The Fort Worth ISD superintendent told the school board that it breached her contract subsequent to her evaluation in January, according to an email obtained by the Fort Worth Report.
Educational leadership experts say the message from Superintendent Ang茅lica Ramsey reflects a complex relationship between the district鈥檚 top administrator and the school board. Trustees hire, fire and evaluate the performance of the superintendent, the only district employee who directly reports to them.
In a Feb. 9 email, Ramsey wrote that school board members did not plan to evaluate her on stated goals as they had agreed. Instead, the superintendent wrote, trustees looked to grade her on 2023-24 school year academic data.
鈥淚n addition, the board informed me that I would be evaluated again in five to six months (June or July) and that I would have new goals to meet. I have tried to be agreeable and moved forward based on the board鈥檚 request even though the board breached my contract in doing so,鈥� Ramsey wrote.
The school board evaluated Ramsey during a Jan. 23 closed-door special meeting. Ramsey鈥檚 contract states the school board evaluates and assesses her performance no later than Jan. 31 every year.
Ramsey did not respond to requests for comment via email and phone on the conflict with the school board.
Trustee Michael Ryan said he did not know whether the school board was in breach of contract earlier this year. However, he said, the school board examined different parameters to evaluate Ramsey and decide how to allocate her bonuses.
When contacted last week by the Report about Ramsey鈥檚 email, Ryan recalled the school board agreed to turn over the situation to its attorney, Benjamin Castillo.
鈥淢y presumption is that as he looked at it, they determined there wasn鈥檛 a problem because we went on to do another evaluation in July,鈥� Ryan said.
During a July 16 special meeting, trustees determined Ramsey met her goals and , the lowest contractually obligated amount. Trustees did not extend her contract, which ends July 26, 2026. Ramsey鈥檚 salary is $335,000.
Ramsey鈥檚 goals were not public before her July evaluation. Documents received in answer to a July 17 Report records request .
A best practice for a school board is to approve the goals in a public vote, so a district and superintendent have a record of clear expectations, said Paul Cruz, a former Austin ISD superintendent who teaches educational leadership at the University of Texas at Austin College of Education.
鈥淚t really is important that goals be approved at a school board meeting,鈥� he said.
Board President Camille Rodriguez said she did not recall Ramsey鈥檚 email referencing a breach of contract and could not locate it.
The Report filed an open records request for emails between the superintendent and school board members Feb. 13. Fort Worth ISD appealed the request to the Texas attorney general鈥檚 office March 21.
Trustees Quinton Phillips, Kevin Lynch, Anael Luebanos, Anne Darr and Roxanne Martinez did not respond to Report requests for comment about Ramsey鈥檚 break of contract claim.
School board members Wallace Bridges and Tobi Jackson declined to comment on Ramsey鈥檚 email.
Jackson wants Fort Worth ISD鈥檚 focus shifted back to where it matters the most.
鈥淚 would like for our board to spend the majority of our time focused upon our students, the youth of Fort Worth and our community with their families and our taxpayers,鈥� Jackson said, emphasizing doing that will accelerate student achievement.
A healthy superintendent-school board relationship would see both sides comfortable with honestly discussing hard topics, said Jo Beth Jimerson, an education professor at Texas Christian University. Additionally, they should not be afraid those conversations would derail efforts focused on students.
鈥淚n the ideal, they would also recognize that while they come from different places, they do want to help kids, even if they鈥檙e trying to approach it in different ways and also recognize that they are all human beings juggling a number of pressures. That is really important,鈥� Jimerson said.
When a superintendent states her contract was breached, the administrator and school board need to come together and discuss the concerns, Cruz said.
鈥淭here has to be a discussion about that individual or the group鈥檚 perspective, especially on something like that, and look at the contract to say, 鈥榃hat are the facts surrounding this situation?鈥� Cruz said.
The contract is crucial in a situation like this, Cruz said. If a parting of ways is necessary, the contract should detail the process.
鈥淭he superintendent鈥檚 contract will typically spell out how the board and the superintendent are going to go about it because superintendents do move on,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淎ll that is stipulated in the superintendent鈥檚 contract on what those next steps are going to be.鈥�
features a section detailing the termination of her employment, but not a buyout clause. Reasons for ending the contract include:
- Mutual agreement
- Retirement or death
- Dismissal for good cause, which includes 20 specific examples
- Nonrenewal of contract
- Resignation
Ramsey鈥檚 predecessor, Kent Scribner, exited the Fort Worth ISD superintendency after the school board agreed to use his and .
Superintendents have to navigate politics, personalities and different expectations as they work with a school board, Jimerson said.
鈥淎t some point, that dance gets really challenging, and it鈥檚 hard sometimes to say whether it鈥檚 because of the board or the superintendent or the situation. It sounds like a situation that鈥檚 really complicated,鈥� Jimerson said.
The school board hired Ramsey, who previously led Midland ISD in West Texas, . She was brought to Fort Worth ISD as a way to move the needle on the district鈥檚 stagnant academic performance, Ryan said. Since 2022, , according to 2024 state standardized test results.
鈥淢y greatest hope is that we鈥檒l see the improvements that we expect that she can make and those will be rewarded the way they should be,鈥� Ryan said.
Education reporter Matthew Sgroi contributed.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or . At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
