{"id":154196,"date":"2026-02-06T20:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154196\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:59:08","slug":"fort-worth-isd-loses-appeal-clearing-path-for-state-takeover-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154196\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth ISD loses appeal, clearing path for state takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fort Worth ISD trustees lost their legal fight to stop the state takeover of the district<\/a> Thursday, clearing the way for Texas\u2019 education commissioner to install new leadership over the city\u2019s largest school system.<\/p>\n

A state administrative court ruled in favor of the Texas Education Agency, concluding no factual disputes would justify overturning Commissioner Mike Morath\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The ruling upholds Morath\u2019s decision to take control of the nearly 70,000-student district after trustees sought to block the intervention<\/a> in November. The outcome brings months of uncertainty to an end.<\/p>\n

The administrative law judges\u2019 order can\u2019t be appealed. The final decision explaining the order is expected within 30 days.<\/p>\n

District leaders pushed back on the ruling, calling the loss \u201cdeeply disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board president Roxanne Martinez argued the judges disregarded the meaningful progress taking place throughout FWISD and the voices of families and voters who believe in local leadership.<\/p>\n

Still, trustees said they remain focused on the safety, well-being and success of every student and will continue working with educators and community partners to support the district during the transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students deserve steady leadership, strong schools and a community that stands behind them,\u201d she said. \u201cThat remains our unwavering focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daily classroom instruction is not expected to change immediately, but the ruling removes the final barrier to the intervention.<\/p>\n

The three-judge panel removed four affidavits submitted by the state after siding with Fort Worth ISD that the statements included unsupported claims and hearsay.<\/p>\n

However, that did not change the outcome of the case.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth trustees sought the expedited administrative review after Morath ordered the state intervention, which was triggered when the now-closed Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade received five consecutive failing academic ratings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas law<\/a> requires the commissioner to either close a persistently failing campus or appoint a board of managers to govern the district \u2014 authority that replaces locally elected trustees. FWISD trustees closed that Forest Oak campus<\/a> in May 2024.<\/p>\n

Martinez previously described the appeal<\/a> as a way to secure a deeper review of the facts surrounding the state\u2019s decision, emphasizing trustees wanted to work with state leaders while prioritizing students.<\/p>\n

The decision arrives as the state prepares to install new leadership over Fort Worth schools, including the managers and appointing a superintendent, in the coming weeks. Morath has said current leader Karen Molinar is among candidates for the top administrator post.<\/p>\n

A TEA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Morath appointed a conservator, Christopher Ruszkowski, in November to oversee the transition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

State-appointed managers will assume the powers and duties of elected trustees until Morath determines the district has made sufficient academic progress to return to local control \u2014 a process that typically lasts at least two years.<\/p>\n

The takeover \u2014 the second-largest in Texas<\/a> \u2014 stems from longstanding academic struggles across the district and has prompted debate among parents, educators and civic leaders<\/a> about how best to improve student outcomes while preserving local voices.<\/p>\n

With the administrative review decided, attention now shifts to who will ultimately lead Fort Worth ISD \u2014 and how quickly the state will begin reshaping the district\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Worth ISD trustees lost their legal fight to stop the state takeover of the district Thursday, clearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-154196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}