New Fort Worth ISD Board names its leaders, suspends policies in first meeting
Fort Worth ISD’s new state-appointed Board of Managers met on Tuesday for its first school board meeting to select officer roles, confirm the district’s new superintendent, suspend some previous board policies, and hear public comment from community members for the first time.
The meeting started with more than an hour of comments from the public, before the board voted to appoint Pete Geren as its president, Courtney Lewis as its vice president and Rosa Maria Berdeja as its secretary. Those moves were widely expected, as Geren was already referred to as the board’s president at an introductory news conference for new Superintendent Peter Licata on March 24.
Tuesday’s meeting came after two previous board meetings scheduled for Tuesday, March 24 and Friday, March 27 were both canceled as the state officially took control of the district. The meeting was the first after Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Licata as the district’s superintendent and nine others to the district’s Board of Managers, which is replacing the elected school board during the state takeover.
New Board of Managers members include Geren, Lewis, Berdeja, Bobby Ahdieh, Luis Galindo, Laurie George, Frost Prioleau, Jay Stegall and Tennessee Walker.
Here is what was discussed at the first board meeting under state-appointed leadership.
Licata officially appointed as FWISD’s acting superintendent
The Board of Managers unanimously voted to confirm Licata as the school district’s superintendent. Licata will continue to serve on an interim 21-day contract until the board gives formal approval for his long-term contract. Details on a new more permanent contract are expected to come during a board meeting in April, Geren said.
Licata, speaking at a board meeting for the first time, repeatedly talked about his two biggest areas of focus: student outcomes and improved transparency.
“Everything I do, all decisions that I make with my team, will be focused on student achievement and transparency,” Licata said. “Our job is to teach students how to read and understand math. It’s not going to be me, it’s got to be everybody. From parents getting their students ready for school, bus drivers getting them there, the nurses, cafeteria staff, teachers. We have an opportunity here, and we have to take advantage of it.”
State law allowed the TEA to take over Fort Worth ISD because of five consecutive years of failing accountability grades at one campus. But Morath has cited the district’s overall below-average performance on the STAAR exams, which will need to improve before the state will return local control.
The Board of Managers also approved a superintendent certification waiver for Licata to make him eligible for the job. The waiver is an authorization granted by the TEA that allows a district to hire a superintendent who does not hold state certification. Prior to his appointment, Licata had only worked in education in Florida, where he recently served as superintendent of Broward County Schools.
The waiver was established by the TEA to provide additional flexibility to go out of state to find qualified leaders to right the ships of struggling districts. The waiver will remain valid for up to three years, but Licata plans to pursue his Texas certification before that, Geren said.
Temporary suspension of local board policies
From his first five minutes as superintendent, Licata was pressed by those who participated in public comment about the district’s transparency, pointing to an item on the meeting agenda labeled as “temporary suspension of local board policies.”
Licata and Geren both gave attendees at the meeting their word that future agenda items will all have necessary attached documentation to ensure that all community members can clearly understand everything on the agenda.
“It will not happen again,” Geren said. “It is apparent to me that we did not make them easily available to those who sought to find them on the agenda. They are a matter of public record, but for transparency, we are not going to let that happen again.”
Those items are related to policies that deal with board members’ duties and requirements, meeting rules, and employment practices related to at-will employment, and employee assignments and schedules. The temporary suspensions are limited and do not affect any requirements that are grounded in state and federal law, district officials said. The board’s legal counsel explained that the policy changes allow the district flexibility with certain local provisions so that it can operate more efficiently during a period of change.
Two former elected board members address new leadership
Former school board president Roxanne Martinez and former board member Michael Ryan were present and spoke to the new state-appointed Board of Managers during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Martinez told the new leaders that she is skeptical about whether the TEA takeover is truly about the students.
“I am also deeply concerned by decisions this evening to waive existing board policies that were put in place to ensure accountability and sound governance,” Martinez said. “When policies are set aside without clear justification, it raises deep concerns and questions about how decisions are being made. I hope you will improve transparency and communication with our families.”
Ryan told the Star-Telegram that he believes all the state-appointed board members are good people, and that the district is especially lucky to have Geren as its board president.
“I know Pete Geren, and I think the district is fortunate to have him guide the appointed board as their president,” Ryan said. “I do not know the superintendent, but know that he has the power to run the district as the commissioner wants since the board governance system places that power in his hands.”
Who are Pete Geren, Courtney Lewis and Rosa Maria Berdeja?
Geren, who was appointed as the board’s president, is also the president and chief executive officer of the Sid. W Richardson Foundation in Fort Worth, which provides grants to nonprofits in Texas and supports the Sid Richardson Museum in downtown Fort Worth.
From 1989 to 1997, Geren represented Texas in the United States House of Representatives. He served as Secretary of the Air Force under President George W. Bush in 2001, and also served as Secretary of the Army from 2007 to 2009 under Bush and President Barack Obama. Geren obtained his undergraduate degree in history in 1974 and his law degree in 1978, both from the University of Texas at Austin.
Lewis, the board’s vice president, is the Fort Worth area president of First Bank of Texas. She graduated from SMU’s Cox School of Business in 2000.
Berdeja, the board’s secretary, is a longtime Fort Worth resident and an immigration attorney with an office in La Gran Plaza. She graduated with an undergraduate degree from North Texas in 2005 and has a law degree from Texas A&M.
The board will next meet on April 28 at 5:30 p.m., where more details about Licata’s long-term contract are expected to be provided.
Editor’s note: Pete Geren is the president and chief executive officer of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, which is a funder of the Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab. The Star-Telegram retains independence in all coverage decisions.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 9:07 PM with the headline "New Fort Worth ISD Board names its leaders, suspends policies in first meeting."
