MANSFIELD — A Shelby City Council member who resigned from his Mansfield City Schools teaching post said Friday he did so for personal reasons, although the district reported to the state he was “under threat of termination or non-renewal.”
Nathan Martin submitted his “voluntary irrevocable” resignation “for personal reasons” on April 24, according to files obtained by Richland Source via public records request.
“I resigned for personal reasons. None of which have anything to do with what may or may not be in my personnel file,” Martin told Richland Source on Friday.
Public records from Martin’s personnel file, obtained through a records request, stated the district reported him to the Ohio State Board of Education on May 8 for misconduct. The form indicated Martin, a history teacher, resigned “under threat of termination or non-renewal.”
The Mansfield City Schools Board of Education formally accepted his resignation on May 19, according to board meeting minutes.
The form sent to the OSBE details an allegation that Martin sang an “inappropriate song” to students in his first-period class on or around March 27.
At some point during the song, Martin allegedly looked at a male student and sang, “Are you circumcised like me?” The report claims that when confronted by at least one student about the song, Martin responded by saying something along the lines of, “It’s just The Circumcision Song. You guys don’t know The Circumcision Song?”
The form also states that both Richland County Children Services and the Mansfield Police Department were contacted after the incident.
An April 14 letter from Mansfield City Schools Supt. Stan Jefferson to Martin included the same allegation. The letter stated Jefferson was considering disciplinary action against Martin “up to and including termination.”
The letter directed Martin to attend a pre-disciplinary hearing on April 24, the same day he submitted his resignation.
Martin’s letter of resignation took effect at the end of the day May 10. However, a resignation agreement between Martin and the district indicates he did not return to the classroom, but used his remaining paid leave before being placed on paid administrative leave.
“Because this does involve a personnel matter, the district is limited in what it can share publicly, but Mr. Martin is no longer employed by the district,” Jefferson told Richland Source on Friday.
“The Mansfield City Schools addressed this personnel manner in accordance with district policy, legal requirements and, of course, within the confines of the collective bargaining agreement.”
Police report suggests Martin was placed on leave after the alleged incident
Richland Source submitted a public records request to the Mansfield Police Department for “any records pertaining to an investigation of Nathan Martin, an employee of Mansfield City Schools” and received a report similar to the school’s. However, the name of the alleged offender was redacted.
Office Matthew Brewster wrote in his police report that high school Principal Kris Beasley said a teacher (whose name was redacted from the report) was “immediately placed on administrative leave, due to the sensitivity and inappropriateness of the topic.”
Brewster, who serves as the district’s school resource officer, filed the incident report on April 8. (The district was on spring break during the week between March 27 and April 8).
A written narrative included in the report stated that two teachers told Brewster a person (whose name was redacted) sang a song to them after students left the building, during staff professional development time.
One stated the song was “not school appropriate” while the other said “the lyrical content was not something that should be performed in front of students.”
Martin was in his third year teaching at the high school
According to his personnel file, Martin worked at Mansfield Senior High School in various roles beginning in 2023. He was employed as a math teacher one year and spent another year as an in-school suspension, in-school intervention and speech teacher.
He was most recently employed as a social studies teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Martin did not have any teacher evaluations in his personnel file, just one for his position as head coach of the girls golf team.
The evaluation was completed by former Human Resources director Mark Wilcheck in 2024. Martin received positive marks, including a comment from Wilcheck: “Progress has been noticed.”
Martin’s education career began in 2020, when he took on a role as adjunct professor of American National Government and Western Civilization at North Central State College.
He spent the next two years as a long-term substitute teacher at Black River School District, filling in for a special education teacher and a high school biology teacher during their respective maternity leaves, per his employment application with Mansfield City Schools.
Martin also spent time as a sales executive for Demme Learning, a curriculum publishing company focused on homeschoolers and small group learning environments, from 2017 to 2022.
Martin has served as the Fourth Ward representative for Shelby City Council since 2014, according to the resume in his personnel file.
Martin is an Army veteran who spent the earlier part of his career working for political and veteran-focused organizations like Freedom Alliance, Ground Game Strategies and Concerned Veterans for America.
