Fort Worth ISD’s new superintendent acknowledged the tough decisions behind potential staff reductions and another school closure that will be voted on at Tuesday’s board meeting.

In an interview with the Star-Telegram on Monday, April 27, Superintendent Peter Licata addressed the proposed closure of International Newcomer Academy, 5% teacher raises going into effect next school year, and cuts to vacant positions that he says brought $40 million back into the district’s budget this year. He described these decisions and proposals, among others, as necessary to drive the district in a positive direction.

The flurry of changes to the district came forward after Licata and a nine-person Board of Managers were appointed by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to lead the district during a state takeover, which was prompted by the district’s years of stagnant academic performance.

The Board of Managers approved a reduction in force at its last meeting two weeks ago and is set to vote on another reduction in force on Tuesday, in addition to the proposed closure of International Newcomer Academy. The campus serves refugee and immigrant students in grades 6-9.

Licata explained the district has been operating as if it’s been serving about 85,000-95,000 students — the enrollment it was built for — rather than the roughly 66,500 expected to enroll in the fall.

“We can’t change what we’ve been doing by moving pieces of the furniture around the room. We have to do massive program changes, and that doesn’t mean less services for ELL (English language learners), SpEd (special education), new language learners, any of those groups, dyslexia…. What we’re doing is more targeted, but we have to do a massive program change. We have to give them an ability to get the resources that we’ve been paying for students that we don’t have,” Licata said.

Here is what Licata said about some of the key items on Tuesday’s school board agenda.

International Newcomer Academy

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote that will decide the status of Fort Worth ISD’s only school designated for immigrant and refugee students, Licata said INA is not a campus that allows students in the district to experience large campus amenities, like a robust choice of electives.

“I find it a civil rights issue because we’re not letting our children experience large campuses that offer electives that might interest them, that might bring them into school more often, and might give them the reason to show up at school and be motivated by it,” Licata said. “This is not easy. I visited the school the other day and walked in the classrooms. There is great teaching going on. But reality is, they’re not getting everything that we should be offering them.”

Licata said he hopes parents and community members come to understand his plan after he fully shares it publicly at Tuesday’s board meeting. Fort Worth ISD leadership already knows where each student currently enrolled at INA would go if the board votes to close the campus. Currently, INA has approximately 48 returning students, but that number would grow as the first day of the 2026-27 school year got closer.

“Closing a school is the toughest thing anyone will ever do,” Licata said. “But it’s not successful. Having multiple Ds and Fs, it is not providing an equitable outcome for students who aren’t exposed to maybe career choice classrooms or AP exams. It really is a neat environment, but it’s limiting for children, and my job is to see the bigger picture.”

A number of parents and community members pushed back on the idea of closing INA at a Fort Worth ISD-hosted listening session last week. More than 100 parents showed up to ask questions to Daniel Soliz, deputy superintendent and chief of schools, and to share why they believe closing INA would be a great mistake. A number of teachers at the campus have also advocated in recent days to keep it open. A lot of them will speak to the board during a public comment session Tuesday in favor of keeping the campus as is.

When asked if he is hopeful that parents will be on board with his decision after Tuesday’s board meeting, Licata said he isn’t sure, but he said he believes they will have a better frame of his reasoning.

Teacher raises

All classroom teachers in the Fort Worth Independent School District will receive a 5% raise starting in the 2026-27 school year. Fort Worth ISD announced the pay increase last week as part of its strategy to recruit and retain teachers as it works to turnaround the district’s stagnant academic performance.

The 5% increase applies across the board for Fort Worth ISD’s pay scale, Licata said. The move was necessary for the district to be competitive with nearby school districts.

“We don’t have long lines of teachers. We don’t. It’s become very difficult,” Licata said. “If we’re going to go ahead and build a competitive, high-end, high academic, focused classroom, it starts with great teachers.”

The average salary of Texas teachers is about $63,800, according to the National Education Association.

As of Monday, it’s unclear how many teachers districtwide will reap the benefits of the raise and what the average salary will be. The downsizing of the district’s operations will largely fund the 5% increases, Licata said.

The raise will not apply to Fort Worth ISD teachers who are hired at Elevate Network campuses, which are underperforming schools that will receive additional resources with an extended school year and teacher pay as high as $100,000.

Elevate Network

Licata said that about 40-60% of teachers who currently work at a school in the Elevate Network will qualify to keep their jobs at their respective campuses. Principals also had to reapply for their jobs, and the process to retain their positions was “rigorous.” Most principals have already heard whether they will keep their positions, but there are still a few decisions pending.

The district has already identified a lot of internal candidates for positions at Elevate campuses, which are schools handpicked by district leadership to receive specialized attention due to underwhelming recent performance. Licata said some teachers who applied qualified immediately because of their data. He is also hoping to entice outstanding teachers from different districts to apply for jobs at Elevate campuses. The salary for those roles can be as much as $100,000 a year.

A second job fair for teaching jobs at Elevate campuses will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 2 at the FWISD Teaching and Learning Center, at 1050 Bridgewood Drive. Licata will have a better idea of where things stand after that. The goal is to have no vacancies at any of the Elevate schools.

“We’ve gotten a lot of applicants internally, and we’ve gotten some from around the region and other areas,” Licata said. “We’ll see more of that as we go along. And that’s also why we made the announcement last week, so we can entice folks to potentially come here from a different educational entity who is not matching those salaries.”