As Fort Worth’s new state-appointed school leaders took power, advertising executive Ken Schaefer saw a long-overdue chance to focus on execution and outcomes.
Parent Jesica Bustamante Ramirez saw something else: a board she says has little connection to families like hers in Diamond Hill.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Tuesday appointed a new superintendent and nine-member board of managers to oversee Fort Worth ISD, removing authority from locally elected trustees and ushering in a new phase of control for the nearly 68,000-student district.
Those appointed include business executives, a former congressman and other civic leaders.
Bustamante Ramirez, who graduated from FWISD, worries the new leadership lacks ties to the communities it will serve, she said. It matters to her whether the managers have children in the district and existing relationships with local schools, she said.
“I’ve never seen one of these board of managers in the Diamond Hill community, volunteering or serving in our area,” she said in a written statement to the Fort Worth Report. “They can have all the advanced degrees they want. It doesn’t mean that they understand our students.”
The shift to state-appointed leadership raised concerns about accountability, with some in the community saying the managers answer to Morath rather than parents and voters.
“Those of us parents that are involved will be paying close attention,” Bustamante Ramirez said.
Others see the moment through a different lens. They say FWISD needed sweeping changes to spur academic improvements for children. The community should focus less on who was selected — and their credentials — and more on what they deliver, they said.
Schaefer, a Fort Worth business leader, described the group as more akin to a turnaround team than a traditional school board, pointing to the managers’ backgrounds in business, law and education-adjacent fields as a sign the state is prioritizing operational change.
“At some point, you have to ask a very, very simple question,” he said. “Are our kids learning at the level they need to? And if the answer is no — which it is and it has been — then something has to change.”
Lupe Lynch, president of the Fort Worth ISD Council of PTAs, sees both sides of the moment — optimism about new superintendent Peter B. Licata and concern about the board itself.
“We know very little because this is all breaking, but I see potential,” Lynch said of the Florida educator tapped to be FWISD’s schools chief. “It’s good to know he’s a kid-first advocate. That’s very important.”
Still, she questioned whether all managers bring the same connection to public education, noting that many come from business backgrounds.
“Some of them have deeper interests in Fort Worth than public education, and I think that’s why they landed where they landed,” she said.
Lynch and others pointed to Laurie George, a Fort Worth ISD parent and special education PTA leader, as someone they see as closely tied to students and families — and a source of optimism on the board.
“I feel she’s grounded,” Lynch said. “I’ve seen her at board meetings. I’ve seen her at PTA rallies. I’ve seen her in Austin with PTA folks.”
George and the other eight managers declined the Fort Worth Report’s requests for comment on their appointment. On a social media post, George wrote, “Every child matters, and every child deserves to be seen and served well in every school across our district.”
The urgency for change and concern over losing local elected control echoed across Fort Worth on Tuesday.
Stan Johnson, a longtime Fort Worth parent whose children attended district schools, said he wants to see improvement but questioned both the process and the structure of the takeover.
“I want better for the students of Fort Worth because they’re our future,” Johnson said. “But I also want to do it in a way that isn’t ideological or biased.”
He remains uneasy that the managers were not vetted by voters.
“They were not subject to voter scrutiny,” he said. “We didn’t have the opportunity to really vet them.”
But not all reactions were rooted in skepticism.
Breshaun Elder, a coach and Fort Worth ISD employee with 13 years in the district, said the changes could bring growth — even if they come with discomfort.
“It’s always exciting just to know that change is on the way,” Elder said. “Sometimes, we don’t always want it or we may not always be ready for it. But when it comes, it just makes us better people.”
He acknowledged that many educators are anxious, particularly after watching state intervention unfold in Houston, but said fear cannot drive the district forward.
“You can’t have fear and win the game,” he said. “We’re in the game of education.”
He pushed back on the sentiments that previous district leaders failed students. Still, he looked forward to change under Licata.
“We didn’t fail,” Elder said. “We just lost. But we got a new coach. We’re coming back.”
Residents who went through the board of managers application process said the state emphasized a clear expectation: focus on outcomes and hold leadership accountable.
“It was drilled into us that we had to focus on outcomes for all students,” said Ken Kuhl, director of governance for nonprofit Fort Worth Education Partnership, who attended the required training before withdrawing his application.
“The board of managers aren’t there to be educational experts,” he said. “They’re there to ensure results.”
Reactions from elected and advocacy leaders reflected similar divides.
Elected FWISD board President Roxanne Martinez — who will still serve as trustee during the takeover but with no governing authority — said the district was showing academic progress under former Superintendent Karen Molinar. She urged the community to remain engaged as Morath’s appointed leaders take over.
“The state has made clear promises about improvement, and we must hold them accountable for delivering real results for Fort Worth students,” Martinez said in a statement.
State Board of Education member Brandon Hall, who represents the west side of Fort Worth ISD, said he hopes the transition creates an opportunity for improvement, while encouraging parents to stay involved.
“Parents are the most important stakeholders in FWISD,” Hall said in a statement. “Stay involved, stay vigilant and make your voices heard when you have feedback or concerns.”
But fellow SBOE member Tiffany Clark, who represents the east side of the district, sharply criticized the process, calling it rushed and lacking meaningful input.
“If you can take over a district without meaningful input, if you can rush decisions without transparency … then the question is no longer if this will happen again; it’s where it will happen next,” Clark wrote in a statement.
Some community members raised concerns about how much authority an appointed board should exercise while in place.
Molly Hyry, a longtime district volunteer, said she hopes the managers avoid making permanent decisions — such as selling property — while it remains unelected.
“Because they are a temporary board and they are appointed, not elected, I hope they stay in their lane,” she said.
In a statement, community advocacy group Families Organized Resisting Takeover announced its plans to closely monitor the new leadership and push for transparency and accountability.
Even among supporters, expectations are high.
Fort Worth’s business and civic leaders now have a responsibility to help ensure the turnaround succeeds, Schaefer said.
“A healthy community requires a vibrant and healthy educational system,” he said. “If we don’t do that, then we’re part of the problem.”
Disclosure: The Sid W. Richardson Foundation is a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. Courtney Lewis is a member of the Report’s business advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.orgor @matthewsgroi1.
Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability and a Fort Worth City Hall reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
