LAKE WORTH, Texas - The Texas Education Agency is taking over Lake Worth ISD, they announced Thursday.
The news comes after what the agency called chronic academic problems at several campuses.
Lake Worth ISD TEA takeover
The latest:
Thursday's letter, which was signed by agency commissioner Mike Morath, officially orders a board of managers to govern the district and a conservator. Morath will also appoint a new superintendent, the letter says.
Morath says this is due to one campus earning its fifth consecutive unacceptable academic accountability rating.
What's next:
An informal review for the district has been scheduled for Dec. 19 at 2:15 p.m. This will allow for Morath to hear from the district about his board and conservator appointments.
The letter says all such information and documentation should be submitted to TEA no later than Monday, Dec. 15.
TEA commissioner weighs drastic choices for Lake Worth ISD's future
One Lake Worth school has earned its fifth-consecutive unacceptable academic accountability rating. As a result, the TEA commissioner says he only has two choices going forward.
'Unacceptable performance'
What they're saying:
In part, Morath's letter says:
"Unacceptable academic performance in a single year represents significant academic weakness – typically less than one-third of students in those campuses reach grade level and less than one-half of students on those campuses demonstrate a year’s worth of academic growth. When that unacceptable performance continues for multiple years, the children in those campuses develop significant academic gaps. Multi-year unacceptable ratings represent a school district’s most fundamental mission failure and a complete inability to take necessary action to provide a high quality education for students."
FOX 4 has reached out to the district for comment following Thursday's announcement. They had not responded at the time of publishing.
Fort Worth ISD will appeal state takeover
The Fort Worth Independent School District is appealing a state takeover following a 7 to 1 school board vote.
Lake Worth ISD academic troubles
The backstory:
The TEA began weighing the idea of a LWISD takeover in October. Morath visited the district's six campuses towards the end of that month to assess the options moving forward.
At that time, it was noted that five of the district's six campuses had F ratings for the previous academic year. The remaining campus received a D. Marilyn Miller Language Academy was the campus with its fifth-consecutive unacceptable academic accountability rating, prompting a choice between a district takeover or a campus shutdown.
LWISD Superintendent Dr. Mark Ramirez took over the role in June. He was unavailable for comment when FOX 4 last covered the situation.
The Source: Information in this report came from the TEA and previous FOX 4 coverage.