Lake Worth ISD’s new superintendent wants principals focused less on broken air conditioners, transportation problems and daily operations — and more on what students are learning inside classrooms.
Superintendent Ena Meyers said the district’s academic goals are not changing. The work of supporting teachers will continue, but more of that responsibility will move to principals and assistant principals, she said.
To make that shift, the district’s state-appointed board of managers unanimously approved a reduction in force May 6 affecting campus instructional coaches and curriculum coordinators. During the same meeting, managers gave Meyers temporary authority to make hiring decisions and execute employment contracts — a move district leaders said will help Lake Worth ISD move faster to recruit and retain employees.
“Our campus instructional coaches have done a tremendous job of helping support our teachers and some of the curriculum and planning,” Meyers said. “We’re shifting that focus to our principals and our assistant principals.”
The vote marks the first major staffing move since Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath installed Meyers and a board of managers to lead the 3,200-student district under state control.
Five instructional coach positions and four curriculum coordinator positions appear to fall within the employment areas affected, according to a 2025-26 staff directory from the beginning of the school year that was obtained by the Fort Worth Report through an open records request. Those nine positions have a combined salary cost of $574,759.56, according to a Fort Worth Report analysis. The median salary for those positions is $74,500.
Lake Worth ISD did not immediately confirm how many employees will be impacted by the reduction in force or how much money the district expects to save.
Affected employees may still have opportunities to remain in the district, Meyers said.
“We want to keep excellent educators and teachers within our system here in Lake Worth,” Meyers said. “We will have other vacancies within our district that we encourage them to apply for.”
The district’s instructional work will now be more tightly connected to campus leaders who evaluate teachers, she said.
“There’s a strong alignment now, helping our leaders of the campus be those instructional leaders and keeping that system tightly aligned to their evaluation,” Meyers said.
Lake Worth’s shift mirrors some of the work underway in Fort Worth ISD, where leaders are also trying to place more responsibility and support closer to campuses as part of their state-overseen academic turnaround.
The curriculum coordinator positions are less needed because the Texas Education Agency is helping Lake Worth ISD with lesson planning and instructional resources, Meyers said.
“They’re helping us and providing some unique resources for our teachers that would not require us to have people who are designing some of that work in-house,” she said.
After the meeting, Meyers told the Report she is also restructuring the central office to support principals as they take on a stronger instructional role.
Principals and assistant principals will have two types of support: one coach focused on instruction and another focused on the operational side of running a campus.
“If we want them to be instructional leaders, we have to take something off of their plate,” Meyers said.
Campus leaders will still be responsible for what happens in their buildings, but will not have to personally handle every operational issue, she said.
“They have to know about those things, but they don’t always have to be the person who has to go and do it,” Meyers said.
Manager Mason Sneed supported the reduction because the district’s local policy gives affected employees protections, he said.
“The local policy framework that we have gives the affected employees meaningful protections, including a right to be offered the available positions where they’re most qualified,” Sneed said.
Managers also unanimously approved giving Meyers temporary authority to make hiring decisions and execute employment contracts for certain employees.
The authority applies to positions at the deputy superintendent level and below and runs through Sept. 30, unless managers modify or rescind it earlier. Meyers must consult with state-appointed conservator Andrew Kim and provide monthly written reports to the board detailing personnel actions.
Sneed said the move aligns with the board’s governance model.
“Hiring is the superintendent’s work,” he said. “The board’s role here is to set direction and monitor the outcomes.”
The additional authority will help Lake Worth ISD hire more quickly in a competitive job market, Meyers said.
“If you have to wait until you’re going before the board on a monthly basis, you’re just waiting,” Meyers said. “You’re losing the opportunity for high talent.”
Speed matters, she said, because surrounding districts may be able to move faster. State-appointed leaders in Fort Worth ISD also delegated hiring authority to Superintendent Peter Licata as part of its transition under state control.
“If I have to wait for it, they’re going to get snatched up somewhere else,” Meyers said.
She told the Report her first weeks in Lake Worth have gone well.
“It’s been fabulous,” Meyers said. “It’s been great — I’ve been on each campus more than one time — so now I feel like I know the district and know their people.”
Disclosure: Lake Worth ISD manager Tom Harris is an executive vice president at Hillwood, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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