Fifth grader Jesus Cruz squinted at an image of a spiral galaxy, his voice rising just enough to catch the visitor’s ear.
“I wonder why it spirals,” he said.
Across the classroom, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath stood beside a table of laminated photos detailing spiral, elliptical and irregular galaxies as science teacher Emily Forehand guided her students through a matching game.
“Take 30 seconds of silence,” Forehand told them. “What features help you decide which picture represents each galaxy type?”
For several minutes, the Lucyle Collins Middle School students filled the room with quiet discussion and scribbles on worksheets. Morath looked down at their desks intently as he listened, hands clasped behind his back, before turning toward principal Antonio Tijerina and a small group of Lake Worth ISD leaders.
Tuesday’s visit wasn’t just a lesson in astronomy, though. Morath was at the 3,200-student district’s west Fort Worth campus as he weighs whether to appoint a state board of managers or to close one of its schools after years of failing state academic accountability ratings.
“I saw evidence of significant practice, practice that will result in learning. I also saw evidence of significant challenges,” Morath told reporters after touring classes.
In August, Morath had a similar tour in Fort Worth ISD as part of his review of that district’s chronic low performance. The commissioner said he uses his classroom observations to determine how districts support students and teachers firsthand.
Under state law, when a campus posts five consecutive F grades under the state’s academic accountability system, the commissioner must either close the failing school or replace the locally elected school trustees with a board of managers he appoints. He may also remove the district’s superintendent.
In Lake Worth ISD, Marilyn Miller Language Academy reached that threshold, and four of the district’s other campuses also received failing grades in the latest round of state academic accountability ratings.
He has not yet made a decision, but the law requires him to act once appeals conclude in December, Morath said.
“Ultimately, state intervention is required,” he said. “The question is what form of intervention is best for students here.”
Lake Worth ISD leaders showcase early gains
Superintendent Mark Ramirez, who joined the district in May, said he hopes the commissioner sees how Lake Worth is rebuilding its instructional systems, from aligning lesson plans across campuses to providing teachers with more classroom feedback.
“What I know he’ll see is everything we started in June and July coming to fruition,” Ramirez said before the visit. “We’ve been working hard on consistency from campus to campus, being intentional, knowing every student, where they’re at and what they need.”
During the district’s Oct. 20 board meeting, Ramirez highlighted signs of improvement.
Beginning-of-year data from the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, assessment — a national exam Lake Worth ISD uses to track student performance throughout the year — showed nearly a 10-point decrease in the percentage of students scoring at the lowest academic tier compared with fall 2023. Attendance rose about a percentage point to 94%.
Teachers credited the progress to increased accountability, shared learning materials and what district surveys described as a “mindset and culture shift,” Ramirez said.
Administrators have conducted more than 1,100 classroom walk-throughs since the start of the school year to monitor lessons and provide feedback, he said.
Morath said he evaluates both quantitative and qualitative indicators when considering state action. He pointed to the importance of structured lesson plans, ongoing coaching for teachers and consistent leadership routines. Teachers must have the resources they need to do the work well, he said.
“We owe our teachers a higher duty of support,” he said. “If they’re staying up nights and weekends planning for Monday’s instruction, that’s not a good situation for anybody.”
Morath acknowledged Lake Worth’s recent reforms — including seeking help from former Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and other turnaround consultants — but questioned why board members did not act sooner. Lake Worth ISD’s board is not “brand-spanking new,” he said.
“The question is, where was the urgency four, five, six years ago?” he said. “It’s pleasing to see these kinds of change. Would they happen without the state paying attention?”
‘Do what’s best for the students’
State Board of Education member Brandon Hall, who joined Morath on the visit, said he saw strides but also significant challenges.
“We need to do what’s best for the students,” Hall said. “If the local board is able to put together a structure that helps teachers and lifts outcomes quickly, then I’m OK with that. But if intervention is necessary to pull those outcomes up, I’m OK with that as well.”
He pointed to the Bluebonnet program that the state board narrowly approved for public school use as a way to help Lake Worth’s students improve in math and reading. The district’s elementary schools began using Bluebonnet materials this semester.
While Morath’s decision lingers, Ramirez’s focus remains on what’s within his control, he told the Fort Worth Report.
“I worry about the decisions I can make,” he said. “We’ll keep showing the growth and moving Lake Worth to where we know it can be.”
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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