Fort Worth ISD will pay former Superintendent Angélica Ramsey $544,463 to buy out her contract, according to her exit agreement with the school board.
The 12-page agreement, obtained by the Fort Worth Report through an open records request, outlines that the district will pay Ramsey two major lump sum payments and set aside retirement funds for her. It also details the educator’s new role as the district’s public relations ambassador, and she was immediately placed on leave with full salary and benefits.
Ramsey is the third consecutive Fort Worth ISD superintendent the school board has bought out of a contract. Her predecessor, Kent Scribner, received $574,077, in 2022. Scribner’s predecessor, Walter Dansby, got $892,899 upon his departure in 2014.
If Ramsey resigns as a district employee before her designated last day — Aug. 30, 2025 — Fort Worth ISD will not make any future payments. Nothing in the contract prevents Ramsey from working outside the district during this period, the agreement said.
Like Ramsey, Scribner also received a ceremonial role — with the same title — and was likewise immediately placed on leave until his final day as a district employee.
“It is bittersweet for me to notify you of my decision to resign from the district, effective Aug. 30, 2025,” Ramsey wrote in a Sept. 24 resignation letter to trustees.
Ramsey’s last day as superintendent was Sept. 30.
Ramsey’s resignation took effect Oct. 1, about two years after she took over as superintendent.
On Oct. 1, the district paid Ramsey $247,961.58, or one-half of one year’s salary and benefits.
The district will pay Ramsey another $247,961.58 between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15, 2025, according to the agreement.
Ramsey’s salary as superintendent was $335,000, according to her contract. She is to be paid $495,923.16, representing a year’s worth of salary and benefits. Also, on Oct. 1, Ramsey received a check worth $48,539.83 representing her unused vacation time.
The former superintendent will be paid an additional $28,690 in January 2025 for her purchase of credit and retirement plan contributions for the 2023-24 school year.
If the district fails to make any payments, Ramsey will be entitled to recover any costs incurred by attempting to retrieve those fees, according to the agreement. For now, the district and Ramsey will pay their own legal fees in connection to her resignation process.
Since trustees accepted Ramsey’s resignation, they have been mostly quiet, with board President Roxanne Martinez addressing the media shortly after the Sept. 24 meeting. Ramsey and the school board agreed to not disparage each other, according to the contract.
“The parties further agree that no party shall ever make any statements or references to the fact that they ‘won,’ ‘prevailed,’ or ‘were prevailing parties,’” the agreement states.
Both agreed to a joint statement. After that paragraph, a note was handwritten below highlighting that Ramsey would issue her own statement on departing Fort Worth ISD.
Ramsey’s two years of leadership marks the shortest Fort Worth ISD superintendency in at least 50 years. She was previously the superintendent of Midland ISD in West Texas, where she served for one year and eight months.
The exit agreement states that Ramsey voluntarily resigned because she believed it was in the best interest of her and the district.
In the weeks leading up to her resignation, Ramsey faced questions about her leadership and effectiveness to improve academic achievement in Fort Worth ISD. Mayor Mattie Parker also took the rare step to address Ramsey and the school board in August for what she saw as a vacuum of leadership and the unacceptable state of the district.
Before that, tensions between Ramsey and the school board had grown fraught over her evaluations. In February, Ramsey said the school board breached her contract.
The school board is scheduled to meet Oct. 8, when trustees are expected to consider appointing an interim superintendent.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contract him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
