Fort Smith School Board candidate wants to change ‘poor quality of education’ at district schools

Marc Werschem has thrown his hat into the race for the Zone 2 position on the Fort Smith School Board. The self-employed consultant and founder of Fort Smith Patriots, a tea party-affiliated group in the area, finalized his candidacy this week along with Brian Means and Zone 2 incumbent Susan McFerran.

The election will take place on Sept. 20 with early voting beginning on Sept. 13.

This year’s election has received more attention – especially for Zone 2 – than in years past. After incumbent McFerran was appointed to the Board in 2012 and won her first election unopposed the following year, she made Fort Smith history by making what would ultimately be a successful motion to change the name of Southside High School from Rebels while dropping the “Dixie” fight song.

A separate committee consisting of business leaders, teachers, and Southside students has since picked “Mavericks” to replace the mascot and “Wabash Cannonball” to take over as fight song. But there are still many people in the community, Werschem included, who aren’t happy with how the school board handled the switch.

That said, Werschem admitted to Talk Business & Politics in a recent interview that he “cannot take the time to put energy on an issue that is beneficial to only one school, especially when that matter has already been decided.”

He continued: “I must focus on things that are more important, such as the condition of 20+ school buildings that are in need of repair, salaries and so on. If someone brings the matter of the Southside mascot before the board, or if another board member brings it up, then I would be required to take a look at the matter. Until that happens, if it ever does, the matter is closed and I must be about more important things that matter to ALL students.”

Previous critics of the Board’s handling of the mascot change include freshmen School Board members Wade Gilkey and Bill Hanesworth, both of whom have since said they would not support any efforts to switch back to the old name.

In addition to getting Werschem’s opinion on how the Board handled the mascot issue, Talk Business & Politics also invited the candidate to share his background, qualifications, priorities, accomplishments, what he thought the Board was doing well, and where he felt there was room for improvement as well as the first thing he would hope the Board could focus on in the new term. His responses are provided in full below.

TB&P: A bit on your background: what do you want voters to know about your work history, education and qualifications for the school board position?

Werschem: First of all, let me start by saying that I have lived in the Fort Smith area (with the exception of about 6 years) since 1960 when my family moved here. My father took the position of plant manager at Southern Steel and Wire back then and we lived in the second house completed in Southbrook Edition. I attended Carnall Elementary the first year it was opened.

My work history began when I was in High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In fact, it was because of my high school education that I was even able to start my first business. From that point on, I always lived my life running on two tracks. One track was of service to others and education while the other track was business and earning a living for myself and my family. In my first track, I taught in private schools, was a youth pastor and later became a principal and effectively helped start at least 3 new private schools. My responsibilities included the budget, hiring and training teachers, curriculum, interviewing prospective students as well as the day-to-day operations of the school and staff.

In my second track, I was a business owner who operated a business with 12 employees (a national franchise) who successfully doubled the company income in 18 months. Later, I became the owner of my own company and developed this enterprise to the point of entering the franchise market. I had to write the prospectus, training and operations manuals as well as write my own computer program for bidding software and my own website.

Not only do I have the experience of being involved with education for over a decade but I also have vast business experience which can help when dealing with people and budgets. Also, I am not known to give up very easily but, rather, to look and find a way to get things accomplished.

TB&P: For the voters, what were some specific school and business names you were involved with, and what did your roles include?

While I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, a few years, I was attending college 30 miles away at Maranatha Baptist Bible College. During that time, I was also a partner and operator of the national franchise called Environment Control, a janitorial business based in California. I had, I believe, 8 employees and they were cleaning about 20-25 buildings nightly. After one and a half years, I sold my interest in the company, which had grown to 12 employees and 40 buildings nightly. I then helped start my first private school in Madison, Northport Baptist Christian Schools, where I taught music and journalism.

When I moved back to Fort Smith a couple years later, I helped start a private school for one church. Unfortunately, the pastor had the wrong intentions in starting this school and it didn’t survive. I then helped another pastor and started the Open Door Christian School in downtown Fort Smith and was their principal for two years when they decided to merge with another church.

The franchise I started, rather, the business I had which I brought up to franchise level was called Jan-Tek, short for Janitorial Technologies and offered the franchisee approximately 12 streams of income under one name.

TB&P: What are the top three issues you hope to address in your first term?

For me, the most important issue I want to address is the poor quality of education that we are putting out. I wish to show the board a more forward thinking model of educating our children. One that will not only educate them, but prepare them for life after school. Whether that be college, technical school, or entry to the workforce, I believe we can and should be doing a better job of educating our children.

Secondly, I wish to address the poor conditions of our educational facilities. These buildings are old and in need of repair. They need to be brought up to standards and made comfortable and safe for our students as well as our staff working inside the facilities.

Thirdly, instead of coming up with notions like, we need this type of facility or that type of building, we need to get ourselves on a master plan. That involves bringing in some consultants who will view each school, take a look at population and growth rates and come up with a master plan for our buildings and needs as well as future growth of our school system. It will save us over the long run and help us prepare for our current and future needs without the current hit and miss plans we are used to.

TB&P: What are some of your proudest accomplishments and how do you feel they will help you in serving as a school board member?

My family is my most important accomplishment. I have 8 children varying in ages from 40 to 8 and I have a loving and wonderful wife. My first four children were mostly homeschooled. My oldest daughter was completely homeschooled and went on to college to graduate with a 99.97% four-year score. Caring for and leading my family is the greatest privilege as well as the greatest responsibility.

Another of my proudest accomplishments is having been self-employed the vast majority of my life. That has taught me that anything can be accomplished if you are willing to put in the work required to make it happen. It taught me a lot about overcoming obstacles and adjusting timelines when needed. It taught me flexibility and determination.

The other thing I am proud of is that I have been blessed to travel the world. I have been to Central Asia, Russia, Europe, Mexico and many places around the United States. Having done that has given me a new perspective on how I view my world. It has taught me that there is a box that we live in and there is more happening outside of that box than we are aware of. Never be afraid to try something new because it just might accomplish more than you could ever imagine.

TB&P: What do you think the Board has done well? What are some areas for improvement?

I think the security measures, including tornado shelters, has been a boon to our schools. Being able to have a safe place to go during those times certainly beats what I grew up with, which was, ‘go in the hall, put your head between your legs and hope for the best.’ I have seen, in my childhood, what happens to a school when the tornado strikes. This makes our children safer and eliminates one of their worst fears.

Our world is a changing world these days and it has become evident that we must take school security more seriously. Some of our schools have mag locks on the doors with intercoms installed. That is a good first step. Having worked a bit in investigations and security, however, we have many other things we must accomplish in the future. For instance, we cannot have our school offices in the middle of the school where a person could be admitted to the building and have access to roam the building before ever coming to the office. That is a security breach that needs fixed.

TB&P: What should be the Board’s first focus after the new term begins?

I think our first focus would be to get a superintendent that thinks outside the box who can take our schools into the modern era and out of the stone age. Times have changed in so many ways but, our schools have not kept up pace with those changes for a very long time now. We need someone who is forward thinking, who has seen other schools and their operations. Someone who can put us on a master plan for education, be open minded and willing to listen to the board as well as the teachers in the school, be willing to make the hard decisions for beneficial changes to our education system and get us back to being a shining light of education to the rest of the state.