East Texas

By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

OVERTON — Overton Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Stretcher tendered his immediate resignation on Tuesday, one day after school board members met to discuss his contract.

Stretcher said he did not attend Monday’s school board meeting because of an illness, and he had little comment on why he suddenly quit his position.

“I just had a lot of pressure and a lot of personal reasons that I just couldn’t stay in that position,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going do right now. I just had to step back and take a break.”

School Board President Todd Meadows said the sudden resignation surprised administrators.

“We’re shocked,” he said.

Meadows said the board meeting was short. Members tabled six of the seven items on the agenda before moving into executive session. He refused to give details of the school board’s actions regarding Stretcher’s contract, saying only that the board discussed personnel matters during the executive session.

Overton Police Chief Clyde Carter said he received a call from the school asking for his assistance at the meeting.

“We received a call yesterday afternoon, approximately 5 p.m.,” Carter said.

“All they did was ask for an officer to be there. It’s common if they feel like they’re going to have a problem, but they didn’t go into detail. They just said they’d like to have an officer there.”

Meadows said Carter’s presence was merely a “precaution,” and not standard practice. He did not say why the precaution was needed.

The school board will meet again at 9 a.m. Saturday to discuss Stretcher’s resignation and to take action on the items that were tabled at Monday’s meeting, Meadows said.

Mark Stretcher
(Overton ISD Web site image)