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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath watched Lake Worth ISD students during a science class in Lucyle Collins Middle School on Oct. 21, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\nThe pre-K students barely looked up when Lake Worth ISD\u2019s superintendent entered their classroom in late February.<\/p>\n
One child traced over letters already written on a board. Another sat on the floor fitting together pieces of plastic pipe. Across the room, teacher Karey Bennett worked with a small group while the other children moved independently between stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All while the superintendent watched.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a superintendent in the classroom is new,\u201d Principal Robbin Church said.<\/p>\n
Now, the newness is districtwide: new superintendent, new board of managers, new teachers, new principals and new strategies. All of it will be on full display Aug. 11 when Lake Worth ISD\u2019s first full year under state control begins. The takeover followed years of academic decline and slow leadership decisions \u2014 and, parents said, a district that never gave families a real way to understand the scale of the crisis or press for action.<\/p>\n
The superintendent who watched the class was Mark Ramirez, who wanted to turn around Lake Worth ISD, a roughly 3,200-student district northwest of Fort Worth where nearly 90% of students are economically disadvantaged and many are learning English. He was superintendent for 10 months until he resigned after Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath passed him over for the position of takeover superintendent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath watched Lake Worth ISD students during a science class in Lucyle Collins Middle School on Oct. 21, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
The intervention didn\u2019t deter Ramirez from seeking progress. The state had already announced its takeover by the time Ramirez visited the classroom Feb. 25, but he remained superintendent while the district awaited its new state-appointed leadership. He continued spending Wednesdays in schools and bringing teams of administrators through classrooms so often that students no longer stopped to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The routine visits reflected the challenge Ramirez inherited. By then, however, the state-imposed timeline had nearly run out for Lake Worth.<\/p>\n
Morath replaced Lake Worth\u2019s elected trustees on April 23 with a five-member board of managers<\/a> and appointed a new superintendent. The new leaders must now show whether they can turn around the district academically while rebuilding trust and engagement with families and the broader community.<\/p>\n Ramirez knew his time was running short. But he stood and smiled at the back of the Effie Morris S.T.E.A.M. Academy classroom that February morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is exactly what you want to see,\u201d he said. Students were working independently, practicing early literacy skills and moving between activities while Bennett focused on a small group \u2014 the kind of student engagement Ramirez had been pushing across the district.<\/p>\n Years of warning signs<\/p>\n Marilyn Miller Language Academy triggered the district takeover<\/a> after receiving five straight F\u2019s, but it was hardly Lake Worth ISD\u2019s only struggling school.<\/p>\n In 2025, four of the district\u2019s five campuses received D or F ratings from the state. Texas ordered Lake Worth leaders to revise or submit turnaround plans for multiple schools in addition to Miller, an elementary campus.<\/p>\n The decline was visible years earlier: The share of Lake Worth students meeting grade level expectations across all subjects continued to fall from 28% in 2018 to 22% in 2025.<\/p>\n But district leadership moved slowly.<\/p>\n Trustees voted 6-1 in August 2024 to extend then-Superintendent Rose Mary Neshyba\u2019s contract by another year. Neshyba, who led the district from 2018 to 2025, oversaw the continued academic decline. Tammy Thomas, president of the elected board, cast the only opposing vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neshyba announced her retirement five months later, and trustees hired Ramirez in May 2025.<\/p>\n Neither Neshyba nor any of the six trustees who voted to extend her contract responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Thomas said Neshyba\u2019s administration never clearly warned trustees that a fifth consecutive failing grade at Miller elementary could force the education commissioner to close the campus or replace district leadership. She also has said the board should have acted sooner.<\/p>\n Thomas said in January that the board bore responsibility<\/a> for the district\u2019s situation because trustees waited too long to change leadership.<\/p>\n The ratings and intervention requirements were public, and trustees are responsible for monitoring the district.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were slow, very slow, in appointing a new superintendent,\u201d Thomas said in January.<\/p>\n Trustees hired Ramirez on May 28, 2025.<\/p>\n Ramirez, a longtime Dallas ISD administrator before his hiring, described Lake Worth as having a \u201csmall-town feel\u201d but \u201curban inner-city challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n His administration pushed consistent lesson frameworks, classroom coaching and student discussion.