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Who will be the next Fort Worth ISD superintendent?If you go

What: Fort Worth ISD school board meeting. Read the agenda here.

When: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 18

Where: District Service Center, 7060 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Stream: Watch the meeting live on YouTube.The school board intends to answer that question during its Feb. 18 meeting, according to a news release. Only one person has publicly expressed interest in the job: Karen Molinar, a nearly three decade veteran of the district who has been serving as interim superintendent since October.“I think and I know the students and the community need me right now,” Molinar told the Fort Worth Report during an October interview.No other candidates are known at this time. Trustees discussed the search behind closed doors Feb. 11.School board President Roxanne Martinez and Molinar did not immediately return a request for comment.Molinar took over leading the district from Angélica Ramsey, whose two years as schools chief marked the shortest Fort Worth ISD superintendency in at least 50 years. She was previously the superintendent of Midland ISD in West Texas, where she served for one year and eight months.Ramsey resigned in September after questions — including from Mayor Mattie Parker and more than 40 other community leaders — mounted about the effectiveness of her leadership and the district’s stagnant academic performance.During a Fort Worth Report Candid Conversation in December, Molinar emphasized her familiarity with the school system.“I know already what we need to do,” she said. “I know where to find it. I know what we need to replicate. I don’t have to spend a year doing a listening tour.”The school board kicked off its superintendent search Jan. 21 when trustees agreed to post the vacant superintendent position for a 10-day period beginning Jan. 23. The job posting outlined that the school board, which is in charge of hiring a superintendent, wanted a candidate with at least five years of successful leadership experience in a school district with more than 50,000 students; who had previously worked as an administrator, superintendent or interim superintendent and served as a school principal.“The Fort Worth ISD board of trustees remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring strong and effective leadership for our district,” Martinez said in a statement after the job was posted online.The search was the second for nearly all of the trustees with the exception of board members Tobi Jackson and Kevin Lynch. Jackson, who was elected in 2010, was part of the searches that hired Walter Dansby, Kent Scribner and Ramsey. The superintendent search is the first for Lynch, who was elected in 2023.In 2022, Fort Worth ISD paid the third-party search firm Hazard, Young, Attea Associates $59,270 to find Ramsey. Trustees opted to not hire a search firm for Ramsey’s replacement.Whomever is named as the lone finalist for superintendent won’t take over immediately. The school board and the finalist will have to wait a state mandated 21 days before the hire is official.Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.