Changes Fort Worth ISD can feel: newly appointed superintendent defends decisions
Peter Licata had nothing to do with the Fort Worth Independent School District before his appointment as superintendent less than two months ago. He's a Florida native now tasked with turning around the "worst" urban public school district in Texas.
"If Fort Worth was a better place, I wouldn't be here," said Licata. "You have to make some significant changes right away to really set the standard."
Big changes happened fast.
Almost immediately after Licata and the nine appointed Board of Managers took their seats, a new campus model was introduced.
It's called ELEVATE, and it aims at giving more resources to the 19 lowest-performing campuses in the district.
Each ELEVATE campus receives $2.5-$3 million in additional funding. That includes higher teacher pay starting at $100,000, more technology, and Licata said higher printing costs to return to the basics.
"My first day, I was in a classroom, and teachers were asking students to log on," said Licata. "The next thing you know, the student is five minutes into it and can't still log on. It delays student learning. We will have the backup and support of paper."
There's also been a change to staffing at the teacher level and in leadership positions. Licata said he needs the best teachers at these campuses. Many were let go and told to reapply, and that's put a strain on morale.
"People aren't always going to tell you they are worried about their jobs," said Licata. "Rarely, they are going to look at you and say that. I did have a few folks say 'thank you' and 'we really needed this push,' and with that comes anxiety, and we know that."
Other moves that some in the community have scrutinized involve closing the International Newcomer Academy, a campus dedicated to emerging bilingual students, and restructuring dozens of roles district-wide. Some of those roles were for emergent bilinguals and special education.
Licata emphasized that they are scaling back those roles now to build them back stronger.
"We encouraged everyone to reapply, but we had to start from zero," said Licata. "We could not just cherry-pick; we want this person, not that person. We had to start from zero. We are going to be hiring even more services."
When asked about the criticism he is facing for making these changes, he defended the measures, saying the goal is to help the students.
"The backlash is the backlash," said Licata. "I don't believe I'll have 100% of followers liking what we do, no matter what we do, but I do know that the intention here is to make sure we are not the worst urban district in Texas. We will be the best."
