Peter Licata is taking charge as Fort Worth ISD’s acting superintendent amid a $40M deficit, aiming to boost teacher pay and improve classroom instruction.<\/p>\n
FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 Newly appointed Fort Worth ISD Acting Superintendent Peter B. Licata stepped into the role last week with urgency and visited Monnig Middle School on his third day on the job<\/a>.<\/p>\n He was appointed by Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath as part of the state\u2019s formal takeover of Fort Worth ISD<\/a>. Alongside his appointment, the state installed a nine-member Board of Managers<\/a> to govern the district.<\/p>\n WFAA obtained a copy of Licata’s employment and relocation agreement.<\/p>\n Under a short-term employment agreement effective March 24, Licata is being paid $1,384.62 per day, a prorated rate based on the former superintendent\u2019s<\/a> salary. His contract runs on an interim basis until a formal superintendent agreement is approved.<\/p>\n In addition to his daily pay, the district is providing Licata with a one-time $25,000 relocation stipend to cover moving and temporary housing expenses as he transitions to Fort Worth. The agreement specifies that this payment is not recurring and will not be included in any future long-term contract.<\/p>\n The district will also reimburse Licata for reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out his duties.<\/p>\n The compensation package comes as Fort Worth ISD faces significant financial and academic challenges. Licata acknowledged the district is currently operating with a $40 million deficit, but said he expects that to change.<\/p>\n Licata said his immediate focus is improving classroom instruction, starting with teacher recruitment and pay. He floated the possibility of significantly higher salaries for top-performing teachers in struggling schools, potentially reaching $110,000 to $120,000 annually, though funding details remain unclear.<\/p>\n “That is what we’re working on,” he told WFAA during a sit-down interview<\/a>. “I am very confident. I’m not confident. I’m very confident we will be able to compete, if not beat the other local ISDs. I just went through the budget, and I know we\u2019re $40 million in debt, but that\u2019s going to change real soon.”<\/p>\n The\u00a0state takeover was triggered in October 2025<\/a> after one campus received a fifth consecutive failing academic rating, as required under Texas law. Licata replaces\u00a0former superintendent Karen Molinar<\/a>, who had led the district since March 2025.<\/p>\n With state test results expected in the coming weeks, Licata said those outcomes will guide major decisions, including possible district reorganization and expanded professional development. He also pledged transparency as the district navigates the state takeover.<\/p>\n Watch the full sit-down interview with Peter Licata below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Licata is taking charge as Fort Worth ISD’s acting superintendent amid a $40M deficit, aiming to boost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-232449","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\/232449","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=232449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}