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Mike Morath, the Texas Commissioner of Education, interacts with students on their classwork in a science class at Lucyle Collins Middle School in Lake Worth on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. <\/p>\n
Christopher Torres<\/p>\n
ctorres@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
The application deadline for the Lake Worth school district\u2019s state-appointed board of managers passed Friday after it was extended<\/a> 20 days due to a low number of applicants.<\/p>\n Just 14 people applied for the state-appointed board of managers, with more of those applicants living outside the district than inside of it, according to data provided by the Texas Education Agency.<\/p>\n Ten applicants reside outside the Lake Worth district, and four live in the district. Five applicants have a bachelor\u2019s degree, three hold a master\u2019s, three have a doctorate, and one holds an associate\u2019s degree, TEA data shows.<\/p>\n Thirty-one percent of applications have or have had students who were enrolled at Lake Worth, and 31% are or were employed by the district.<\/p>\n \u2b50 Our editors also recommend: <\/p>\n Lake Worth\u2019s applicant total is significantly lower than other districts that had a state-appointed board of managers application period in recent months and years. Fort Worth, which closed applications<\/a> for its state-appointed board of managers on Dec. 1, had 286 total applicants. Lake Worth is exceptionally smaller, with a student population of around 3,300, according to district data.<\/p>\n Lake Worth\u2019s low application totals come after parents of students who attend the district told the Star-Telegram that one of the main issues plaguing the struggling district is parent apathy<\/a> and a lack of overall involvement.<\/p>\n Lake Worth\u2019s school board, which will be replaced by the state-appointed board after the interview process concludes, has seven seats. Half of those who applied will earn a seat on the board, if another application window is not opened.<\/p>\n Candidates will be interviewed for Lake Worth\u2019s board March 2-13 and TEA Commissioner Mike Morath will decide who will be named to the board shortly thereafter. There is no official timeline for Morath\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n TEA took over Lake Worth in December when Marilyn Miller Language Academy received a fifth consecutive F grade by the state in its yearly accountability ratings. That triggered a Texas law allowing Morath to replace the school board and superintendent and name a conservator to oversee the takeover process. Morath has already appointed Andrew Kim, a former superintendent who is a co-conservator at an El Paso area school district, as Lake Worth\u2019s conservator.<\/p>\n Lake Worth\u2019s seven school board members unanimously voted at a meeting last month not to appeal the TEA takeover, instead blaming itself for taking \u201ctoo long\u201d to name a superintendent when the search began in September 2024. The board did not hire Superintendent Mark Ramirez until May 2025.<\/p>\n Had the current board appealed, it would have delayed the state-appointed board of managers process even further.<\/p>\n