{"id":218993,"date":"2026-03-25T01:38:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218993\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T01:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:38:32","slug":"new-fwisd-leaders-share-changes-to-district-amid-state-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218993\/","title":{"rendered":"New FWISD leaders share changes to district amid state takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new, state-appointed superintendent<\/a> of the Fort Worth Independent School District \u2014 alongside other district and city leaders \u2014 shared a message of urgency and transparency with a student-first approach on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Texas Education Agency<\/a> officials announced Superintendent Peter Licata has assumed the leadership position during a state takeover<\/a>, alongside nine state appointees for the Board of Managers, he addressed the media to emphasize his focus on meeting children\u2019s basic needs so they are prepared to learn, while noting his plans to be accessible and transparent during his tenure in Fort Worth ISD.<\/p>\n

Licata, who most recently served as superintendent of Broward County Public Schools in Florida, also shared plans for professional development and accountability for teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity for me to bring my skill set to a place that deserves the best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Students testing at grade-level proficiency is \u201cthe lowest form of acceptance,\u201d he said, noting that he wants students to excel above that level. Licata called the Fort Worth school district\u2019s performance data \u201cdepressing\u201d and \u201coffensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Licata acknowledged there would be \u201cupper-level changes and reduction immediately,\u201d and a new organizational chart for district administrators is underway. He doesn\u2019t anticipate the staffing changes will be noticeable on campuses \u201cright now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Principals will be more hands-on, staying outside of their office during the school day and worrying about paperwork later, Licata said. Teacher vacancies will be filled, and observations of teachers will have \u201creal-time feedback\u201d to make sure they are maximizing a lesson to its full potential, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to put our best generals in our toughest battles, and we\u2019re going to reward them for it,\u201d Licata said.<\/p>\n

\"Peter Peter Licata, the state-appointed superintendent of the Fort Worth school district, was introduced during a news conference Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Reby Cary Youth Library. Samuel O\u2019Neal soneal@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

During the press conference at Reby Cary Youth Library in east Fort Worth, Mayor Mattie Parker also presented four members of the Board of Managers<\/a>: Luis Galindo, Courtney Lewis, Rosa Marie Berdeja and Pete Geren.<\/p>\n

Geren was named president of the board, and Berdeja was named secretary.<\/p>\n

Geren first addressed the media by asking, \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStudent outcomes, student outcomes, student outcomes,\u201d he repeated. \u201cMost of our children cannot read at grade level<\/a>. Not few, not some, not many \u2014 most \u2026 In our district, 63% can\u2019t. That\u2019s 40,000 of our children that cannot read at grade level.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referenced the district\u2019s current plan to have half of students reading on grade level by 2030. Time is of the essence, Geren said, calling that goal \u201csoft bigotry, low expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids can\u2019t wait. Houston did not wait, and we won\u2019t wait. It\u2019s go time,\u201d Geren said.<\/p>\n

\"A A nine-person Board of Managers is replacing Fort Worth ISD\u2019s elected school board members, starting on March 24, 2026. They are, top row from left: Courtney Lewis, Frost Prioleau and Tennessee Walker; middle: Pete Geren, Bobby Ahdieh and Laurie George; bottom: Luis A. Galindo, Rosa Maria Berdeja and Jay Stegall. Fort Worth ISD <\/p>\n

Parker noted there are 11 Fort Worth ISD schools with an F rating, eight of which have three consecutive failed ratings. Almost one in three schools is struggling academically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that this problem has gone way too long, and I do mean we. This is not something that deserves pointing fingers or blame. We are focused on the future of hope and prosperity for all our kids in this district,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

\"Fort Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker speaks during a press conference introducing the Fort Worth school district\u2019s Board of Managers and state-appointed superintendent Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at Reby Cary Youth Library. Parker was joined by board member Courtney Lewis, left; board chair Pete Geren; Superintendent Peter Licata and his wife, Maria; and board members Rosa Maria Berdeja and Luis Galinda. Samuel O\u2019Neal soneal@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

When asked by a reporter what Licata found in his \u201chomework assignments\u201d for the superintendent job on how the district got to this point<\/a>, Licata said politics was part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly don\u2019t want to put any person on the spot, but what I found is the blockade to success for children predicated maybe in politics, long-term relationships or unrealistic expectations that do not promote child success,\u201d Licata said.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Pete Geren is the president and chief executive officer of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, which is a funder of the Star-Telegram\u2019s Crossroads Lab. The Star-Telegram retains independence in all coverage decisions.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 1:32 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Lina Ruiz<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Lina Ruiz covers early childhood education in Tarrant County and North Texas for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A University of Florida graduate, she previously wrote about local government in South Florida for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new, state-appointed superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District \u2014 alongside other district and city leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2826,116,118,8257,117,34256,16529,2810],"class_list":["post-218993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-board-of-managers","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-isd","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-new-superintendent","tag-state-takeover","tag-texas-education-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218993","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=218993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}