Fort Worth ISD believes it isn鈥檛 at risk of a state takeover, district officials told the Fort Worth Report after the April 24 release of new Texas Education Agency ratings.
However, the state is required under law to take action as a result of the ratings.
The question of an intervention arose after the Texas Education Agency released preliminary 2023 accountability ratings. The 2-year-old data showed a now-closed Fort Worth ISD middle school failed five years in a row 鈥� a threshold that would prompt the state to . Ratings will be finalized this fall.
鈥淓ven though the ratings were not released publicly until today, we knew our data and responded to the data during the 2023-24 school year,鈥� Superintendent Karen Molinar wrote in a letter to the Fort Worth ISD community.
District officials closed the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, formerly known as Glencrest Sixth Grade, and the campus no longer appears in the Texas Education Agency鈥檚 school directory.
TEA declined to comment about a possible intervention, but spokesperson Jake Kobersky said state law requires the agency to either close a failing school or take control of a district.
Fort Worth ISD received a D rating for 2023, placing it at the bottom of the 12 school districts serving the city. Fort Worth ISD鈥檚 was a C.
Searches for either 鈥淔orest Oak Sixth Grade鈥� or its previous name, 鈥淕lencrest,鈥� return no results on 鈥� a signal that TEA鈥檚 October 2023 decision to remains in effect. A TEA spokesperson previously told the Fort Worth Report that, as of Oct. 20, 2023, the agency approved the district鈥檚 closure plan and reclassified the campus.
Glencrest was renamed after it partnership in 2020 and received a two-year pause in accountability ratings, Molinar told the Report.
鈥淚n 2023-2024, Glencrest 6th and Forest Oak 7/8 combined under one school number and are projected a 鈥楥.鈥� At this time, we believe the combined two campuses under the one school number has shown the success and acceptable rating,鈥� the superintendent told the Report.
Performance data for the campus remains available through downloadable TEA datasets.
Forest Oak Middle School, into which the former sixth grade school was folded, is now the only school recognized by TXschools.gov.
鈥淲e are proud of the growth that we have seen in Forest Oak Middle School since the expansion and consolidation to one 6-8 grade campus,鈥� Molinar wrote in her community letter.
How are schools rated?
School districts, campuses and charter schools receive an A-F letter grade every year from the state of Texas. The grades are based on three general areas:
- Student achievement: The state examines the performance of schools and districts on the state standardized test. High schools are evaluated on how well they prepare students for college, a career and the military.
- School progress: The state looks at how much schools and districts grew academically year over year.
- Closing the gaps: The state inspects how districts and schools serve certain groups, such as bilingual students or special needs students.
Lawsuit blocked release
A-F ratings were first issued in 2018. Schools and districts are graded based on students鈥� standardized test scores, graduation rates and indicators like college, career and military readiness. Methodology was mostly unchanged until a refresh in 2023.
The system was updated for 2023 with tougher standards 鈥� .
More than 100 school districts, including Fort Worth ISD, sued the state over the revised grading formulas. They argued the Texas Education Agency changed the rules without enough notice, then applied the new system retroactively to the 2022-23 school year.
A Travis County judge sided with districts in fall 2023 and the ratings.
The pause lasted more than a year until a Texas appeals court lifted the injunction April 3, clearing the way for TEA to publish the delayed scores.
The appellate ruling applied specifically to the 2023 ratings.
A separate case, focused on the 2024 scores, remains pending.
Old data or transparency?
Policy groups like Texas 2036 applauded the ruling but urged the state to go further. They called for the release of the 2024 ratings as well, citing the need for transparency and data-driven decisions in education.
鈥淲ithout these letter grades, students remain on failing campuses that otherwise could have received greater resources and interventions,鈥� said Todd Williams, CEO of the Dallas-based education group Commit Partnership.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath called the release of 2023 ratings a win for transparency after what he called 鈥渇rivolous lawsuits paid for by tax dollars鈥� stymied the state鈥檚 release of the information.
鈥淓very Texas family deserves a clear view of school performance, and now those families finally have access to data they should have received two years ago,鈥� Morath said. 鈥淭ransparency drives progress, and when that transparency is blocked, students pay the price.鈥�
The new ratings reopen questions about how student and district success is measured in Texas. Under the revised rules, high schools need at least 88% of graduates to earn an industry certification, pass an AP test or take a dual credit course to score an A in career readiness 鈥� up from 60% previously.
Crowley ISD Superintendent Michael McFarland, whose district joined more than 100 others in suing the state, criticized the A-F system as politically motivated and out of step with current classroom realities.
鈥淭hese outdated ratings, now more than two years old, fail to reflect the academic growth, innovation and daily dedication of our students and educators,鈥� McFarland said.
Too much has changed in the past two years for the 2023 ratings to mean much, Arlington ISD Superintendent Matt Smith said.
鈥淲hile this data reflects where we were at that moment, it does not define who we are or where
we鈥檙e going,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e taken bold, intentional steps since then to support our students and staff 鈥� and we鈥檙e already seeing progress.鈥�
TEA plans to release 2025 ratings in August.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or .
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@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 .
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