<\/p>\n Lake Worth\u2019s 2026 results suggest some of that work was beginning to pay off. Students improved in all five high school subjects tested on the spring STAAR exams.\u00a0<\/p>\n But those gains came too late. Takeover was all but certain.<\/p>\n Families saw support \u2014 but not the districtwide crisis The state\u2019s ratings told one story. Several parents said their experiences inside individual schools told another.<\/p>\n Rachael Sayas said Miller elementary staff helped her 6-year-old son, Jordan Garcia, who has attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder, make progress during kindergarten.<\/p>\n Sayas knew Lake Worth performed below some neighboring districts. She did not understand how serious the problems had become until the takeover approached.<\/p>\n She pinned the disconnect on one factor: \u201cThe lack of communication,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Robrianna Emerson had a similar experience after moving from Dallas. At Lake Worth\u2019s Morris S.T.E.A.M. Academy, employees helped her son manage learning disabilities and ADHD while his reading and math improved. Her daughter began sounding out words and practicing addition.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is really the best school district that we\u2019ve been in,\u201d Emerson said.<\/p>\n Her kids\u2019 progress made reconciling the state\u2019s assessment difficult. She didn\u2019t know most Lake Worth students were not proficient in reading, math or any other subject. The district had not explained the broader data, she said.<\/p>\n Temi Oyelami, whose two children attend Marine Creek Leadership Academy, said they received the academic help they needed. Between raising three children and working at FedEx, she had little time for district affairs. Her main concern: the repeated bullying of her son and daughter.<\/p>\n Parents\u2019 experiences help explain why years of low ratings did not produce public outrage, said Gabriel Huddleston, a Texas Christian University professor who studies education and community engagement. Families could see their children receiving support without seeing the systemwide problems reflected in state data.<\/p>\n \u201cI have yet to meet a parent in my life that doesn\u2019t care about their child\u2019s education,\u201d Huddleston said.<\/p>\n Parents working multiple jobs may not attend evening meetings, Huddleston said. Others may face language barriers or unfamiliarity with district governance.<\/p>\n Hector Bojorquez, director of operations and educational practice at the Intercultural Development Research Association, said low engagement should not be treated as proof that families do not care.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never the community\u2019s fault,\u201d Bojorquez said. \u201cIt\u2019s that they\u2019re not being engaged in a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n Empty microphones Lake Worth\u2019s lack of visible civic engagement stretched beyond parents.<\/p>\n Before the takeover, public-comment periods at school board meetings routinely passed without speakers. Board elections drew limited attention, and far fewer people applied to serve on Lake Worth\u2019s board of managers than in neighboring Fort Worth ISD.<\/p>\n The silence has continued under state control. Since the takeover, no one has spoken during public-comment periods.<\/p>\n Stephen Timberlake, a carpenter with five children in Lake Worth schools, said he had considered attending a school board meeting but never followed through.<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought that there would already be people there doing stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report contacted dozens of parents, residents and community organizations. Most, including the Lake Worth Education Foundation, did not respond.<\/p>\n The separation also extended to city government.<\/p>\n Walter Bowen, Lake Worth\u2019s mayor since 1995, attended his first school board meeting in November as the takeover gained attention. The city and school district largely operated separately, Bowen said, despite serving many of the same families.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here to learn,\u201d Bowen told the Report.<\/p>\n That distance between the district and its broader community is now part of the challenge facing the state-appointed leaders. Board President Tom Harris said managers would publish their goals, report the district\u2019s progress and be transparent about whether students were improving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Results, he said, would be essential to winning over residents who did not elect them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to earn people\u2019s trust, and you don\u2019t earn people\u2019s trust overnight,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n Families wanted a way in<\/p>\n For nearly 20 years, Julie Rosato Ford watched children in her family move through Lake Worth schools. She wanted parents to have a voice but said the district often scheduled events before working parents could arrive and did not livestream board meetings for those unable to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time we get off work and the traffic and all that kind of stuff, it was over,\u201d Rosato Ford said. \u201cWhy go?