Nearly five months after being pushed out as Fort Worth ISD’s superintendent following a state takeover, Karen Molinar will work extensively alongside the district as the head of an educational nonprofit.
In July, REV Partnership announced it was hiring Molinar as its new CEO, just months after she lost her job as Fort Worth ISD’s superintendent when the Texas Education Agency took over the district due to stagnant academic performance. The state can take over a district by naming a new superintendent and replacing the school board when a campus receives five consecutive F grades in the state’s annual A-F Accountability rating system.
REV Partnership, which was founded in 2022, is a data-driven organization that works to collaborate with Tarrant County school districts to solve common challenges and create successful education strategies. It works with more than a dozen districts in the county. REV also works to support teacher recruitment, compensation and retention; strengthen early childhood education, and improve student readiness.
“REV really is about a regional collaboration approach that supports all 17 Tarrant County school districts,” Molinar told the Star-Telegram. “Also, as we prepare to go into legislative session, how can we help support any bills that may come in? But we really concentrate on how we can help our school districts leverage state funding through state initiatives to support great teachers.”
Molinar said her biggest goal as CEO of REV is to make sure more districts engage with the nonprofit and the help it can offer. Some districts that need help may not even realize they need support, she said.
“Once the first two weeks of school are settled, we really find out about things like teacher vacancies, uncertified teachers, all these things will really start fleshing out in the next couple of weeks,” Molinar said. “And while districts that may not be engaging with certain initiatives that we can support, we can say, ‘Hey, what support do you need?’ And that is what I am passionate about. We always say the answer is in the room. Well, the answer is right here in Tarrant County.”
REV Partnership is not a vendor, which Fort Worth ISD’s new state-appointed leadership recently spoke against in a recent board meeting. REV’s services are completely free to spark as much collaboration and support with local districts as possible.
Molinar, who spent 28 years working in Fort Worth ISD and served as superintendent from October 2024 through March of this year, will now be working with the district from the other side. State-appointed Superintendent Peter Licata has said several times that he regularly communicates with Molinar, and has given her credit for some of the recent gains students have shown in both 3-8 and EOC STAAR exams, with scores released earlier this year. A lot of parents and community members have previously told the Star-Telegram they thought Molinar was pushing the district in the right direction.
Karen Molinar, the former superintendent of Fort Worth ISD, speaks to the media at the school district’s administration building on Oct. 23, 2025, after the Texas Education Agency announced a state takeover of the district. Chris Torres ctorres@star-telegram.com
Molinar said there is no bad blood with new district leadership. She wants to see them succeed.
“After 28 years with Fort Worth ISD, it was really important to me that I could help with the transition with the new leadership as much as I could, and as much as they wanted me to be a part of the transition.”
Fort Worth ISD will be a part of a new REV program called Rooted, which will bring together higher education institutions and public school districts to build teacher residency programs, Molinar said.
Being part of REV will also allow Fort Worth ISD’s new leadership, many of them new to Fort Worth and some even new to Texas, the ability to meet and collaborate with leaders from other nearby districts, like Lake Worth ISD, which is also under state control, and Castleberry ISD, Arlington ISD, among others.
“I think REV will be a great opportunity for the new leadership at Fort Worth ISD,” Molinar said. “It will allow them to get to know Texas as well as Tarrant County. We always like to say that our community is really unique, and I really believe that. So I think we can help Fort Worth ISD and their leadership really to just become rooted and what it means to be here in Tarrant County and in North Texas.”
New FWISD leadership succeeding will take transparency and communication, Molinar says
Molinar and Licata have both said in recent weeks that they have frequently been in touch regarding Fort Worth ISD. Licata said he’s reached out to Molinar several times a week to ask questions and share insights. He also previously said at a board meeting that any success his team sees will also be Molinar’s because she “laid the foundation” for what he plans to do.
But following the state’s takeover of the district, new leadership has clashed with parents and community members over sweeping changes made by Licata and his team. Licata previously told the Star-Telegram he anticipates some of that to subside over time. But Molinar said in order for that to happen the district will have to be transparent and communicate well with the community.
“Any change always causes a pause and a reflection,” Molinar said. “But what I want everyone to remember is our teachers and our campus administrators always step up. Last year as the leader of Fort Worth ISD, I implemented a lot of changes too, and the teachers stepped up, the principals stepped up. It takes transparency and communication, and the community is asking for those two things. And I see the district trying very hard to deliver those two things.”
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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.