More principals left Fort Worth ISD last school year than in any other year since at least 2017, according to data from two open records requests filed by the Fort Worth Report.
Educators say that the exit of a principal can lead to a lack of stability that students expect when they arrive on campus each day. The role includes building relationships with teachers and fostering connections between parents and school staff.
Families are used to seeing the same faces in their schools when they drop their kids off and pick them up, said Steven Poole, director of the United Educators Association.
“It causes some discomfort at the parent level,” Poole said. “They want stability in their schools, they want to know that the principals are there, and will be there, in their school.”
When a break occurs, campus resources are strained, Poole said. That stress has been increasingly felt by parents and educators across Fort Worth ISD in the past year, according to Poole and several teachers. During the 2023-24 school year, 49 principals or assistant principals across 41 campuses resigned or retired.
These numbers mark an increase from previous years, as an average of 34 principals and assistant principals left annually since 2017. Interim Superintendent Karen Molinar and her administration, who are taking over following Superintendent Angélica Ramsey’s two-year tenure, must focus on retaining their most experienced educators before they leave or retire early, Poole said.
“Principals don’t quit their schools, they quit their districts,” Poole said. “That’s what I’ve heard from a lot of principals who have left Fort Worth ISD. They’re frustrated.”
The district is already working on general retention and is addressing future resignations and early retirements, spokesperson Cesar Padilla said in a previously emailed statement to the Report. Fort Worth ISD has established an office of employee retention and engagement that is focused on retaining educators and principals.
A Report request for a statement surrounding additional information on principal exits was not answered by publication.
Fort Worth ISD teacher Ale Checka previously told the Report that she noticed this frustration throughout the district. Principals have more responsibilities today than in years past, such as “marketing their campuses,” she said.
“All these principals are having to do all that work,” Checka said. “We, as campuses, are not built for that. We’re built for teaching.”
Poole scours through educator resignation data yearly. Every academic year, Poole and the UEA publish a report outlining educator retention data — he’s used to looking for trends.
While analyzing recent principal resignations, Poole didn’t just notice the increase in the amount of principals leaving the district, but also where they left.
“What we’re seeing too — and this is very unusual — you have principals and assistant principals both leaving the same school at the same time,” he said.
In 2023-24, eight campuses had a principal and an assistant principal leave during the same academic year. That’s the highest number since at least 2017; during the 2018-19 school year, six campuses saw two principals exit.
More principals are leaving in the middle of the school year than ever before, too, Poole said.
“This should be a warning signal to the school board that something is not right in the district,” he said.
When Checka’s principal left the district, a greater onus of responsibility was placed on the more experienced teachers. It’s easy for micromanagement to sprout in that environment, she said.
“You should let principals be principals,” Checka said. “They are being micromanaged worse than teachers are being micromanaged, if that’s possible.”
The explanation for the jump in principal exits is very similar to why teachers across the district are frustrated, Poole said: A lack of communication with those on the “frontlines,” and that feeling of micromanagement.
“A lot of it has to do with the leadership over them,” Poole said. “Are they being micromanaged or are they stifled? Are they prohibited from doing what they know they need to do for their schools to make them successful? Why do principals leave? That’s usually because of micromanagement.”
The district needs to do a better job of making its leaders feel valued, Poole said. If not, they’ll take the experience they built within Fort Worth ISD elsewhere.
While Poole has noticed teachers resigning to work in the private sector — some as corporate trainers — if principals don’t retire, they’ll stay in the field, he said.
“They love this job, they love these kids, they love this profession. They have years of experience in it. So they’re moving on to charter schools or other districts,” Poole said. And, some of those who retire with the district are retiring early, he said — those educators could be retained.
After her appointment as interim superintendent Oct. 8, Molinar released a statement emphasizing she’s aware of the problems facing the district. Her statement addressed some “critical shortcomings,” which included teacher and principal relations.
“We are dedicated to building a district that runs efficiently and effectively, ensuring that every resource is used to benefit our students and their success, while at the same time cultivating and developing our principals and teachers so they are positioned to implement best practice instruction focused on student achievement,” Molinar said.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1.
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