Principal Janae Capshaw welcomes students on the first day of school at W.M. Green Elementary in Fort Worth on August 10, 2026.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
A few minutes after 7:30 a.m. Monday, Liz Bay’s kids bounced up the steps of W.M. Green Elementary School in Fort Worth and headed inside to the gymnasium, where teachers waited to show students where to go.
Dressed in green heart-shaped sunglasses and a W.M. Green Roadrunners shirt, Principal Janae Capshaw gave out high fives as students arrived. Some kids knew exactly where to go. Others, especially those just starting kindergarten or pre-K, needed more help and reassurance.
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Bay’s kids looked confident and ready to start a new school year. Watching from the sidewalk, Bay said that was no accident. She spent weeks preparing them, making sure they brushed their teeth, washed their faces and got to bed on time. When the day finally came, they were ready, she said.
“They love school,” she said. “They have no problem getting back to going to school.”
Monday marked a day full of firsts in Fort Worth ISD: the first day of school for about 3,000 kindergarteners and prekindergarteners, the first day at work for hundreds of new teachers and the first day of the district’s first full year under state intervention.
The first day did not come without turmoil.
O.D. Wyatt High School went into lockdown, after a student reportedly photographed themselves with a firearm on campus. Five people, including the student, were detained.
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During an evening news conference, Peter Licata, the district’s state-appointed superintendent, reassured that safety mechanisms were in place, including the presence of several safety officers on campus. National and local law enforcement are “constantly monitoring” social media posts, he added.
“The worst that could happen is we lock down children for an hour,” he said. “That’s the scenario we want every time. We encourage students: if they see something, say something.”
Karim Bustamante, 5, hugs his brother Jeremy, 2, as he walks into the first day of school at W.M. Green Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, August 10, 2026.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Fort Worth ISD, the second-largest district in North Texas, starts the school year under a state takeover that began in March. Licata said Monday morning that the district’s army of bus drivers were ready to get students to school on time, where teachers were ready to dive into instruction right away.
“We can’t afford to make mistakes here,” Licata said.
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One of the major moves the district’s new leadership has made is establishing the Elevate Network. At 19 struggling campuses, including W.M. Green Elementary, district leaders are rolling out changes that include a longer school year, more coaching for teachers and instruction that’s designed to be consistent from one classroom to the next.
Ashley Dodd (right) and her son Mycah, 9, talk to educator Paquita Lacy, on the first day of school at W.M. Green Elementary in Fort Worth on August 10, 2026.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
District-wide, a big change students will notice this year is that teachers will begin lessons on the first day, Licata said during an early-morning news conference. Since the takeover, district leaders have emphasized instruction that stretches from the beginning of the school day to the final bell. That’s important, Licata said, because if teachers waste as little as five minutes per day, it can add up to weeks of lost instruction over the course of the school year.
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Students will also notice many new faces at their schools. More than 1,000 Fort Worth ISD teachers resigned last year, including about 800 who did so in the three months after the takeover began. Licata said Monday that the district is starting the year with a teacher in front of every student.
District leaders launched a hiring blitz during the summer, working toward the goal of having no teacher vacancies by the first day of school — a goal that district officials say they achieved. Some of the teachers who resigned last year returned to the district, Licata said Monday. The district still has a few dozen open teacher positions listed online. In a statement, district officials said Fort Worth ISD keeps a certain number of job listings open throughout the year.
Many of those new hires lack teaching credentials. At a meeting last month, the district’s state-appointed board requested a two-year extension on new state rules that require districts to have no uncertified teachers in core subject areas by the beginning of next school year. The waiver gives districts until the beginning of the 2029-30 school year to meet that threshold. More than 500 other districts, including Dallas ISD and Garland ISD, have also received such waivers.
Superintendent Peter Licata (left) high fives Daniel Solis, deputy superintendent, as they get off a school bus on the first day of school at W.M. Green Elementary in Fort Worth.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
During last month’s meeting, district leaders said they’d hired 142 uncertified teachers for the current school year. Last year, 161 uncertified teachers worked in the district. It’s unclear how many of last year’s uncertified teachers are still in the district and how many remain uncertified. District officials couldn’t provide a total number of uncertified teachers Monday morning.
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With students returning to school, Licata encouraged drivers to be cautious on roadways and put their cellphones away while they’re behind the wheel. He also encouraged parents who haven’t enrolled their children for the year to call their school as soon as possible so they don’t miss out on instruction. Teachers and district leaders are excited about having students back for a new year, he said.
“This is the best day,” he said.
In the evening after the lockdown, district leaders hailed the first day as a success.
The takeover ushered in a flurry of changes, but Licata said he sensed “no cloud of intervention” hanging over the first day.
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The year ahead will reveal how deeply those changes will be felt in classrooms.
“We want to thank the parents and grandparents for entrusting their kids — and really our kids, as well — to us,” said Pete Geren, president of the board of managers.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.