Second grader Ximena Martin bounced around the front walkway of Mary Louise Phillips Elementary.
Ximena wasn’t nervous about the first day of classes. She wasn’t anxious about leaving her parents. She wasn’t afraid of attending a new school.
“I love this school already because it has bubbles,” the 7-year-old exclaimed as she chased a cloud of bubbles before darting back to her mother.
Her mom was hopeful for her daughter’s new school as classes began Aug. 12. A new year meant a new beginning. Fort Worth ISD and city leaders are hoping for the same as they expect improvements in academic accountability ratings and await a decision on a potential state takeover of the 70,000-student district.
“Whatever that decision is, we are ready,” Mayor Mattie Parker said in the Phillips Elementary library. “We are going to operate at top level for the next several months demonstrating that we have the right plan in place for this school district and for this community.”
FWISD leaders expect improved A-F ratings
Superintendent Karen Molinar said she expects the state’s A-F accountability ratings on Aug. 15 to show more than 50 campuses moved up a letter grade. FWISD is likely to have F campuses to drop from 31 to 11, she said.
Molinar used Phillips Elementary as an example of the district’s upward trajectory. The 399-student school has jumped more than 30 points from an F to a B over the last year, she said.
“This just shows how much support that has happened over the last eight to nine months for our school district,” Molinar said.
State takeover looms for FWISD as classes begin
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is expected to visit Fort Worth schools in September. The district’s fate is in limbo after the persistent failing of a now-closed campus.
Molinar has presented to Morath FWISD’s progress and the actions her administration has taken to boost achievement, including doubling instruction time for math and reading in middle schools and introducing new teaching roles to support students.
Morath is expected to make a decision on whether to replace Fort Worth ISD’s elected school board this fall. Regardless of the takeover choice, the superintendent knows her next steps.
“We’re going to continue to move on and do what’s right for our students and really become student centered and student focused in Fort Worth ISD,” Molinar said.
A year since mayor spoke during school board meeting
Parker reflected on the state of FWISD just a year ago. A different superintendent was in charge. Academic progress stagnated.
The mayor walked in front of a lectern in August 2024, urging the school board to take action and pushing for leadership change. More than 40 civic and business leaders signed a letter she presented that emphasized the need to avoid a takeover similar to Houston.
“I’m fully confident that the change we asked for, not just as your mayor but as a community, was listened to by the board,” Parker said Tuesday. “I really appreciate the trustees listening and understanding that leadership change was needed to shift the focus on the school district.”
The differences have been noticeable to Parker as she visited campuses since Molinar’s appointment as interim leader in October then superintendent in March.
Families, teachers and principals feel more supported and have consistency in direction and curriculum, the mayor said.
“But it had to start at the top,” Parker said.
Fort Worth parents expect school closures, aren’t aware of takeover
Mother Ruby Leon tightly held a pink and lavender Hello Kitty backpack as she sat next to her daughter, Gianna, on an iron bench.
Gianna, 5, kicked her legs out in excitement. She just had to show off her pink Nikes.
“And glittery!” Gianna said. She couldn’t contain herself because she was ready for kindergarten.
Leon could not believe her daughter was moving up a grade.
“We were just dropping her off for pre-K not long ago,” she said.
Leon’s family was excited for the new school year. Gianna loves her teachers and school — especially gym where she can run and play games.
Leon, though, understood FWISD is going through changes. She heard about the school board voting to close 18 schools over the next five years to deal with declining enrollment. She was grateful Phillips Elementary was not slated for closure.
“I was just like wow, crazy,” she said.
She was not aware of the potential state takeover.
Neither was Ximena’s mom, Maribel Rodriguez.
Both mothers took in the moment as their daughters played before the first bell of the day rang.
Ximena and Gianna ran around the concrete landing, stopping only to watch the bubbles burst.
The girls played and weaved between their classmates until they ran up to their parents.
Rodriguez and Leon smiled, whipped out their phones and each snapped a photo of their daughter’s first day.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
