makes you feel good,” Bates said.
Bates has a wife and four adult children, three of whom are currently in college. They moved into a Waco apartment last week, due to limited housing options in Marlin, but Bates said he plans to be living in Marlin within a year’s time. He said he is open to building a home if he can’t find the right one, which lines up with his belief that a superintendent should be fully plugged into the local community.
“I think the city and the school district have to be hand in hand,” Bates said. “Our success is going to require some partnerships and or increased communication and collaboration with the city. Of course, I’m the one responsible for the school district, not the city, but I want to make sure I partner well with them.”
Outside of work, Bates revels in spending time with his family unit.
“My family and I are all sports fanatics- two of my kids run track- one is at UT Tyler, and one is at Houston Christian University,” Bates said. “My oldest boy is now a physician’s assistant for physical therapy and he is also a personal trainer. We definitely route ourselves around sports and things like that. My daughter is a huge Baylor Bear fan, although I found out that I’m kind of more so in Aggie County than I am in Bear Country, but that’s okay. We do a lot of things in prayer, and we make sure we get together and read the Bible and do a little Bible study and things like that. We do a lot of FaceTime, and togetherness is important to us. I always tell people we’re a unit.”