\u201cWe\u2019re going to talk about the elephant in the room,\u201d Superintendent Mark Ramirez said to trustees flanking his sides and district employees in the audience.<\/p>\n
School district leaders outlined a path forward for an elementary school whose persistent failure triggered a Texas law requiring action<\/a>. However, the fate of the school and the district is in the hands of Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.<\/p>\n The commissioner has two options for Lake Worth ISD:<\/p>\n Morath informed the district about potential state intervention in June, Ramirez said. He displayed an excerpt of the commissioner\u2019s letter. An underlined sentence showed the fork in the road for Lake Worth schools.<\/p>\n Texas Education Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Morath also is considering a takeover of neighboring Fort Worth ISD<\/a>. He plans to visit Fort Worth in September and expects to make a decision about the city\u2019s largest school district in the fall.<\/p>\n As Lake Worth faces its state intervention, no parents nor community members spoke out about the potential takeover during public comments at the meeting held in the district\u2019s underground administration building.<\/p>\n Academic accountability ratings released Aug. 15 showed all but one of Lake Worth schools with an F score. Lake Worth High School received a D.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data is out. It is what it is. We\u2019re going to face it head on,\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n Ramirez compared the state of Lake Worth schools between 2024 and 2025. The district is D, up from an F. Schools improved, but not enough to move up a letter grade, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re moving in a positive direction, but there\u2019s still a lot of work that needs to get done,\u201d the superintendent said.<\/p>\n Ramirez recently met with Texas Education Agency officials to review required turnaround plans for schools and expects final approval in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Ramirez pointed to Miller Language Academy\u2019s 9-point gain from last year in accountability ratings. The school\u2019s score moved from 50 to 59 \u2014 just a point shy of a D, he said.<\/p>\n !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();<\/p>\n \u201cThat shows what the campus has been doing,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cBut this is the campus that we need to focus on for this year to get them off the list.\u201d<\/p>\n The district has long struggled with reading and math proficiency, according to STAAR data.<\/p>\n !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();<\/p>\n !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();<\/p>\n Lake Worth schools ranked at the bottom of the 12 districts serving the city of Fort Worth for third-grade reading proficiency.<\/p>\n !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();<\/p>\n Consistent lessons and instruction methods in classrooms across the district\u2019s campuses will be key to turning around Lake Worth ISD, Ramirez said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a D right now, but we\u2019re not going to be a D at the end of the year,\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n School trustees did not directly address the current state of academics in their district. Trustee Cindy Burt said attitudes are changing about Lake Worth schools. Board President Armando Velazquez said the school year feels different.<\/p>\n Trustee Tammy Thomas thanked Ramirez, who started leading the district in June, for not sugar coating the academic state of Lake Worth schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never worked with a superintendent before who is as transparent as you. Thank you for taking accountability for a problem that you inherited,\u201d said Thomas, who has served on the school board since 2013.<\/p>\n As Morath considers a potential takeover, voters will soon have a say in who sits in three trustee seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school board called for a Nov. 4 election for the seats represented by Thomas and Velazquez as well as trustee Bret Tooke.<\/p>\n Tooke has been on the board since 2018. Velazquez was first elected in 2008.<\/p>\n Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/08\/20\/lake-worth-isd-leaders-pledge-progress-for-schools-will-the-state-intervene-first\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=296353&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/08\/20\/lake-worth-isd-leaders-pledge-progress-for-schools-will-the-state-intervene-first\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/LakeWorthISDBoard1_Sanchez-1024x683.jpg\")
Superintendent Mark Ramirez shows an excerpt from a letter issued to Lake Worth ISD from Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath during an Aug. 18, 2025, meeting. Morath\u2019s letter warned he would be required to either close a school or appoint a new board to manage the district if a campus failed for a fifth time in 2025. (Jacob Sanchez | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/LakeWorthBoard6_Sanchez-1024x683.jpg\")
A monitor displays Lake Worth ISD\u2019s D in academic accountability ratings during an Aug. 18, 2025, meeting. (Jacob Sanchez | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n