The Texas Education Agency will remove the Fort Worth Independent School District’s elected board members and may appoint a new superintendent to oversee its operations, Commissioner Mike Morath announced Thursday morning. 

The decision to assume control of the North Texas district — the second-largest takeover in Texas history — follows months of speculation about how the state would respond to one of the Fort Worth campuses not meeting academic accountability standards for five consecutive years. The district closed the campus, Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, at the end of the 2023-24 school year, but Morath indicated in the spring that state law still required him to intervene. 

Dallas’ local news station WFAA first reported news about the takeover Wednesday evening. 

In a letter sent to the district Thursday, Morath said that through “action and inaction,” the current school board has “failed the students of Fort Worth ISD.” The commissioner pointed to data showing that roughly 34% of students across all grades and subjects are not performing at grade level on Texas’ standardized exams and that 20 campuses have been considered “academically unacceptable for multiple years in a row.” 

“The inability of the district to implement effective changes to improve the performance of students in the district or at the campus necessitates the interventions announced by this letter,” Morath wrote. “Furthermore, the interventions are in the public interest as the failure of governance is demonstrated by the continual academic deficiencies at the campus and across the district.”

The commissioner said he plans to appoint a new school board that will “consist of Fort Worth community members who are committed to governing effectively to support positive change for the students of the district.” 

Morath will appoint a new superintendent, though he said the district’s current leader, Karen Molinar, will be considered for the position. The agency will also name a conservator responsible for ensuring “the district supports its low-performing campuses and implements the district’s turnaround plans.”

In response to the agency’s decision, the Fort Worth school district’s board of trustees said in a statement that it is “disappointed by the decision and hopes the matter will be reconsidered.” 

"Over the past year, our Board and Administration have worked tirelessly to strengthen instruction and accelerate student outcomes," said Board President Roxanne Martinez. "Our elected Board is in the best position to drive the sustainable improvements the Commissioner seeks, with measurable progress already underway."

State takeovers of districts can only be initiated if one of their schools receives a failing grade from the TEA for five consecutive years. They allow the replacement of elected school board members with state appointees. The state can also direct districts to close a school rather than replace their school boards. 

While Fort Worth ISD shut down Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade before the TEA gave it its fifth consecutive F rating, Morath said in a March letter that it would not halt potential state action.

Fort Worth ISD was among five school districts at risk of a state takeover. The Beaumont, Connally, Lake Worth and Wichita Falls independent school districts have all amassed five consecutive failing grades at one or more of its campuses. Morath visited Lake Worth ISD on Tuesday, where Marilyn Miller Language Academy received five consecutive F ratings.

Morath visited three of Fort Worth ISD schools in August as his agency considered a takeover. 

Fort Worth ISD is a majority-Hispanic district with more than 70,000 students, and around 75% of students are at risk of dropping out. Nearly 40% of students are enrolled in bilingual and English language learning programs. 

With the state taking control of Fort Worth ISD, there have been 11 state takeovers of districts in Texas since 2000. The largest has been at the Houston Independent School District, which has more than 183,000 students. That takeover began in 2023 and was recently extended through 2027. 

The takeover of Houston ISD has drawn sharp criticism by many district teachers and parents who worry about the schools’ strict curriculum and emphasis on test scores. Nearly all Houston ISD campuses are using lesson plans designed by the district that include timed slide shows and scripts for teachers. 

Under the leadership of state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles, Houston ISD has seen extraordinary staff turnover and plummeting student enrollment. Miles has terminated or reassigned nearly 450 employees, according to Houston Public Media. 

Miles has stood firm in his strategy, pointing to significant student improvement on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR test, and progress in the district’s A-F accountability ratings.

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This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.