FORT WORTH, Texas — The Texas Education Agency has named a new superintendent and appointed a Board of Managers to lead the Fort Worth Independent School District.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath named Dr. Peter B. Licata the new superintendent of Forth Worth ISD.
Licata has 30 years of experience in education, most recently as the superintendent of the nation’s sixth-largest district, Broward County Public Schools in Florida. There, Licata led the district to its first state “A” rating in more than 14 years.
Morath appointed Bobby Ahdieh, Rosa Maria Berdeja, Luis A. Galindo, Laurie George, Pete Geren, Courtney Lewis, Frost Prioleau, Jay Stegall and Tennessee Walker to the Board of Managers.
The appointed Board of Managers will be responsible for overseeing the management of the school district, temporarily replacing the current elected board of trustees.
“Possessing a diverse range of experiences and expertise, the governance and leadership team appointed today is comprised of individuals with an aligned vision and collective belief that all students, when properly supported, can achieve at high levels,” Morath said in a news release. “I look forward to seeing this belief in action and their leadership of Fort Worth ISD’s next chapter.”
The TEA says the change in leadership comes to help Forth Worth ISD address the issues that led to intervention.
According to the TEA, a transition back to the elected board of trustees is possible once the district has achieved zero multi-year unacceptable campuses and exceeds the average for proficiency in language arts and math. The TEA also requires the Fort Worth ISD school board to achieve a “meets focus” under the Lone Star Governance Continuous Improvement Framework.