Superintendent gets high marks from FWISD trustees as they wait to respond to takeover

Fort Worth school trustees are staying the course with Superintendent Karen Molinar as Texas takes control of the 67,500-student district.

Following a nearly three-hour closed door session Tuesday, FWISD trustees took no action on responding to the takeover and unanimously approved Molinar’s first superintendent evaluation.

Board Vice President Tobi Jackson said the details of Molinar’s evaluation are confidential, but trustees are pleased with her “exemplary leadership” and dedication to the district. Trustees did not alter her annual salary of $360,000 nor extend her three-year term.

Molinar is a candidate in Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s national search for a new Fort Worth superintendent. Morath took control of FWISD on Oct. 23 after the now-closed Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade posted five consecutive F grades under the accountability ratings that are largely based on STAAR results. 

He will appoint a conservator soon to monitor the transition and then name a board of managers, as well as a superintendent, in the spring. The managers will take over the trustees’ duties.

Fort Worth leaders want Molinar, who was hired in March after serving five months as interim superintendent, to remain in charge and use her nearly 30 years of experience working in the district to turn it around.

Trustees are waiting to hear back from Morath following their meeting in Austin, Jackson said.

“This board remains hopeful that the dialogue and presentation shared with Commissioner Morath during last week’s informal review will lead to a different outcome on behalf of our students and our community,” she said.

Fort Worth ISD is at a fork in the road as the takeover ramps up, residents told trustees.

Robert Rogers, an allergist who leads The Reading League Texas, wants FWISD trustees to support the takeover for the sake of the district’s students. He said Fort Worth does not have to fight over this and can chart its own path.

“ If all of us rally behind the students in the district and focus on educational excellence in the teaching of reading, we can make the most of this takeover and create a large urban district that could be the envy of the nation and rapidly exit takeover status,” Rogers said.

Steven Poole of the United Educators Association, which represents teachers and FWISD staff, told trustees to explore every option — from appeals to lawsuits — to push back.

“The idea that we can chart our own way is absolutely not true,” Poole said. “You should, as representatives of all communities in Fort Worth, explore every option to push back on this takeover. Our communities deserve it.”

Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. 

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