Fort Worth ISD’s fight against Texas taking control of the 70,000-student district turns on one question: When did an outside group start managing operations at the school that triggered the intervention?
Lawyers with FWISD and Texas argued over when that occurred Thursday during their first hearing with State Office of Administrative Hearings judges. Fort Worth ISD trustees Quinton Phillips and Tobi Jackson and board President Roxanne Martinez attended the virtual hearing.
At the center of Fort Worth’s argument to thwart the takeover is when an academic accountability pause began for the now-closed Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade. Texas law allows districts to tap a third-party group — such as a college or charter operator — to manage day-to-day operations at a campus, an action that allows the school temporary relief from the state ratings.
Last year, the Forest Oak campus officially received its fifth consecutive failing academic accountability grade.
Texas Education Agency lawyer Matthew Tiffee argued that Fort Worth started a state-approved partnership with Texas Wesleyan University — under a state law known as Senate Bill 1882 — during the 2020-21 school year because the district received funds and told the public about it.
At the same time, FWISD leaders wanted to close the school, he added.
“We are obviously not going to allow an 1882 agreement when they’re going to close the campus,” Tiffee said.
That timing matters because Texas law requires the education commissioner to either close a failing school or appoint a board of managers and superintendent in a district after a campus receives five consecutive failing ratings — unless those ratings fall within a two-year pause period allowed under certain partnership agreements.
Fort Worth ISD attorney Ben Castillo argued the pause should have started in the 2021-22 school year, pointing to state records showing the sixth grade campus was formally added to the partnership in August 2021.
“Paper planning doesn’t represent operational reality,” he said, adding that the agency improperly counted a later failing rating and should not have ordered a takeover.
The district’s intent was to close the campus and merge it with Forest Oak Middle School in 2019, he said. However, agency rules would not allow for closure until the campus’s accountability rating improved, both lawyers conceded.
“The district was trying to address accountability issues by creating a full middle school,” Castillo said.
Agency lawyers argued that Fort Worth ISD’s position amounts to hindsight.
If district leaders had believed the pause began in 2020-21, FWISD officials might have delayed consolidation to maximize pandemic-era academic accountability relief. The state paused A-F ratings for two years starting in 2020.
But agency officials say that choice, while potentially beneficial for district leadership, would have come at the expense of students. Accountability is not a loophole to be avoided but a core feature of the system meant to protect children, they said.
“The education of thousands of children — and by extension their futures — are on the line in this appeal,” the state wrote in court documents.
If the judges side with the state, Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s takeover order moves forward. He will appoint managers and name a superintendent for the district.
If they side with Fort Worth ISD, the case will continue, giving the district a chance to fully present its case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings before any takeover moves ahead.
The judges’ decision will be final and cannot be appealed.
But FWISD is not out of the woods for future potential interventions. William James Middle School and Leonard Middle School each received their fourth straight F when ratings were released this summer.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.orgor @matthewsgroi1.
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