Fort Worth ISD votes to close International Newcomer Academy, despite pushback
Fort Worth school district’s Board of Managers has voted to close International Newcomer Academy, its only school dedicated to serving immigrant and refugee students, during a board meeting Tuesday night, despite days of intense and passionate public support to keep the campus open.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to close the campus, which was part of a larger agenda item that also included a reduction in force for dozens of positions, most of which relating to English Language Learner and emergent bilingual roles.
“We have to get the glut out of this building and out of some other buildings that aren’t supporting students,” said Superintendent Peter Licata. “I know the passion exists. But we have to ask ourselves, do we want better for our kids or are we here to fight for the adults in the building? We owe them more, and the status quo is not acceptable for me, nor should it be for anyone in this room.”
Licata and the board’s main reasoning for closing INA is because they do not believe it is a campus that allows students in the district to experience large campus amenities, like a robust choice of electives. The plan is to have INA students assimilate into larger campuses in the district so they have access to the same resources as other students.
INA had approximately 48 students that were set to return to the campus for the 2026-27 school year. That number would have grown had it stayed open as the first day of school got closer. Licata said he knows where each of those students would go after the board voted to close INA. He says he has a plan and that students will be better because of it. Actual in-depth details of that plan and what instruction with former INA students inside the classroom will look like has yet to be shared.
Dozens of parents, teachers and community members spoke passionately, often aggressively during a public comment session Tuesday in support of keeping INA open. Speakers pressed district leadership on its lack of a tangible plan for what instruction would look like for students who transfer from INA to a larger school in the district.
“If these students are transitioned to their home school and placed in a comprehensive setting, this population will most likely be left behind,” said Kathryn Lemmons. “They will have difficulty mastering the curriculum at the rigorous pace demanded of the teachers. What accommodations do you envision happening in a mainstream classroom to support newcomers who have no formal education?”
Dozens of current INA teachers also spoke to the board Tuesday night, sitting near the front row and wearing matching purple INA t-shirts. They asked for a more comprehensive plan to be shared on what the next steps are for students who assimilate to other schools in the district.
Fort Worth ISD leadership first told INA teachers it was considering closing the academy less than two weeks ago during a private staff meeting with teachers and administrators at the school. At that meeting, Daniel Soliz, deputy superintendent and chief of schools, told teachers there was a comprehensive plan in place, but said he could not share specifics, according to several teachers present at the meeting who spoke to the Star-Telegram.
A few days after that meeting, the district held a community listening session at INA to hear feedback from parents and community members to take back to the board to help form their final decision. Parents at the listening session passionately defended the campus and pulled for it to remain open. The board ultimately still decided to close it.
There are hundreds of immigrant and refugee students in the district that do not attend INA, and Licata said those students are currently performing better than those at INA. But Whitney Peters, a teacher at the campus, said it is important for students fresh in the country to receive the specialized instruction they can only get by INA teachers who have a unique teaching skill set.
“There is no narrative for what will happen to our newcomers, that is why we are here,” Peters said. “Please educate the public on more. Kids at our campuses, they become soccer stars, they become part of the band at their bigger school. They do all these things after they come to us for two years and then they leave.”
Peters and other teachers at INA previously told the Star-Telegram that one of the main topics of discussion at the private staff meeting was a data chart that showed the percentage of INA students who are on grade level according to STAAR test results. The data presented showed INA year 0-2 emergent bilingual students significantly behind students not at INA over the last three school years.
Teachers said Soliz was unable to answer questions about how the chart was created, including grade levels and how many students were included in the data. INA math teacher Jay Mata was also concerned about how the data failed to display how INA staff works with the lowest English proficiency students in the district — specifically those who are unschooled, and oftentimes refugees who have just entered the country. Those students cannot be compared to others in the district, Mata argued to the board.
Licata told the Star-Telegram before the board meeting that he hoped those in attendance would come to understand his reasoning for recommending the board vote to close INA. He acknowledged the campus means a lot to people in Fort Worth but urged them to focus on the bigger picture.
Many of those who spoke Tuesday night weren’t buying it. The public comment portion of the board meeting got so contentious that Licata told attendees some of the things they said to the board offended him.
“Some of the things that were said tonight were very offensive,” Licata said. “We are going to get through this because we’re working for kids. What I saw the other day at INA was phenomenal. And that will happen in all our schools where most of the majority of our students are. Change is hard, this is difficult. I understand that and I am fine with that. No matter how you slice it, our students deserve better.
“Just because we think we’re doing our best, doesn’t mean we are.”
