Fort Worth ISD board names interim superintendent as lone finalist for permanent post
The Fort Worth Independent School District’s board voted unanimously on Tuesday to name longtime administrator Karen Molinar as the lone finalist for the district’s next superintendent.
Molinar has been Fort Worth ISD’s interim superintendent since the beginning of October, when Superintendent Angélica Ramsey resigned. Since then, she’s raised alarm bells about a literacy crisis in the district and announced the early stages of a plan to address it.
New superintendent has been in FWISD for decades
Molinar came to Fort Worth ISD in 1997, starting out as a teacher at Washington Heights Elementary School. Six years later, she moved to the newly-opened Bonnie Brae Elementary School, where she served as an assistant principal, helping oversee the campus in its first year. After working there for two years, she moved back to her home state of Delaware for a yearlong stint as an assistant principal, before returning to Fort Worth ISD in 2006. Since then, she’s served as assistant principal at M.G. Ellis Elementary School and principal at Oakhurst Elementary School, as well as several positions in the district’s central office. Most recently, Molinar was the district’s deputy superintendent before the board tapped her for the interim superintendent role.
Molinar stepped into that job at a tumultuous time in the district. Ramsey left Fort Worth ISD following criticism from city leaders, most notably Mayor Mattie Parker, about a lack of academic progress. During a school board meeting last August, Parker spoke during public comment, calling for a broad city-wide effort to turn the district around. She pointed out that Fort Worth ISD’s state test scores had shown little improvement in a decade, even as other big urban districts like Dallas and Houston ISDs made gains.
During the first meeting after she was named interim superintendent, Molinar acknowledged the lack of progress in the district and laid out plans for improving academic performance. Among other steps, Molinar announced plans for sending central office staffers to schools to work with students who need extra help.
Since then, both Molinar and the board have made literacy Fort Worth ISD’s central issue. During a news conference last month, board members announced a resolution identifying reading as the district’s top priority and directing the superintendent to develop a plan to get all students up to grade level in reading. During the same meeting, Molinar outlined the early details of a literacy plan, including developing a district-wide framework for how schools handle reading instruction, aligning budgets and school resources behind literacy priorities, and monitoring students’ progress.
During a news conference after the board voted to name her the lone finalist, Molinar said the district is already beginning to see student growth from its renewed focus on reading. Where the district redirected resources to offer students more support in reading, students showed improvement on mid-year MAP assessments, she said.
In the coming weeks and months, the district will need to keep that focus, Molinar said. Over the summer, teachers will undergo training on teaching reading, she said, and as district leaders develop a budget for next year, they’ll look to allocate more money for literacy programs.
“I am honored to be selected as the lone finalist for Fort Worth ISD superintendent,” Molinar said. “Fort Worth ISD is my home and I look forward to working alongside our talented educators and staff to ensure every student receives a high-quality education that prepares them for future success.”
Before Tuesday’s vote, trustee Wallace Bridges said he was optimistic about Molinar’s leadership. But he said the responsibility of fixing the literacy crisis belongs to the entire city. He called on parents, grandparents and other community members to get involved.
“The real work goes on now,” he said.
The board voted in January to post the job and begin accepting applications. Board President Roxanne Martinez said Tuesday that the board received and reviewed about a dozen applications for the job during that time, but she said none were a better fit than Molinar.
“Her deep knowledge of the district, strong leadership, and unwavering commitment to student success make her the right choice to lead Fort Worth ISD into the future,” Martinez said.
The board did not hire a search firm to handle the hiring process, which is a step school boards typically take when looking to hire superintendents.
Texas law requires school boards to wait 21 days after naming a lone finalist before they vote to hire the candidate. The board is expected to take final action on hiring Molinar at a special meeting on March 11.
‘People do trust her’
Steven Poole, executive director of United Educators Association, said Molinar has a big task ahead of her. She’ll need to focus on improving literacy at all grade levels, he said, which means putting together a budget that puts funding behind reading programs. She needs to develop a clear vision for where she wants the district to move, and communicate that vision clearly to teachers, parents and the broader community, he said.
Poole, whose organization represents teachers in Fort Worth ISD, said Molinar has done an excellent job as interim superintendent, working within the parameters of what she could do before she was named to the permanent role. Molinar has spent decades working in the district, so teachers already knew her and felt comfortable working with her as a leader when she stepped into the interim job, he said.
“She’s been very good at developing those relationships over the years, and that’s going to pay off for her in the future,” he said. “Because people do trust her.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM.
