Fort Worth ISD eyes more staff cuts, school closure for refugee campus
More staff cuts and the closing of another school is slated for the Fort Worth Independent School District as new leadership continues to shake up district operations amid a state takeover.
District staff in the departments of Talent Management, Communications and Community Partnerships and Financial Services are positioned to be impacted by a reduction in force, pending a Board of Managers vote at its April 28 meeting.
The meeting agenda, posted Wednesday evening, also shows staff at the International Newcomer Academy campus being impacted by the reduction in force after district leaders announced the campus’ proposed closure during a community meeting on Tuesday night; the school in southeast Fort Worth serves refugee and immigrant students in sixth through ninth grade.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the second time in a month that the Board of Managers votes on staff cuts and restructuring decisions.
The following positions will be affected, according to district records:
- Postsecondary Specialists
- Campus Administrative Assistants - College and Career Readiness (CCR)
- SET Teachers/LC Elementary Teachers
- Executive Director - Emergent Bilingual programs
- Director - Secondary Emergent Bilingual
- Director - Elementary Emergent Bilingual
- Coordinators - Elementary Emergent Bilingual
- Coordinators - Secondary Emergent Bilingual
- Coordinators - Dual Language K-12
- Coordinators - ESL (English as a Second Language) K-12
- Analyst – Emergent Bilingual Budget
- Analyst – SpEd (Special Education) Budget and Grants
- Specialists – Restorative practices
- Specialists – Equity & Excellence
- Coordinator – Restorative practices
- Administrative Assistant – Adolescent Pregnancy
- Director – Elementary Literacy
- Director II – Learning and Leading (Academic Initiatives)
- Analyst- Learning and Leading
- Director – CCMR (College, Career, and Military Readiness )
- Specialists – CTE (Career and Technical Education) Instructor
- Specialist - Assessment
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Trailer Teachers (Grade 1-6 STEM)
- Director – Compliance, Related Services and Special Programs
- Director – Evaluation, Child Find and Psychological Services
- Managers - ARD (Admission, Review and Dismissal) Committee
- Speech Therapy assistants
- Speech Therapists – part time
- Occupational Therapist – part time
- Physical Therapist – part time
- Specialists – Diagnostic Evaluation – part time
- Psychologists – part time
“This program change is part of the ongoing efforts to address the decrease in student enrollment, improve efficiency, and redirect resources to positively impact students. This restructuring will result in changes to a number of positions within the district,” school district records state.
As of Wednesday, there were 15 employees listed on the district’s webpage for the Communications and Community Partnerships Department, including coordinators, directors and specialists. The webpage also listed one vacant position for a web coordinator for marketing and creative communications.
The Financial Services Department webpage shows six employees while the Talent Management Department webpage lists about 50 employees.
A separate agenda item for the Tuesday meeting also notes the proposed closing of the International Newcomer Academy for June of this year, as an update to the district’s facility master plan that includes more than 18 school closures districtwide through 2029. The Board of Managers will also discuss Peter Licata’s superintendent contract.
The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28.
The wave of changes to Fort Worth ISD comes shortly after Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed last month new superintendent Licata and a nine-person Board of Managers, who are taking the place of the elected school board for at least two years. Pete Geren is the president of the board.
Their appointments marked the beginning of a state takeover of Fort Worth ISD that was prompted by a now-closed campus receiving five failed accountability ratings in a row by the state. This triggered a state law requiring Morath to either close the campus or replace the elected school board with a board of managers. The campus had already been closed by Fort Worth ISD by the time it was notified in May 2025 of potential state intervention.
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.
