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A former middle school teacher who served as New Mexico’s secretary of education will oversee the Fort Worth Independent School District as Texas takes control.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Thursday appointed Christopher Ruszkowski as conservator, marking the first step in the state taking over the 67,500-student district.
In a Nov. 6 letter to Superintendent Karen Molinar and trustees, Morath affirmed his intent to replace the district’s elected board with a state-appointed board of managers and to name a new superintendent in the coming months.
He said the conservator’s role is to monitor district operations and ensure academic improvement while those appointments are finalized. A conservator will remain in place for the entirety of the state’s intervention.
The board of trustees “strongly disagrees” with Morath’s decision, President Roxanne Martinez said in a statement.
“We believe our district has demonstrated meaningful progress and that local governance, supported by our community, is essential to sustained student success,” Martinez said.
Trustees are considering all options, including a formal appeal of Morath’s decision, for their next steps, Martinez said.
“We do so not in defiance, but in defense of our students, our community, and the principles of local governance that ensure accountability to the people we serve,” she said.
Morath’s letter formalizes the state’s intervention in Fort Worth ISD and activates Ruszkowski’s appointment immediately.
The Texas Education Agency will continue seeking applicants for the new board of managers through Nov. 21. Morath will name both the board and a superintendent after that process concludes.
Community leaders, including Mayor Mattie Parker, want Molinar to remain as superintendent to avoid adding instability during the takeover. In a video statement Thursday afternoon, Molinar said she is applying to remain as superintendent.
“The focus remains on meeting the needs of our students in FWISD,” Molinar said. “Our employees are committed to providing high quality, on-level instruction each day in every classroom across our district.”
Ruszkowski, who lives in South Carolina, is the CEO of the South Carolina Children’s Fund, a statewide education advocacy group. He currently serves as a TEA conservator for IDEA Public Schools, the largest charter network in the state.
“Throughout my three decades in education, I’ve been honored to take on unique roles during critical inflection points for schools, states and organizations,” Ruszkowski said in a statement about his appointment to FWISD. “This conservator appointment is another opportunity to engage in public service of the highest calling. I look forward to working with district leadership in service of the students, teachers and community of Fort Worth.”
He previously served as New Mexico’s secretary of education from 2017 to 2019 under Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, and as Delaware’s chief talent officer under Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, from 2010 to 2016.
A former middle school social studies teacher in Miami-Dade, Florida, Ruszkowski holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota. He currently sits on the board of directors at Legacy Early College, a charter school in Greenville, South Carolina.
As conservator, Ruszkowski has authority to oversee the actions of the superintendent, principals and the board. He reports directly to TEA officials. Fort Worth ISD will pay him $250 per hour plus travel costs, according to the commissioner’s letter.
Morath said he hopes district trustees will cooperate with the state during the transition.
“It is my sincere desire that all parties work together in a cooperative and productive manner in the best interest of the district’s students,” Morath wrote.
The appointment comes two weeks after Morath announced his intent to take over the district.
Fort Worth ISD may request an administrative review of the decision within 15 days through the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The conservator’s appointment, however, remains in effect during that process.
Morath’s decision to move forward with the district’s takeover follows an informal review last week, during which Fort Worth ISD trustees argued the state didn’t pause sanctions for a campus failing academic accountability standards, according to the letter. The state can take over a district if a school fails the accountability ratings five consecutive years.
Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade was run through a third-party partnership starting in 2020. The school had failed for four years before that. Texas law allows the state to pause sanctions for a struggling campus if it partners with an outside organization to help improve performance.
The campus hadn’t been rated since 2019 because of the pandemic and lawsuits related to the accountability system. Trustees argued they had one more year. They took a preemptive step in 2024 by closing the school to satisfy state requirements.
However, TEA rejected that claim. When 2023 ratings released this spring showed the campus failed, state officials contend the school’s F amounted to its fifth.
In his letter this week, Morath cited state records showing Fort Worth ISD began receiving extra funding for the partnership during the 2020-21 school year, which established that year as the official pause. However, that year no Texas schools were rated because of COVID-19.
Disclosure: IDEA Public Schools has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.