Should state take over Fort Worth area ISDs? Here’s what Senate candidates said
Two candidates vying for a vacant Fort Worth area senate seat are open to state takeovers in the Fort Worth and Lake Worth school districts.
The districts are at risk of a state takeover after campuses received failing grades for five years in a row in Texas’ A-F accountability ratings. When that happens, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath must either close down the failing campus or replace the district’s school board with a state-appointed board of managers, according to Texas law.
Candidates’ for Texas’ Senate District 9 in Tarrant County — Republican John Huffman, Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Republican Leigh Wambsganss — were asked about the possibility of a state takeover during an Oct. 2 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s editorial board. The Lake Worth school district is fully encompassed within the North Texas senate district, which also includes part of the Fort Worth school district.
The candidates are running in a Nov. 4 special election to fill the seat, vacated when Kelly Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican, left for the Texas Comptroller’s office, where he is the acting comptroller.
Wambsganss, who owns a real estate business and is Patriot Mobile’s chief communications officer, said all options should be considered.
She noted that the Lake Worth school district has new leadership. The district’s school board named Mark Ramirez as its superintendent in late May.
“I’m hoping that this year, as they move along, that perhaps they can right the ship, said Wambsganss, who lives in Southlake. Clearly the “status quo” in Fort Worth is failing students and the students deserve better, she said.
Pressed about her position on takeovers, were Morath to seek her opinion on the best course of action, Wambsganss said: “I would say that, if that’s our only option, yes, but I’d like to look at all of the options.
“Fort Worth, sadly, is in this situation due to current decisions,” she continued. “So do we need to change those decision makers? I would need to look at all of the evidence before I’ve made that decision.”
A state takeover of the Lake Worth and Fort Worth school districts “absolutely” has to be evaluated, said Huffman, who owns a construction company and lives in Southlake. Huffman previously served Southlake’s mayor.
“Because ultimately, how many more years of failure will these districts get, will the leadership of the districts get before the state comes in and says, ‘enough is enough, these kids are worth it,’” he said.
Posed the question about how he’d respond to Morath seeking advice, Huffman said: “Ultimately it’s his decision, but if the facts lay out a great case for state takeover, I absolutely would not discourage it.”
Rehmet, an aircraft mechanic who lives in Fort Worth, said he personally doesn’t support a state takeover of either district.
The Fort Worth school district’s situation is complicated because the failing campus in question, Forest Oak Sixth Grade Center, is already closed. District leaders closed the school at the end of the 2022-23 school year, and moved students to Forest Oak Middle School.
The release of the 2023 A-F ratings, which included the fifth “F” for the school, were delayed following a court battle.
The school’s closure “has no bearing on, and does not abrogate, the compulsory action the statute requires the commissioner to take,” Morath previously said in a letter to the district.
The Fort Worth school board hired longtime district administrator Karen Molinar as superintendent in March. She’d been serving as interim superintendent in the month’s prior. The district saw improved A-F scores this year, but Molinar has empathized that the gains must be sustained going forward.
In the Lake Worth school district, the Texas Education Agency’s release of 2025 A-F ratings resulted in the Miller Language Academy getting its fifth consecutive “F” grade.
The winner of the November election will fill out the remainder of Hancock’s senate term, but must run again in the 2026 general election if they want to hold onto the seat longer.
Each of the candidates have said they intend to run for the seat again in the March 2026 primaries.
In person early voting for the November election starts on Oct. 20 and runs through Oct. 31.
Staff Writer Silas Allen contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM.
