On Thursday, the state education commissioner told Fort Worth ISD’s school board they didn’t do their job and must leave office, but just hours later, that dismissed board signaled they’re not going down without a fight.
The board called a special meeting regarding the employment of the district’s superintendent.
Former Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has been working for TEA as a conservator. His job is when a school district gets taken over, he makes sure the board and superintendent aren’t doing anything unusual and following the letter of the law.
“It’s very hard to accept. It’s like, you know, being scolded,” said Hinojosa. “We can overturn any decision the school board makes or the superintendent makes, so we have the authority to overrule or strike any decision, and some people play a heavy hand with that.”
Education Commissioner Mike Morath hasn’t named Hinojosa or anyone else conservator of Fort Worth ISD just yet, and the board isn’t waiting for one, calling meetings and discussing their next moves the day before a conservator could be named.
“Every time I left a job, Wayne, I left immediately,” said Hinojosa. “Look, I may be a lame duck, but I’m not a dead duck, you know. And so it depends on the personality style, but a lot of mischief can happen during the transition.”
This special meeting lets the outgoing board talk to attorneys about their rights, but the evaluation of the superintendent and her contract raises questions about whether they’re adding payouts to her deal in case the state chooses not to keep her on.
NBC 5 asked TEA to weigh in on the board’s decision and a timeline for a conservator for this board. They said they can’t name one until their review with the board next Thursday, which makes the board’s decision to review the superintendent’s contract on Wednesday attention-getting.
Michael Hinojosa and former Austin ISD Superintendent Andrew Kim have been working jointly as conservators for TEA.
Right now, they’re in Socorro ISD in El Paso, where in just 18 months, they surprised TEA with massive change.
“We had to be very clinical. And then now they have, they turned it around. They have all A and B schools. They only have 7 ‘C’ schools, and they’re on the border,” he said.
Hinojosa says that buy-in is important for Fort Worth. Hinojosa and Kim will be leaving Soccoro ISD soon. Could they be headed here?
“That’s the decision of the commissioner, you know. So, you know, I’ll do whatever I can to help when asked. I think that’s a little premature, and I don’t want to speculate. And you know, because everybody’s going through the pain right now, you know, when these big things happen, there’s anger, denial, grief, and you finally get to acceptance,” said Hinojosa.
Sources tell us the commissioner looked at Hinojosa for this position but may be looking elsewhere now. There are a number of trained conservators ready to jump in for TEA and many of them are former superintendents.
Oddly enough, one of them is former Fort Worth Superintendent Angelica Ramsey but her appointment in this case would be unusual.