Medina Valley school board: Lone superintendent finalist turns down the job

Samuel Nix, the lone finalist who was expected to be named the new superintendent for the Medina Valley Independent School District, withdrew his candidacy for the job, according to a letter sent to the community from the board president, on Tuesday afternoon. “While Dr. Nix appreciates being named Lone Finalist for the position of Superintendent of MVISD, he has decided to withdraw his name from consideration,” wrote Mario De Leon, the board president, in a letter that was posted on the district’s Facebook page. De Leon said the board will provide updates about their next steps for the superintendent search process on the district website and social media. On April 13, the school board unanimously voted for Nix — from Duncanville ISD, near Dallas — to be the lone finalist.

At a school board meeting Thursday, just as the 21-day deadline required by state law was passing, the board discussed the lone finalist and consulted its attorney about contractual issues regarding the lone finalist in closed session, according to the meeting’s agenda. De Leon did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The district spokesperson referred any matters regarding the superintendent to the school board. Nix declined to comment. Nix previously worked as a teacher, assistant principal and principal at the middle and high school level in Arlington ISD. He has served as the chief of schools at Duncanville ISD since 2017. During the public comment section of the meeting Thursday, members of the community expressed that they felt Nix was not qualified for the job because he did not have enough experience dealing with district financial decisions including bond packaging and construction jobs. One public commenter, Terry Beck, who’s lived in Castroville his whole life, said that he found a video of Nix online discussing a book called “Courageous Conversations about Race.”