![\"Fort](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_0609.jpeg\" "\\"Fort")
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Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata speaks to a crowd of people at a strategic action listening session at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School on Aug. 27.<\/p>\n
Samuel O\u2019Neal<\/p>\n
soneal@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
As Fort Worth ISD leaders continue to work toward mending the district\u2019s relationship with a largely disgruntled community, Superintendent Peter Licata is holding a number of strategic action sessions.<\/p>\n
A session Thursday at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School was the second of several planned sessions. Licata, joined by Chief of Staff Louis Kushner and Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Schools Daniel Soliz, listened to dozens of Fort Worth ISD parents and community members voice their concerns about how the district is being operated.<\/p>\n
Also in attendance was Isaac Williams, who has been promoted from a regional chief to the district\u2019s deputy chief of schools, Kushner shared Thursday.<\/p>\n
The listening session was structured in question-and-answer style, giving attendees a sheet where they could write down answers to a series of questions, including: What are you seeing, experiencing and hearing; what could we do differently; and what is one concrete action that we can do to act on your concerns?<\/p>\n
Licata began the session showing attendees a graph that displayed Fort Worth ISD as the worst-performing urban district in Texas when it comes to the number of students reading on grade level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why I came out of retirement,\u201d Licata said. \u201cThis is the work I have done my entire career. And it\u2019s not about blaming people. We can\u2019t change the past, but we can move forward and figure out how we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most common qualms shared with Licata and other district leaders Thursday were a collection of topics they have heard a lot about since the beginning of the school year. That includes concerns about the district\u2019s new Elevate instructional model<\/a> for its struggling campuses, scripted curriculum, students having less free time during the day, campuses that are not fully staffed, and issues surrounding transparency and communication from the district to campuses and to parents.<\/p>\n One attendee who was concerned about the rigor of the district\u2019s Elevate model said her first-grade student was no longer receiving carpet time \u2014 where students gather on the floor for storytelling and other group activities \u2014 and was spending the entire day sitting at a desk.<\/p>\n Fort Worth ISD leaders pushed back on the idea that carpet time has been taken away from elementary school students.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can say that there\u2019s carpet time allowed, but I think the way in which you\u2019re requiring teachers to teach doesn\u2019t allow an opportunity to do that,\u201d the attendee said. \u201cSo many of you are allowing carpet time, but the communication dripping down to teachers is it\u2019s implied that they don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n Licata and Fort Worth ISD\u2019s Board of Managers implemented the Elevate model for the district\u2019s most struggling campuses shortly after they were appointed to their jobs by the Texas Education Agency as part of its takeover of the district<\/a>. The intervention was sparked by years of stagnant academic performance, including a now-closed campus receiving a fifth straight F in TEA\u2019s annual A-F Accountability grading system.<\/p>\n The Elevate model includes more strictly scripted curriculum and more focus on rigorous instruction<\/a> in an effort to accelerate academic outcomes. A third-grade classroom observed by the Star-Telegram at Rufino Mendoza Elementary, which is included in the Elevate Network, had desks in pairs with lightly decorated walls and no carpet or other reading sections of the classroom.<\/p>\n Several other attendees raised similar concerns about scripted and structured curriculum. Ale Checka, a former Fort Worth ISD teacher, told Licata and his team that even though they say they don\u2019t blame teachers for the district\u2019s underperformance, their words suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so surprised to hear several of your responses because several things are just simply not true,\u201d Checka said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot for somebody to look at a parent in the face and say we\u2019re not blaming teachers, and then in the next sentence say we are taking accountability. We really need you to stop saying you aren\u2019t blaming teachers when you patently have and just did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Licata\u2019s strategic action sessions are also being held alongside the state-appointed Board of Managers\u2019 listening sessions, which started last month and have continued throughout August, with more planned. Community members have clashed with Fort Worth ISD\u2019s state-appointed leadership since they were brought in by TEA Commissioner Mike Morath in March.<\/p>\n Licata and Board of Managers Chair Pete Geren have promised better communication and \u201cradical\u201d transparency with the community, but numerous parents and community members feel like they have not held up their end of the bargain.<\/p>\n Continuing to hold listening sessions at campuses all across the district is one way to rebuild the relationship with the community, Licata said.<\/p>\n To close Thursday\u2019s session, Licata and Kushner asked those in attendance to write down ways they could \u201ccollectively come together as a community and work toward a common goal.\u201d<\/p>\n One attendee told district leaders she feels like the community has already come together, but it\u2019s now on the district to hear their concerns and make changes accordingly.<\/p>\n \u201cI think regardless of the school you\u2019re at, we feel like we are at a place where we\u2019re seeing a lot of the same problems occur across the district,\u201d the attendee said. \u201cI think where we can come together is with you all. We can reference our principals and administration as much as we want, but I think we really want to work toward finding a common goal for effective communication and having trust in what you are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Licata told attendees that all their responses, both written and spoken, would be relayed to the Board of Managers, which was not present for the session.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: Fort Worth ISD Board of Managers chair 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 August 27, 2026 at 10:03 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n Caddies of pens, pencils, note cards and other supplies sit on desks in a third-grade classroom at Rufino Mendoza Elementary School. Principal Katy Myers Allis said all classrooms will have students sit in pairs with supplies at the ready. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n