Going into the school year, longtime Fort Worth ISD teacher Jason Bruck expected a challenge.
Less than a week before FWISD students returned to class, the 20-year teacher said he learned he would teach fifth-grade math and science at Rolling Hills Elementary. While Bruck was a veteran science teacher, he had never taught fifth-grade math.
Still, he planned to make it work.
He left within weeks.
Bruck was one of 55 teachers who separated from FWISD in August, more than twice the number who left during the same month in each of the previous two years, according to district records obtained by the Fort Worth Report through a public records request.
“I never thought that I would leave,” Bruck said. “I never wanted to leave.”
In both August 2025 and August 2024, 21 teachers separated from the district. This August’s total represents a 162% increase from the two years.
Nearly 70% of the 55 departures took effect on or after the first day of school, Aug. 10.
While the records do not say why the increase occurred, interviews with former employees show reasons varied, from personal circumstances and school closures to concerns about new instructional expectations introduced under the district’s state-appointed leadership. Stringent expectations are needed, Superintendent Peter Licata has said, as leaders work to improve student outcomes across the district.
“Are there rigid regulations about how we’re going to do things? Yes,” Licata said during a recent community listening session at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School.
Those expectations drove Bruck’s decision, he said.
As he returned to FWISD, Bruck intended to give the changes a chance. But, he said, teachers were immediately expected to deliver lessons in a preset amount of time, stay on pace during instruction and administer daily assessments designed to test a students’ retention of what was just taught.
The concerns echo some of what district leaders and the state-appointed board of managers heard during a summer of community listening and engagement sessions. Managers are now using those discussions to set goals and limits on Licata.
During one planning meeting, teachers realized district-provided slides and learning guides did not align with the assessments they were meant to administer to students, Bruck said. Teachers were expected to alter the materials themselves.
Already trying to learn how to teach a subject he had never taught, Bruck became overwhelmed by the workload, he said.
“I was killing myself trying to do it,” Bruck said.
As his stress increased, he stopped sleeping normally and sought medical attention, Bruck said. Ultimately, he resigned for health reasons, a departure the district approved.
Bruck also valued having the flexibility to respond to students. If a student asks a worthwhile question, a teacher should be able to stop and spend several minutes exploring it with the class, Bruck said.
“That is teaching,” he said.
FWISD’s new instructional model discouraged extra time for discussion, he said.
Now, Bruck teaches at Harmony Science Academy-Fort Worth. He has more flexibility over his classroom and daily planning at the charter school, he said.
‘Change is hard’
The district is paying attention to the employee departure increase, but the number of separations does not tell the whole story of the staffing situation, said Denisha Presley, chief of talent.
FWISD opened last school year with 239 teacher vacancies, she said. Despite 55 teacher separations this August, the district has remained below about 40 teacher vacancies at any given time this school year.
“Anytime employees are leaving our organization, it’s a concern for us because we want to know,” Presley said.
The district sends employees an exit survey when they leave, and departing teachers have cited a mix of reasons for doing so, Presley said, including promotions in other districts, moves out of state, personal or family health needs and decisions to leave the profession.
Some of the feedback also reflects the transition underway, she said.
“Change is hard,” Presley said. “Change is difficult for anyone.”
FWISD has 30 district support teacher positions that can help cover openings as they occur, Presley said. The district’s substitute fill rate is between 95% to 97%, about 10 to 15 percentage points higher than last year.
Once vacancies reach about 20, talent management begins organizing hiring events, Presley said. The job fairs are intended to help principals quickly find replacements without taking them out of classrooms during the school day.
The district considers a teaching position filled once a principal or other hiring manager interviews a candidate and submits a recommendation to hire, Presley said. Because of this, an opening technically can be considered filled before the new employee starts working in the classroom.
‘April tired and it’s only September’
Another longtime FWISD teacher, Christie Gibson, also initially thought returning for another year seemed possible.
Gibson spent more than two decades in FWISD, including 22 years at Wedgwood Middle School before spending her final year at Eastern Hills High School.
She weathered leadership changes, difficult student behavior and a major health crisis during her career. After considering retirement, Gibson returned for professional development before the start of this school year.
The training changed her mind.
Teachers received an intensive introduction to FWISD’s new instructional expectations, Gibson said, including tightly structured lessons that she worried would not work for career and technical education courses, like the ones she taught.
Gibson taught family and consumer sciences, where students often learned through hands-on projects such as sewing.
“How are you going to adapt this for elective classes, CTE courses?” Gibson recalled asking.
Regardless of subject, teachers were expected to follow the same instructional structure, while administrators closely monitored whether lessons stayed on pace, she said.
“I don’t appreciate being treated like I’m 4 years old,” Gibson said.
Gibson left Aug. 5. District records classify her departure as a resignation, though Gibson said she went through Texas’ teacher retirement process for a medical retirement.
Bruck and Gibson’s concerns are similar to what the United Educators Association has heard from other teachers this year, said Steven Poole, the group’s executive director.
Teachers are describing increased workload, alongside tightly structured instructional expectations and less control over how they use class time, Poole said.
“We’re April tired and it’s only September,” one group of teachers recently told him, summing up their exhaustion.
“It takes a lot for a teacher to make that decision after they’ve already met their students and set up their classrooms,” Poole said.
Other staff separations
While 55 teachers separated from the district in August, 57 other staff members did as well, including nurses, custodians, speech therapists and administrative assistants. Not every employee who left in August blamed the district, particularly those unaffected by classroom changes.
Diana Perez, who resigned as a custodian at Harlean Beal Elementary School, said she enjoyed the job and had no complaints about her experience. She left because the schedule made it difficult to devote the time needed to her young daughter.
FWISD had previously tried to adjust her schedule to help her remain employed, Perez said.
Administrative assistant Donna Munoz’s departure followed a different district change.
Munoz spent 26 years working at the International Newcomer Academy before FWISD decided to close it, she said. She searched during the summer for another district job and eventually found one, but said it came with a significant pay cut.
She decided to retire instead.
The district wants employees to remain and is working to respond when teachers say they need additional support, Presley said. In some cases, employees have rescinded resignations after district officials connected them with help, she said.
“We always prefer retention,” Presley said. “The continuity and consistency of having the same person is invaluable.”
Walking away
Leaving meant walking away from families he had known for years, Bruck said. He worked at Westpark Elementary before helping open Rolling Hills. His own children attended schools in the same community.
Bruck visited his students’ classrooms on his final day to tell them his departure had nothing to do with them.
He still occasionally wonders if he made the right decision.
Then he thinks about the students in his new classroom.
“I’m still changing the lives of kids,” Bruck said. “They’re just now different kids.”
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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