{"id":341713,"date":"2025-10-29T22:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/341713\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T22:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:23:12","slug":"lake-worth-isd-voters-to-decide-two-contested-trustee-seats-as-state-considers-intervention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/341713\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Worth ISD voters to decide two contested trustee seats as state considers intervention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lake Worth ISD voters will soon elect two trustees, even as <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/10\/21\/lake-worths-failing-schools-prompt-need-for-state-help-education-chief-says\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the district faces possible state intervention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Nov. 4 election comes as Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/09\/16\/lake-worth-isd-charts-ambitious-goals-as-state-weighs-intervention\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">weighs whether to appoint a state board of managers to replace elected trustees or close Marilyn Miller Language Academy<\/a>, which has posted five consecutive F grades on the state\u2019s academic accountability system.<\/p>\n<p>Three at-large seats with three-year terms are on the ballot, with one seat uncontested:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Place 1: Incumbent Tammy Thomas faces challenger Donald Bivens.<\/li>\n<li>Place 2: Incumbent Bret Tooke faces challenger Mary Wilson Coker.<\/li>\n<li>Place 3: Incumbent Armando Velazquez, currently the board president, is unopposed. He was first elected in 2008. Velazquez did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Early voting ends Oct. 31.<\/p>\n<p>In nearby Fort Worth ISD, <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/10\/23\/texas-takes-control-of-fwisd-in-states-second-largest-public-school-intervention\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the state ordered a takeover<\/a> and plans to replace elected trustees with a board of managers in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>During a <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/10\/21\/lake-worths-failing-schools-prompt-need-for-state-help-education-chief-says\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recent visit to Lucyle Collins Middle School<\/a>, Morath questioned Lake Worth trustees\u2019 track record, while emphasizing he\u2019s reviewing whether recent changes are taking hold in classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>The board is not \u201cbrand-spanking new,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe question is, where was the urgency four, five, six years ago?\u201d Morath said.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what the candidates say<\/p>\n<p>Thomas said she wasn\u2019t planning to run again for the Place 1 seat until <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/09\/16\/lake-worth-isd-charts-ambitious-goals-as-state-weighs-intervention\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the district received a June warning letter<\/a> from the Texas Education Agency about potential state intervention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsidering the position that we are in and that I have served on this board for so long, I felt obligated to serve another term and to try to help us recover from this,\u201d said Thomas, a lifelong Lake Worth resident who was first elected in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thomas said she is proud of several district successes over her tenure, including growth in fine arts and career-and technical-education programs. She also credited Superintendent Mark Ramirez, who she voted to hire in May, with facing the district\u2019s problems directly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has taken full responsibility for a situation that he inherited. He was no part of the failure that we have gone through,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWhat we were doing here was not working. We hired him to do the job and I\u2019m going to listen to him \u2026 I\u2019m going to support him 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Morath\u2019s criticism about past urgency, Thomas accepted responsibility. Still, she cast the only vote against extending former Superintendent Rose Mary Neshyba\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/meetings.boardbook.org\/Documents\/CustomMinutesForMeeting\/842?meeting=641852\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">contract in August 2024<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is 100% correct,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe school board should have acted a lot sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If reelected, Thomas said she would focus on restoring trust and transparency, supporting teachers and strengthening parent engagement.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas said the district must cooperate closely with TEA officials if they want what\u2019s best for students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time for this board to sit back and listen and follow directions,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her challenger, Bivens, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Bivens is a local business owner who has lived in Lake Worth for 30 years, according to his ballot application.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Retired school counselor and substitute teacher Mary Wilson Coker said she\u2019s challenging Tooke for the Place 2 seat because \u201cthere\u2019s nowhere to go but up.\u201d Coker is also the sister-in-law of Thomas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tooke, a mechanic and maintenance worker for Lockheed Martin, did not respond to requests for comment. Tooke was first elected in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Coker supports maintaining local control, she\u2019s prepared to serve regardless of the state\u2019s decision \u2014 and in any role she can, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A board of managers is appointed by the education commissioner and has full governing authority over the district. They approve the budget, adopt policies and evaluate the superintendent \u2014 responsibilities currently held by the locally elected board. Trustees would remain in office, but without any power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a board of managers happens, it happens and we\u2019ll still roll with it,\u201d Coker said.<\/p>\n<p>She pointed to early signs of improvement since Ramirez arrived, specifically citing <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/10\/21\/lake-worths-failing-schools-prompt-need-for-state-help-education-chief-says\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recent early test results showing better student performance<\/a> than in previous years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a process,\u201d Coker said. \u201cI feel like we\u2019re moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coker wants to assume good intentions in answering why current trustees did not act sooner to remedy the district\u2019s struggles, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they didn\u2019t truly understand the road they were headed down and the potential consequences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>If elected, her priorities are to provide teachers the resources they need to succeed, support Ramirez and to dig in and embrace data, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trustees should keep student outcomes central in the superintendent\u2019s evaluation and meet parents where they are, Coker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Success in three years, she said, <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2025\/09\/16\/lake-worth-isd-charts-ambitious-goals-as-state-weighs-intervention\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">would mean meeting district goals<\/a>, deeper parent engagement, and \u2014 if the state does intervene \u2014 ultimately restoring local control.<\/p>\n<p>While Thomas reported a single $100 contribution from Lake Worth city council member Sherrie Watkins, Coker reported no fundraising, according to campaign finance reports. Both reported about $1,300 in expenditures in October.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Tooke, Bivens nor Velazquez filed campaign finance reports.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/matthewsgroi1\" rel=\"nofollow\">@matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/about\/fort-worth-report-editorial-independence-policy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n<p>Fort Worth Report is <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2024\/08\/25\/fort-worth-report-achieves-global-trust-certification-heres-what-it-means-for-our-community\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Republish This Story<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"88\" height=\"31\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" style=\"border-width:0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758084579_646_cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lake Worth ISD voters will soon elect two trustees, even as the district faces possible state intervention. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":341714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,88184,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-341713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-lake-worth-isd","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}