When School Boards Cross the Line: Lessons from Marfa ISD

A recent report out of Marfa ISD should give every Texan pause. According to The Big Bend Sentinel, the Marfa ISD School Board may have violated Texas nepotism laws when it hired the board president’s daughter, who later resigned after unrelated criminal charges. Ironically, it seems the nepotism issue is only receiving attention because of those charges, not because the law was broken.

At first glance, this may seem like a small-town scandal with no relevance to us. But the similarities to our own district’s situation are striking and worth examining.

The Similarities

In Marfa ISD, board members approved the hiring of the board president’s daughter. Nepotism there did not stop with one hire. It extended to the board president’s sister and brother as well. In our district, board members also voted on pay plans and contracts that directly benefited their own relatives.

One-off mistakes can happen. But repeated instances point to a culture problem. Our district has multiple examples of questionable votes, contracts, and pay increases tied to relatives. In both Marfa and here, officials leaned on technicalities as excuses. This shows a willingness to twist the law for personal benefit. It is a pattern, not an accident.

The Differences

To be fair, there are key differences between Marfa’s case and ours. Marfa’s nepotism scandal was overshadowed by criminal charges against the board president’s daughter. That was a shocking twist that, thankfully, our district does not share. Our case is about financial ethics, not criminal misconduct with students.

Marfa ISD is a very small district with just 223 students (Niche). Our district is much larger, with 24,386 students (Niche), and has layers of oversight. That means the excuses carry less weight. Our board members should know better.

Still, Marfa ISD acted decisively by moving to consider removing its president. Our board has instead circled the wagons, stonewalling open records requests, defending decisions through allies on social media, and dismissing parents as “emotional.”

Why This Matters

When school boards allow nepotism to drive decisions, students, teachers, and taxpayers lose. Whether in a small town like Marfa or a major suburban district like ours, the results are the same: eroded trust, wasted resources, and leadership focused on self-preservation instead of kids.

Both cases prove that nepotism is not just a legal technicality. Whether it is Marfa or our district, the underlying problem is the same. It is a culture where personal gain comes before children.

Read School Board May Have Violated Nepotism Law in Hiring of Board President’s daughter from The Big Bend Sentinel.