The Texas Education Agency’s takeover of Fort Worth ISD may move forward, a state administrative panel ruled Thursday.
Judges with the State Office of Administrative Hearings granted TEA’s request to dismiss an appeal brought by Fort Worth ISD seeking to fend off the takeover. The move clears the way for Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to replace the district’s elected board of trustees with a handpicked board of managers. Morath could also replace Superintendent Karen Molinar, but he hasn’t indicated whether he plans to do so.
Morath announced the takeover last year. Although five consecutive years of failure ratings at a single campus triggered the takeover, Morath said the decision was based on years of academic struggles across the entire district.
In a statement, Fort Worth ISD board President Roxanne Martinez called the move “deeply disappointing.”
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“Our community has worked tirelessly to strengthen our schools, support our educators and improve outcomes for students,” she said. “This decision disregards the meaningful progress taking place in Fort Worth ISD and the voices of families and voters who believe in local leadership.”
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In a statement, Molinar said the outcome of the appeal wouldn’t change the day-to-day work teachers and district leaders are doing to support students.
“Fort Worth ISD remains committed to serving students by strengthening classroom instruction, supporting educators, and ensuring safe, stable learning environments across the district,” she said.
Fort Worth ISD has struggled for more than a decade to find meaningful academic progress. State test scores in the district have remained stagnant and trailed behind other big urban districts across the state, even as Dallas and Houston ISDs have seen substantial improvement.
But more recently, district leaders could point to signs of growth. The number of F-rated campuses in the district fell from 31 in 2024 to 11 last year, and 63 campuses improved at least one letter grade.
Still, that progress wasn’t enough to stave off a takeover. Last October, Morath sent a letter to the district’s board and leadership notifying them of the takeover, saying the district had shown no ability to implement the changes it needed to bring about student success.
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“Ultimately, the Fort Worth ISD school board has, collectively, through action and inaction over many years, failed the students of Fort Worth ISD,” he wrote.
During the appeal process, TEA officials have been vetting candidates to serve on the district’s appointed board of managers. Morath has said he expects to announce the board’s members this spring.
Once the appointed board takes over, its members remain in place for two years, at which point the education commissioner can either extend the takeover for another two years or begin winding it down. If he chooses to end the intervention, the district gradually returns to local control, with a few state-appointed board members being replaced by locally elected members each year.
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The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.