New Superintendent promotes transparency

Possible changes to the 2020-2021 Academic Calendar

Dr. Darryl Henson is one of the newest additions to Marlin Independent School District. He signed his contract to be superintendent for the 2020-21 school year on May 20 and has already proven his commitment to making a change within the culture of the district in that short amount of time. 

The educator plans to institute monthly School Board workshops, in addition to the regular monthly meeting, in order to introduce board members to pending decisions.

“The board is not going to vote on anything during these meetings,” Henson stated. “It allows them to ask questions at that time and gives board members two weeks to look over items and ask further questions.”

“It also allows us to put the agenda out there to both staff and the community, who can also ask questions in the two week time as well,” he continued. 

The first of these workshops was held on Monday, June 8, to inform the three board members on possible changes to the Academic Calendar and Organizational Chart for ‘20-’21, as well as to update them on the status of the budget for FY20.

There are two options for the yearly schedule. One is a traditional calendar that would go from Aug. 12, 2020, to May 23, 2021, with standard holidays. The other option accounts for the Texas Education Agency’s recommendation to extend the school year due to COVID-19 disruptions during the current school year. 

The extended calendar would institute a start date of Aug. 3, 2020, with the academic year ending on June 3, 2021. Along with these changes, students will see longer intersessional breaks throughout the entire year. There would be a fall intersession in October and a Spring intersession in March, both spanning two weeks. These will replace Columbus Day and Spring Break, respectively.

Those involved with MISD, along with community members, were given the opportunity to give feedback on what option they like best via a survey. The district received a total 157 responses, split between students, parents, faculty and staff, administrators, and community members.

It was nearly 50/50 for both students and parents, but the rest differed in greater amounts. Faculty and staff were split 60/40, favoring the traditional calendar, but 83 percent of administrator responses show that the extended would be their choice. Ninety-two percent of the community responses were for the traditional calendar. 

Overall, 55 percent of responses favor the traditional calendar, but the board will not officially vote on the subject until June 22.

A school district’s organizational chart is the hierarchy observed by district administration and shows which departments fall under one another.

“I’ll continue to do my needs analysis of the various concerns,” said Henson. “The new organizational chart will allow myself and the district team to have the appropriate leader held accountable for areas related to academics, operations, and human resources.”

In the proposed chart, the superintendent is overseen by the Board of Managers, while overseeing the Chief Academic Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief of Police and Directors of Technology, Maintenance, Special Education, FEC, Athletics and Student Services. Some of these departments have additional sectors to oversee as well. 

Stacy Parker was named as the new Director of Student Services during the Monday meeting, as well as Lawrence Galloway was named Chief Academic Officer.

Marlin ISD’s next school board meeting will be held on Monday, June 22, to vote on the issues above. Head to marlinisd.org or the Marlin ISD Facebook page for the latest updates on the district. 

The Marlin Democrat

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Marlin, TX 76661
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