Marble Falls ISD applauds retiring assistant to superintendent after 28 years
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — When Sylvia Weed retired in December after 28 years as the assistant to the superintendent at Marble Falls Independent School District, she probably held the record for the person who attended the most board meetings in the district.
After all, she worked for 10 different superintendents and served countless board members during her tenure. Though Weed wasn’t required to attend those meetings when she first started with the district almost three decades ago, it didn’t take long for her to find her spot in the board room (at the time it was a school cafeteria).
Now, she looks forward to “doing nothing” except spending time with her family.
“To me, personally, and to the district, I thought of her as our rock,” said former MFISD Superintendent Ryder Warren. “A lot of us leaned on her.”
On Dec. 17, her family, current and former board members, current and former MFISD administrators and many others gathered at Lakeside Pavilion to celebrate both her time with the district and her retirement.
“We will miss her kind, patient approach serving everyone in our district,” MFISD Superintendent Rob O’Connor said. “Sylvia has definitely earned the time she can now devote to her family.”
She is married to Ron Weed.
While part of Weed’s responsibilities included taking minutes at board meetings and handling many day-to-day activities in the superintendent’s office, she did far more than simply answer the phone or file papers.
“I don’t think this district would have had the success it has had without her,” Warren added.
She dealt with the public and others with a kind and caring demeanor, even when the person coming through her door was there to air a grievance.
Often, parents showed up in Weed’s office looking for where to go or how to get information. If Weed didn’t know the answer, she knew where the person could go for it. But instead of simply saying, “You need to go to …,” Weed many times gave them the name of a person with whom to speak. Her personal touches kept the superintendent’s office warm and welcoming.
Though Weed’s position could be classified as a “gatekeeper” job, you never felt that’s how she saw her job. People who stepped into her office, just outside the superintendent’s, found someone who served the community and district as much as she worked for the superintendent.
Weed didn’t seem to mind listening to somebody’s story, even if it meant she would fall a little behind on her own work. Always willing to listen, and not just going through the motions, but really hearing and understanding what the person across from her was saying, was probably one of Weed’s hallmark traits.
“She and I were probably the furthest apart from the kids in our jobs, but she always had the kids first in everything she did,” Warren said.
Her retirement brings a new chapter in her life, but Weed said she’ll definitely miss her friends and colleagues.
“But, most of all, I’ll miss seeing our children,” she said in regard to all the MFISD students.
editor@thepicayune.com
