Fort Worth ISD is rolling out a new system for its campuses to work toward autonomy and operate separately from some district regulations if they reach certain benchmarks, district leaders announced during a board meeting Tuesday.
In a presentation to the school board Tuesday, Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Schools Daniel Soliz said there will be three levels for Fort Worth ISD campuses to progress through: the Elevate tier for the district’s lowest-performing schools, the Emerge tier for its middle-ranked schools, and the Exemplar tier for its highest-rated schools.
Each tier comes with an increased amount of freedoms and the ability to make campus-specific decisions without strict district oversight. District leaders also created a system for how schools can be promoted to the next tier. Campuses will need to reach certain qualification benchmarks for three years in a row to move up.
“One time is a happening, two times is considered a trend and three times is a pattern that is established and there is a system of consistency, and that’s how we came up with our system,” said Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata. “We want to create a system that doesn’t require me to be in charge, him to be in charge, or anyone in charge. It’s about creating a system and a culture.”
The district announced the Elevate Network shortly after Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Licata as superintendent following the state’s takeover of the district, which was sparked because of stagnant academic performance. The Emerge and Exemplar tiers were announced for the first time Tuesday.
The Elevate Network initially included 19 of the district’s lowest-performing campuses and provides them with the highest level of district support, structure and resources. It also includes a longer school year and higher teacher pay. Soliz said Tuesday the Elevate Network will expand to 24 schools once TEA releases its 2025-26 A-F Accountability ratings this Friday.
Here is a look at how schools in each tier will be allowed, and not allowed, to operate.
Elevate tier
Schools are chosen for the Elevate tier if they have an overall D or F grade from TEA and a “closing the gaps” rating of 70 or below, which measures how well a campus ensures success for all student groups, focusing primarily on underserved populations.
Elevate schools will have their instructional model defined by the district office, district-assigned curriculum without substitutions, a district-created master schedule, and fully district-designed professional development. They will also not be allowed any external instructional coaches. Curriculum at Elevate schools will be heavily scripted and classrooms will be set up with as few distractions as possible.
The district has given several answers in recent weeks and months regarding how a campus can graduate out of the Elevate tier, but during Tuesday’s meeting, Soliz said a school will need three consecutive years at a B grade or above.
Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Peter Licata high-fives students as they arrive at W.M. Green Elementary School for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in Fort Worth. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
The five schools that will expand the Elevate tier from 19 to 24 have not been announced yet, but were chosen based on preliminary TEA A-F Accountability data, which will be released publicly Friday.
“Not every Elevate school of the 24 will be D or F rated,” Soliz said. “Some of those schools will have been bumped into a C or B. The goal is those grades come not just from growth but also that student achievement lever is moving as well, so it’s sustained at a B or an A, and not an A this year and falling back down to a C next year.”
Emerge tier
The Emerge tier will feature a large majority of Fort Worth ISD’s campuses. Schools in the tier will use Bluebonnet+ curriculum, with the district’s former elected school board approved for use last year.
Emerge schools will also be able to build their own master schedules within district parameters, staff the campus as their leaders see fit, and propose campus-based professional development to the school’s regional chief. Emerge schools will also be able to do the following with approval by their regional chiefs: choose supplemental curriculum materials, create custom staffing plans, and purchase services that have a clear link to improving student outcomes.
Schools can advance to the Exemplar tier if they earn an A grade from TEA for three consecutive years, while also having an A in the “student achievement” section of TEA’s accountability ratings.
Every school in Fort Worth ISD other than the eight currently in the Exemplar tier and the 24 in the Elevate tier will start in the Emerge tier, Soliz said.
Exemplar tier
The eight schools in the Exemplar tier will have nearly full autonomy when making campus-specific decisions, including campus program and design choices, creating their master schedule, discretion over budget allocation, and campus-designated professional development.
Exemplar schools will also be able to select an instructional model from one of the Texas approved High-Quality Instructional Materials list, and will have discretion over supplemental resources.
High-Quality Instructional Material is different, but similar, to the district’s assigned curriculum. Fort Worth ISD schools will all operate under the same instructional delivery model and observation tools, which district leaders are calling “Cowtown 12.”
Cowtown 12 is the overall instructional framework created by the district. It will include first-teach lessons, and “demonstrations of learning” that will prove students are learning and absorbing content by testing their knowledge at the end of lessons.
But Exemplar tier schools will be able to choose between textbooks, digital lessons and teacher guides through Texas-approved HQIMs.
“When we give the Exemplar status to a school, we are looking at the supermajority of the students in this school, regardless of the overall rating, actually achieving at the level that they should,” Soliz said. “Are they actually meeting that grade level expectation? We have a decent number of schools in that status and I’m sure more will be joining in the next year or two.”
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Samuel O’Neal is the K-12 Education Reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, covering public schools and policy that impacts them. He previously worked as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a graduate of Temple University.