Five things to know about Angélica Ramsey, Fort Worth’s new superintendent of schools
Angélica Ramsey will officially start in the role of Fort Worth superintendent of schools after signing a contract Tuesday night that trustees have been working on during special meetings over the last several weeks.
The new leader is entering the role as Fort Worth ISD continues to grapple with achievement gaps and recovery from pandemic-era learning loss, as well as a steady onslaught of criticism from a vocal group of parents already calling for her to step down. She is asking for parents and the community to give her a chance.
Here’s what you need to know about Ramsey.
1. She was looking for a district like Fort Worth
The former Midland superintendent said the demographics, needs and goals of the Fort Worth school district match nearly identically with the professional goals she has been striving for throughout her career.
“Looking at the leadership profile … it felt like it was a perfect fit going in,” Ramsey said. “And through the process it has felt much more like a perfect fit.”
She outlined three priorities for the district that fit with her history in a press conference after being announced as the lone finalist at the end of August.
Those priorities include overseeing the implementation of the historic $1.2 billion bond voters approved last November to build new schools, upgrade others and form early childhood centers around the district.
Other priorities include overseeing finances. Ramsey said she wants to “get the budget piece right while not hurting the classroom.”
Chief among her hopes for the new job is continuing the district’s academic growth.
“One is academics, because that is my background, I came up through the academic lens,” Ramsey said. “We’ve had a lot of success in Midland in a short amount of time that I hope that we can come in here and have very similar success.”
Like Fort Worth, Midland schools upgraded from a C to a B rating in the last round of state accountability scores. Fort Worth made the grade by only a few points, making the process of maintaining and furthering that academic growth a challenge for the next leader.
2. The educator took a circuitous route to superintendent
Ramsey’s history is unlike other superintendent candidates, who often start as teachers and work their way up the ranks over the years.
Born to a mother who came to the U.S. with $200 in her pocket and raised in a Spanish-speaking home by parents who never went to college, Ramsey graduated from college and served in the JAG Corps as a paralegal before pursuing a career as an educator and superintendent.
Ramsey previously served as a principal and assistant principal in the Socorro school district in El Paso, before moving to California where she worked in the Santa Clara County Office of Education and served as superintendent for Pleasant Valley Schools.
In 2021, she joined the struggling Midland school district as superintendent after it ousted the former leader for failing to meet academic goals. During a recent review, Ramsey was celebrated for meeting all academic goals, with the state rating the district a B, up from a C in 2019.
Ramsey, the youngest daughter of a Sonoran farm worker mother and a California factory worker father born to parents from Mexico and Chile, will be Fort Worth ISD’s 21st superintendent.
3. The new leader wants to meet you
Critics of Fort Worth schools who have become regular participants in public comment at school board meetings began calling for the leader to step down before she was even announced as the lone finalist for the position.
But Ramsey has said in numerous interviews that she wants to meet with parents and community members and leaders to engage in conversations and talk through any concerns.
“I provided the board with an outline of how I really wanted to spend my first 100 days,” she told FOX4 in an interview. “In that, it’s talking to all stakeholders and having conversations with our students, our parents, our teachers, our support staff, our community, our business community, philanthropy, also our church leaders. It’s really important to talk to everyone and get a 360 view about how they feel about education.”
In an interview with the Midland Reporter-Telegram, she said she also wants to connect with her critics.
“I hope (they) will give me an opportunity to meet with them,” Ramsey told the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “And talk through how I actually work.”
Midland district leaders told the Star-Telegram that Ramsey was accessible in her previous role, including by starting three advisory committees. She also regularly met with staff, teachers and residents.
4. Ramsey will be at schools every week
Board members in Midland said it was a regular part of Ramsey’s week to visit campuses, hear directly from teachers what their needs were and relay those needs to the school board for action.
“I do spend two days a week out in schools,” Ramsey said at a press conference. “It allows me the time to have those informal conversations with teachers so that they can be really honest about some of the concerns that they’re having.”
This is key to combating teacher shortages and attrition, she said — struggles prominent in Fort Worth in recent years.
“If we’re not meeting the needs of our teachers, and they’re not healthy, then they’re not going to feel like they’ve been successful,” Ramsey said. “When you don’t feel like you have what you need …it’s really frustrating. So we need to meet the needs of our teachers to ensure that they feel successful in the classroom. I think that’s probably the number one priority for me (is) getting in and talking to teachers about what their experience is.”
5. Ramsey overhauled central office in Midland district
Ramsey is entering Fort Worth as the district faces declining enrollment and other financial pitfalls, including a new requirement of sending money back to the state due to rising property valuations.
Midland was also required to send money back under the so-called “Robin Hood” law, a practice Ramsey has criticized.
In one of the last meetings as leader, former Superintendent Kent Scribner described Fort Worth ISD’s efforts to “right size” the district by selling property. Other moves could be required in the near future if enrollment trends continue.
In her short time at Midland schools — just over a year — Ramsey overhauled the central office there to make it more focused on teachers and campuses, rebranding it as the service center.
Midland Board President Bryan Murray praised her for the action and helping focus the district’s energy on campuses — which increased its ratings, according to the recent accountability scores.
This story includes content from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
