The summer before Noah entered sixth grade, Medford raised her concerns with his principal. The answer, she said, was the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s wait. Let\u2019s see. But he\u2019ll probably catch up,\u201d Medford recalled the principal saying.<\/p>\n
Robert Rogers, president of The Reading League Texas, said parents across the nation get that answer. It\u2019s not good enough, he said.<\/p>\n
Screening tools can flag dyslexia risk before children even start learning to read and getting help early works, Rogers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDyslexia should be diagnosed as early as possible because the intervention can occur early,\u201d said Rogers, who mentors FWISD elementary students.<\/p>\n
Last school year, FWISD finished 52 of its 1,859 special education evaluations late, according to state-submitted data obtained through an open records request.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas sets a 100% target for completing special education evaluations on time, as federal law requires. FWISD\u2019s 97.2% on-time rate was the district\u2019s lowest in at least five years.<\/p>\n
In 12 cases, the district cited a lack of available staff to do the testing.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DyslexiaFWISD2_Sanchez-1024x768.jpg\")
Parent Kim Medford speaks about the difficulty to secure dyslexia services for her seventh-grade son during a news conference Oct. 13, 2026, outside the Fort Worth ISD District Service Center. (Jacob Sanchez | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Medford turned to Literacy Roundup<\/a>, a city program<\/a> that screens students for potential learning disabilities<\/a>, after facing obstacles securing services for Noah. Volunteers screened him and found signs of dyslexia. Literacy Roundup helped Medford navigate an admission, review and dismissal meeting, where parents and educators determine what special education services a student receives.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt his teachers were actually on board,\u201d Medford said.<\/p>\n Then the school year started.<\/p>\n During the first week this year, Medford emailed each of Noah\u2019s teachers, reminding them of his disabilities and the help he needs.<\/p>\n \u201cI still have not heard back from any of those teachers,\u201d Medford said.<\/p>\n She visited each of them during a meet-the-teacher night.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first teacher read the email \u2014 two weeks after Medford sent it, she said. After reading the email, the teacher told her it explained what she\u2019d seen in class. That teacher has since resigned, Medford said.<\/p>\n Another teacher told Medford that Noah would need to ask for his accommodations in class.\u00a0<\/p>\n Medford asked the crowd in front of the District Service Center to imagine being a seventh grader who is far behind his classmates and knows it.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you even raise your hand as an adult in front of your peers?\u201d Medford said.<\/p>\n Choudhury said general education teachers have access to their students\u2019 individualized education programs, are told which accommodations they\u2019re responsible for and receive training from special education staff.<\/p>\n Medford said Noah\u2019s dyslexia teacher recently told her that he was doing great and close to not needing services.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow is that even possible?\u201d Medford said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s failing reading right now with a 30.\u201d<\/p>\n Talwar\u2019s son attends an A-rated elementary school. That hasn\u2019t made his son\u2019s plan any easier to enforce, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Talwar\u2019s son spends much of his school day in a self-contained classroom, but his plan requires him to spend specific amounts of time learning alongside his peers in a general education classroom. A staff member should take him between classes each day.<\/p>\n But that wasn\u2019t the case. Talwar said his son didn\u2019t receive general education classroom time for months in kindergarten. He raised those concerns with campus leadership, which blamed staffing constraints.<\/p>\n Choudhury said a student\u2019s admission, review and dismissal committee, which includes the parent, decides whether the district must make up for missed services.<\/p>\n The issue returned in August when Talwar\u2019s son started first grade. He said his son\u2019s plan wasn\u2019t followed during the first few weeks of school.\u00a0<\/p>\n Talwar raised his concern with Superintendent Peter Licata<\/a> during a listening session<\/a>. Licata provided incorrect information, Talwar said. FWISD spokesperson Evan Anderson did not respond to a question about Talwar\u2019s exchange with the superintendent.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a school lacks the staff or systems to follow an (individualized education program), that\u2019s a problem the district needs to solve,\u201d Talwar said. \u201cMy son shouldn\u2019t lose out on services because the adults haven\u2019t figured out how to make the system work.\u201d<\/p>\n School systems and the adults running them need to be transparent with parents, Talwar said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd stop making families fight for what their children are legally entitled to,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n James, the Literacy Fort Worth leader, described joining a parent during an admission, review and dismissal meeting where more than a dozen educators sat behind their computer screens. She said she couldn\u2019t tell whether the educators were working on the student\u2019s plan, or just shopping online.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not collaboration, it\u2019s not partnership and it\u2019s certainly not how you build trust with families,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n James called on school districts to deliver promised services for children. They can\u2019t wait, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur students deserve a system that sees them, hears them and serves them \u2014 not a system that hides behind computer screens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n FWISD campuses need clear, consistent processes, said Rebecca Montgomery, a Literacy Roundup volunteer. Parents should know who to contact, how to submit a request and what they can expect in response.<\/p>\n When a parent requests an evaluation in writing, the district has 15 school days to respond, Choudhury said. Once a parent consents, the evaluation generally must be finished within 45 school days and the committee must meet within 30 calendar days after that to decide whether the student qualifies for services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teachers and other school staff deserve training, resources and support to recognize signs of dyslexia in students and help families, Montgomery said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about pointing fingers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about working together to make sure no child with dyslexia falls through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n Medford said she thought the new school year would usher in a new experience for her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n Noah\u2019s school is one of the campuses under the district\u2019s new turnaround model, Medford said. She saw the principal of her son\u2019s school on TV talking about the extra help students would get this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was optimistic that there were going to be tools in the toolbox for my son\u2019s success this year,\u201d Medford said. \u201cInstead, I have gotten the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report\u2019s reader advisory council. At 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>.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DyslexiaFWISD3_Sanchez-1024x768.jpg\")
Parent Ashish Talwar talks about how his son did not receive special education services for several months during a news conference Oct. 13, 2026, outside the Fort Worth ISD District Service Center. (Jacob Sanchez | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1"\")
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