The chief financial officer for Fort Worth schools won’t be crunching numbers for the city’s largest school district much longer.
Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, chief financial officer for Fort Worth ISD, accepted a job as the El Paso County government’s director of budget and finance and plans to leave her position later this month.
Her resignation comes as the Texas Education Agency considers a potential takeover of the district due to persistent low academic performance.
The move presented an opportunity for Arrieta-Candelaria to return to her hometown in West Texas, Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Jessica Becerra said in a statement.
“The district wishes Ms. Arrieta-Candelaria the best of luck in her new role; the search for a new chief financial officer is underway,” Becerra said.
The Fort Worth Report filed an open records request for Arrieta-Candelaria’s resignation letter.
Arrieta-Candelaria has worked for Fort Worth ISD since January 2022. She previously worked for El Paso ISD as a deputy superintendent for finance and operations.
During her more than three years as CFO, Arrieta-Candelaria oversaw the streamlining of the district’s business operations; the development of a process examining how expenditures produced academic results; and adjusted procedures for payroll and contract management.
The CFO was charged with shrinking Fort Worth schools’ shortfall and balancing the budget.
In May 2024, Arrieta-Candelaria presented a balanced budget, the first time in at least seven years that had happened. However, trustees later adopted a budget featuring a $17.7 million shortfall because of teacher raises.
The current budget features a $43.6 million shortfall. Some trustees, including Kevin Lynch, expressed concern about the future of finances because the district is consistently drawing down its reserves.
“We’ve probably got less than two years, at current trajectory, of fund balance,” Lynch said in June. “So we’re going to have to look at this really hard this year to figure out how we get to a place of sustainability.”
Fort Worth ISD posted the chief financial officer position on Sept. 8. The job comes with a salary ranging from $175,957 to $211,995 and reports directly to the superintendent.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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