The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will remove the Fort Worth Independent School District’s elected board and replace it with a state-appointed board of managers, making it the second-largest school district takeover in Texas history.
The decision follows months of speculation after one of the district’s campuses, Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, failed to meet state academic standards for five consecutive years.
Although the district closed the campus at the end of the 2023-24 school year, Commissioner Mike Morath said state law still requires TEA intervention.
In a letter to district leaders, Morath wrote that the board's “action and inaction” had “failed the students of Fort Worth ISD,” pointing to the data that showed only 34% of students performing at grade level and 20 campuses had been rated "academically unacceptable for years.”
“The Inability of the district to implement effective changes to improve student performance necessitates the interventions announced by this letter,” stated Morath.
While the FWISD’s overall district rating of C in the states A-F accountability system indicates acceptable performance, the TEA cited systemic governance failures and persistent academic deficiencies as grounds for the takeover.
Morath said that the new board of managers will be composed of Fort Worth community members “committed to governing effectively to support positive change.”
The current elected board members will retain their titles but loose their decision-making abilities for the duration of the states control.
