{"id":220572,"date":"2026-03-25T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T23:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/220572\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T23:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T23:59:11","slug":"fact-brief-does-fwisds-new-leader-have-a-texas-superintendent-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/220572\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact brief: Does FWISD\u2019s new leader have a Texas superintendent certification?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ismael M. Belkoura, Fort Worth Report
March 25, 2026<\/p>\n

No.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

State-appointed Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter B. Licata does not have a Texas superintendent certification.<\/p>\n

Licata does not hold any Texas educator certifications, according to Texas Education Agency records. He previously served for 10 months as superintendent for Broward County Public Schools in Florida in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky said the board of managers will request a certification waiver at their first meeting.<\/p>\n

The six previous leaders for Fort Worth ISD had superintendent certifications during their tenures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Licata started leading FWISD March 24. He is on a 21-day interim contract until the new board of managers approves his hiring.<\/p>\n

A person can serve as an interim superintendent without being certified. Texas Education Agency officials can grant waivers for superintendents to hold such positions without the certificate.<\/p>\n

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Licata and the managers as a result of the district\u2019s low academic performance.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report partners with Gigafact<\/a> to produce fact briefs \u2014 bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology<\/a> to learn how we check claims.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/p>\n

Get the facts: Got a claim for us to check? Send in your suggestion here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/03\/25\/fact-brief-does-fwisds-new-leader-have-a-texas-superintendent-certification\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;quality=80&amp;ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n

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