The Texas Education Agency has announced an official takeover of Fort Worth ISD, citing repeated campus failures.
Fort Worth ISD’s elected school board will be replaced with a state-appointed board of managers, Commissioner Mike Morath told Fox 4 News on Thursday. The takeover is a result of one now-closed campus receiving five consecutive F academic ratings.
“What we have announced today is that the enforcement decision that we’re making, that we’re required to make under state law, is to install a board of managers for Fort Worth ISD,” Morath told the news outlet. He added that this process will take several months.
The district, which is home to some 67,500 students, addressed the rumors in a Facebook post on Wednesday, noting that more information will be shared when available.
“Our focus remains on our students by providing uninterrupted learning,” the district wrote on Facebook. “We are grateful to our educators and staff for their continuous commitment to our students and families.”
The district can appeal the decision, according to WFAA. Once the appeals process concludes, Morath will appoint members of the board of managers, the conservator and a new superintendent.
Fort Worth ISD has been under scrutiny since April after the state released its 2023 accountability ratings. The district has reduced its number of F-rated schools from 31 in 2024 to 11 in 2025. However, its history of poor ratings has kept it at risk of a state takeover, according to Fox 4 News.
In recent years, Texas has proven itself successful in carrying out state takeovers, at least in the case of Houston ISD, which has been under state control since 2023.
At the time of the takeover, 121 of the district’s 273 schools had received a D or an F rating. State-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles told District Administration in September that the district no longer has any F-rated schools.
“We are breaking the myth that it takes five, six, seven years to turn around a district,” Miles said. “We’re breaking the myth that there aren’t enough instructional leaders. We’re breaking the myth that there’s a teacher shortage in urban areas, and you can’t overcome it. We’re breaking these myths right and left.”
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