Ena Meyers sees teachers\u2019 effort as she visits Lake Worth ISD classrooms.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where the new state-appointed superintendent will focus her own efforts as she turns around a 3,200-student school system that Texas took control after chronically low academic performance. Her latest steps include naming new principals, reviewing early academic data and beginning community conversations about the district\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are wanting to do exactly what they\u2019re asked to do,” Meyers told the Fort Worth Report after the district\u2019s May 18 board meeting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then what\u2019s missing? Clarity, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want them to be doing something different, we need to be able to clearly communicate that,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cWe want to make sure we\u2019re giving clear expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means making sure teachers know what strong instruction should look like, how lessons should be delivered and how students are expected to show they are learning, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
Meyers\u2019 first superintendent report to the Lake Worth ISD board of managers centered on new principals, early academic growth and a community meeting meant to introduce residents to the district\u2019s new direction.<\/p>\n
The Texas Education Agency installed Meyers and a five-member board of managers in April after Marilyn Miller Language Academy received five consecutive failing grades in the state\u2019s academic accountability ratings system.<\/p>\n
Meyers\u2019 early message is that Lake Worth\u2019s academic problems are not simply about individual educators \u2014 they are about systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchools aren\u2019t failing because people are failing,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n
The work needed now, she said, is building clear structures that will outlast the takeover.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the intervention\u2019s completed and we hand it back, then that layer, if it\u2019s removed, it\u2019s not crumbling,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cWe\u2019ve given the systems. We put those pieces in place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyers announced four new principals Monday night, reshaping most of the district\u2019s campus leadership team.<\/p>\n
Who are the new principals leading LWISD schools?<\/p>\n
Lake Worth ISD announced four new principals during the May 18 board meeting:<\/p>\n
Lucyle Collins Middle School: Jarred Taylor<\/p>\n
Taylor has worked in educational leadership in Florida\u2019s Palm Beach County, Alief ISD and Houston ISD. He has served as a classroom teacher, science coach, middle course recovery coordinator and assistant principal, according to Lake Worth ISD.<\/p>\n
Effie Morris STEAM Academy: Cynthia Flores<\/p>\n
Flores is currently an assistant principal at Effie Morris. Before joining Lake Worth ISD, she worked in Fort Worth ISD for nearly 20 years as an assistant principal, campus instructional coach and elementary teacher, according to her LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n
Marilyn Miller Language Academy: Francis Anderson<\/p>\n
Anderson currently serves as principal of Global Leadership Academy at Barbara Bush Elementary in Grand Prairie ISD. She has more than a decade of education experience and previously served in the U.S. Navy and Fort Worth Police Department, according to Grand Prairie ISD.<\/p>\n
Lake Worth High School: Amadeo Villanueva<\/p>\n
Villanueva is an assistant principal in Houston ISD. He previously worked in San Marcos Consolidated ISD as an assistant principal, GEAR UP coordinator and AVID teacher, according to his LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n
The leadership changes were part of natural attrition, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose were already the vacancies before I got here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The new principals were selected, in part, because they wanted to enter a district facing urgent academic challenges, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re in the area. They\u2019ve seen our scores. They\u2019ve looked at our data,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re just really passionate about helping us do the work to make sure students have what they need and get the best outcomes for our kids.\u201d.<\/p>\n
Two of the newly hired principals have worked in Tarrant County school districts, while the other two most recently worked in Houston ISD, another district under state control. Meyers also came from Houston ISD, where she most recently served as deputy chief of strategic initiatives.<\/p>\n
Meyers also shared end of year data from the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, a test tracking academic growth administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. MAP is a national assessment that allows districts to compare student performance with students across the country, not only in Texas.<\/p>\n
Reading results show students are making slightly more progress than the average student nationally during the school year, Meyers said. Third graders showed one of the strongest signs of growth: Their growth scores were higher than about 58% of students nationally.<\/p>\n
Kindergarten students also moved closer to the national average in reading growth, rising from the bottom third of students nationally to just below the middle of the pack.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, reading is going in the right direction,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n
Math growth remains the larger concern. Lake Worth ISD is trying to get students to the national midpoint, meaning they would be growing in performance as well as or better than half of students across the country. The district is slightly below that mark in math, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile minimal gains, we\u2019re still seeing the trajectory,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n
She credited the academic gains to teachers, students and former Superintendent Mark Ramirez \u2014 not herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not here to help in that in any way,” Meyers told the Report. \u201cThe growth that we\u2019re starting to see is because of the work that\u2019s been done this school year. So, absolutely teachers, students and the leadership here get credit for that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elected trustee Tammy Thomas noted improvements did not happen just in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe improvements happened over the 2025-26 school year under the direction of Superintendent Mark Ramirez,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n
Lake Worth ISD\u2019s exit criteria was outlined in state materials announcing the board of managers and superintendent appointments, though Meyers said she is still waiting for more formal direction from the Texas Education Agency.<\/p>\n
The criteria includes:<\/p>\n
Zero multiyear unacceptable campuses.
\nImproved reading and math proficiency, including for students with disabilities and emergent bilingual students.
\nThe board of managers meet a governance standard meant to show that board members are keeping their attention on student results rather than day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n
The district recently cut instructional coach and curriculum coordinator positions as part of a shift that places more responsibility for instruction on campus leaders. Meyers said the changes should make teachers feel more supported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should not mean less support for teachers, because our goal is to shift that responsibility of instruction to the leadership of the campus,\u201d she said. \u201cBut, we\u2019re also trying to create more positions on the campus to support students and teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lake Worth ISD held a community meeting May 19 for residents to hear about the district\u2019s direction for next school year and offer input.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community partnership will be critical because Lake Worth\u2019s turnaround effort cannot be carried by new state-appointed leaders alone, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in this work together,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take not just the team who is new, but the people who\u2019ve been here and the parents, our teachers, our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lake Worth\u2019s improvement will require more than hope, Meyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want excellence, and that\u2019s by design,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just assume and hope we\u2019re going to do better. We have to be intentional about that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disclosure: Lake Worth ISD manager Tom Harris is an executive vice president at Hillwood, a financial supporter of 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>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/25\/superintendent-says-clearer-systems-key-to-lake-worth-isds-academic-turnaround\/”>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&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=565045&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/25\/superintendent-says-clearer-systems-key-to-lake-worth-isds-academic-turnaround\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Matthew Sgroi, Fort Worth Report May 25, 2026 Ena Meyers sees teachers\u2019 effort as she visits Lake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,11906],"class_list":["post-308244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-lake-worth-isd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308244","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=308244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}