Facing possible state intervention, Lake Worth ISD leaders said closing Marilyn Miller Language Academy is not feasible. Those elementary-age children have no other option if the failing school is shuttered.
“There’s no place for students to go,” Superintendent Mark Ramirez said during Monday’s meeting, referencing the district’s two other failing elementary campuses.
So the 3,200-student district turned to retired Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa for guidance.
Brought in with philanthropic support and familiar with Ramirez from their time in Dallas together, Hinojosa spoke at Monday night’s Lake Worth ISD board meeting with urgency, as the Texas Education Agency weighs whether to appoint a board of managers or close Miller.
“A vision is a dream with a deadline,” he told trustees, warning bold action is needed to improve chronically failing schools across the district. “And you’re under the gun.”
Just 10 minutes later, trustees unanimously approved “ambitious” goals aimed at boosting third grade reading and math performance, raising middle school passing rates and ensuring every campus earns at least a B rating by 2028.
The Texas Education Agency grades public schools on how well they are educating students, largely based on results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, tests.
Ramirez acknowledged the high stakes. A June 3 letter from TEA officials required Lake Worth to submit campus turnaround plans. A Sept. 3 letter warned that if performance does not improve, the commissioner will appoint a board of managers or close Miller, which posted five consecutive F grades on the state’s academic accountability system.
Under Texas law, a campus that fails to meet state standards for five years triggers mandatory intervention. The commissioner must either order the school’s closure or replace locally elected trustees with managers he appoints.
“The children of Lake Worth ISD deserve better,” the Sept. 3 letter reads. “Bold action is needed.”
Other district campuses also face scrutiny.
Of the district’s six schools open last school year, five earned F’s in the latest round of the state’s academic accountability system.
Effie Morris Early Learning Academy, which closed in May, and N.A. Howry STEAM Academy submitted turnaround plans this summer, but TEA required revisions according to the letter. Updated plans must be resubmitted by Sept. 23. Lake Worth officials must submit plans for Lucyle Collins Middle School and Marine Creek Leadership Academy by Nov. 14.
For now, Lake Worth’s only option is to show steady, measurable growth in classrooms across the district, Ramirez said.
The board’s adopted goals are challenging but necessary, President Armando Velazquez told the Fort Worth Report.
Trustees set targets designed to measure progress over the next three years, including:
- Raise the district’s five remaining schools’ rating to a B or higher by June 2028.
- Increase the percentage of third graders meeting or mastering STAAR reading from 23% to 60%.
- Raise the percentage of third graders meeting or mastering STAAR math from 18% to 60%.
- Improve the percentage of middle school students meeting or mastering STAAR from 19% to 40%.
- Grow from 86% of graduates being deemed college, career and military ready in December to 95% by December 2027.
Two guardrails will also be tracked:
- Increasing enrollment from 3,196 students during the 2024-25 school year to 3,500 by 2027-28.
- Improving attendance from 92.71% last school year to 96% by 2027-28.
“The goals are a stretch, but we’ve been raising the bar for expectations of both students and staff to grow all student outcomes,” Velazquez said. “I think they’re doable, and we’re going to meet those goals.”
So far, district administrators have logged more than 460 classroom visits in the first five weeks of school, Ramirez said. The visits are meant to ensure teachers are consistent in their lessons, focused on core subjects and working together across classrooms.
“We’ve come together around our instructional framework — our big three initiatives — and that’s the plan we’re moving forward with,” Ramirez said. “We’re not waiting.”
Ramirez added that outside support has been critical in shaping that plan.
He pointed to Hinojosa, who offered his services through his consulting group, the Together Network for Transformation, after Ramirez was hired. Philanthropic dollars made the partnership possible, Hinojosa said.
Hinojosa was credited with overseeing the turnaround of Dallas’ failing schools. The experience he brings from his four decades in education has helped trustees and senior leadership set clear priorities, board members said.
Former Comal ISD Superintendent Andrew Kim, also with the network, cautioned trustees that time is of the essence.
“You’re down to about 100 days of instruction left until the first state assessments,” Kim said. “Your superintendent needs a clear lane to execute as quickly as possible.”
The urgency must be matched with consistency, Hinojosa said. As Hinojosa and Kim work with TEA as conservators in Socorro ISD, both have direct experience with the mechanics of state intervention.
And while Dallas ISD was once considered one of the weakest districts in the country, it improved through urgency and collaboration, Hinojosa told the Report. Lake Worth ISD has the same opportunity if leaders work together.
“High expectations without support is cruelty. Support without high expectations is chaos,” he said.
Trustees and administrators are united in response, Ramirez and Velasquez said.
“We’ve been very cohesive throughout this process, and we’re all really in it,” Velazquez said. “It’s about building foundations, building systems that’s going to help us this year.”
Though Ramirez is unsure when Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will make his ultimate decision, the superintendent did give a hint as to when Morath will visit Lake Worth schools.
“Soon,” he 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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