Fort Worth ISD to overhaul 7 struggling schools with new teacher-focused turnaround model
Fort Worth ISD is overhauling seven of its lowest-performing campuses — and the changes begin with teachers.
Superintendent Karen Molinar told trustees during a Sept. 23 meeting that administrators will spend this school year recruiting and training educators before converting the schools into a turnaround model for 2026-27.
The move comes as Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath weighs intervention in FWISD. The plan is about urgency and accountability, Molinar said, telling trustees she must act now for students after years of low performance at the seven schools.
“I have to do it now,” Molinar said. “Recruiting for seven campuses will take me the entire school year to find the best.”
Under the model, which is largely based off of a Dallas ISD initiative, principals, assistant principals and teachers at the schools must reapply to stay in their roles. Support staff such as custodians, child nutrition specialists and security will not be affected.
“That does not mean they do not have a job in Fort Worth ISD,” Molinar said, emphasizing that educators who choose not to reapply will be reassigned to other schools with vacancies.
Trustee Camille Rodriguez said the board must stand behind the plan once it’s in motion.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right. There’s no going back because all of a sudden those schools are doing good,” she said. “I just want to make sure that people sitting at this table and in this community know it’s about the students, not about the adults.”
The campuses affected are:
- Western Hills Primary and Western Hills Elementary
- Clifford Davis Elementary
- West Handley Elementary
- Eastern Hills Elementary
- William James Middle School
- Morningside Middle School
- Wedgwood Middle School
To teach at these schools, core subject educators must have at least two years’ experience. Half of them must hold state-recognized designations for highly effective teachers, which are tied to student academic growth on STAAR tests and evaluations.
Molinar pledged higher pay to attract and keep proven educators. The state provides stipends for such teachers, but the district will add “strategic compensation” on top, she said.
“We will have some teachers who will be surpassing assistant principals on other traditional campuses,” she said. “But we’re asking you to come work with the neediest students that we have in our district right now.”
If the Texas Education Agency does not approve the designations for the state turnaround program or if the 50% threshold isn’t met to qualify for state funding, Fort Worth ISD will cover the cost from its general budget.
“Any additional funds we generate will not go into the district’s general fund,” Molinar said. “They go back to those seven campuses to support them.”
This year will serve as a planning and training year.
Recruiting starts Oct. 1 with internal and external job fairs.
The schools will use the state’s extended school year calendar with 25 extra instructional days. Fort Worth ISD officials may also extend school days and adjust start and dismissal times, especially at the three middle schools affected, officials said.
Attendance zones will remain the same.
All seven schools have posted multiple years of D or F ratings on the state’s academic accountability system and struggle with teacher vacancies, turnover, student absenteeism and student mobility.
What’s happening at the affected schools?
- Western Hills Primary and Western Hills Elementary operate as a paired campus. Primary students in grades pre-K feed directly into the elementary school, which carries the state’s academic accountability rating.
- West Handley and Eastern Hills elementary schools are in the middle of a multi-year transition. Eastern Hills is being rebuilt with 2021 bond funds and set to open in 2028. Students are temporarily housed at West Handley. Once complete, both campuses will consolidate into the new Eastern Hills building and West Handley will close.
- William James and Morningside middle schools are also slated to merge. A new middle school will be built on the William James site with 2021 bond funding. The consolidation is expected in 2029, when Morningside closes and both campuses move into the new facility.
Merged schools must operate under the same model until consolidations are complete, district leaders said.
“When these campuses and staff come together, the systems must already be in line. There’s no reason to wait,” Molinar said.
The model mirrors past turnaround efforts in other large-urban school districts, including Dallas and Houston.
Dallas’ Accelerating Campus Excellence program launched under then-Superintendent Mike Miles and became a template for the state. Houston later implemented its own Achieve 180 initiative, also designed to place top teachers in the district’s highest-need schools.
Michelle Williams, president of the Houston Education Association, taught at Kashmere Gardens Elementary when Houston ISD launched its program — similar to the model Fort Worth ISD is planning.
The school improved enough to avoid possible state sanctions. However, the gains faded when leadership changed and the extra support eased off, she told the Fort Worth Report.
“It stabilizes the campuses, and it does increase students’ success and achievement,” Williams said. “But here’s the thing. It’s not sustainable.”
Stipends often feel inadequate for the workload and constant monitoring can undermine teacher autonomy, she said of the Houston ISD model.
Steven Poole, executive director of the United Educators Association of Texas, previously told the Report that the FWISD plan’s strength is in placing the district’s best, most experienced teachers where they are needed most.
Announcing it in September gives the district time to recruit those top-tier educators and prepare, Molinar said. The district will apply to the Texas Education Agency for approval later this school year.
“This can change the trajectory of those students being on grade level by putting teachers with proven results in front of them,” she said.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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