\u201d<\/p>\n Emerson wanted to get more involved in her children\u2019s schools. She tried joining Morris S.T.E.A.M. Academy\u2019s parent-teacher organization but found that positions appeared to have been filled before newcomers had a meaningful chance to participate, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t welcoming,\u201d Emerson said.<\/p>\n Yet the turnout at Lake Worth High School\u2019s Aug. 1 back-to-school event <\/a>offered a stark contrast to the empty boardrooms.<\/p>\n More than 1,000 people attended, including over 300 families, according to district officials. Organizers distributed more than 550 backpacks, helped about 140 families register returning students and enrolled nearly 40 new students.<\/p>\n Lake Worth families showed up when participation was accessible, useful and directly tied to their children, parents said.<\/p>\n New leaders inherit old questions Superintendent Ena Meyers and the managers have begun reshaping the district. Both Meyers and the managers were appointed April 23<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Four of Lake Worth\u2019s five campuses will begin the school year with new principals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Managers have drafted goals focused on early literacy and math, middle-school readiness and preparing graduates for college, careers or the military.\u00a0<\/p>\n The district also restructured Miller Language Academy, the school whose struggles triggered the takeover.<\/p>\n Meyers said she is a partner with families. She encouraged parents to ask what their students are learning, monitor achievement and ensure daily attendance.<\/p>\n Stronger connections will come as students become more successful and enjoy school, Meyers said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not forcing engagement,\u201d she said. \u201cI think you\u2019ll see a natural connection and a natural communication that happens because we\u2019re helping focus on students achieving.\u201d<\/p>\n The district must invite families into decisions and remove barriers to participation, according to parents.<\/p>\n Meyers\u2019 priorities \u2014 aligned lessons, teacher training, coaching and accountability \u2014 overlap with parts of Ramirez\u2019s approach. Harris said managers hoped to build on work that was already producing results.<\/p>\n Parents said the new leaders still have to prove themselves.<\/p>\n Sayas said she has received more information since the transition but is still determining whether it will last.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cJust let us be more informed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Timberlake wants stable campus leadership and simpler communication. Oyelami wants earlier notice and stronger responses to bullying. Emerson wants families invited into the work before decisions are made.<\/p>\n Their priorities differ, but the demand is similar: Families want to understand what is happening and be convinced that their involvement matters.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity engagement has to be deep and authentic, not just based on emergencies,\u201d said Bojorquez of the Intercultural Development Research Association.<\/p>\n Huddleston cautioned that higher test scores alone will not determine whether state intervention succeeds. Improvements are less likely to endure if families and residents are not meaningfully involved.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it sustainable?\u201d the TCU professor said.<\/p>\n Rosato Ford said outreach should move beyond Lake Worth\u2019s most visible traditions. Athletics, especially football, draw civic attention while academic achievements receive less, she said.<\/p>\n State appointments can replace trustees, superintendents and principals. They cannot, by themselves, create lasting community ownership, Huddleston and Bojorquez said.<\/p>\n The students who barely noticed Ramirez entering their classroom in February will return Aug. 11 under a new superintendent, a new governing board and a new principal.<\/p>\n They may not notice who governs the district. They will notice whether their teachers are supported, whether lessons help them grow and whether the adults responsible for their schools remain present.<\/p>\n The systems inside their classrooms will matter. So will the answer to whether the adults outside those rooms finally begin paying closer attention.<\/p>\n Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_6143-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Lake Worth ISD staff greet a family during the district\u2019s Aug. 1 back-to-school event at Lake Worth High School. More than 1,000 people attended, offering a contrast to board meetings where no one has spoken during public comment since the state takeover. (Courtesy | Lake Worth ISD)<\/p>\n
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Steve Lecholop, a Texas Education Agency deputy commissioner, addresses Lake Worth residents during a community meeting on Jan. 14. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260429_LakeWorthBoard-9-1024x683.jpg\")
President Tom Harris speaks with attendees after a Lake Worth ISD board of managers meeting April 29. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260429_LakeWorthBoard-11-1024x683.jpg\")
Superintendent Ena Meyers speaks with attendees after a Lake Worth ISD school board meeting April 29. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n