Parents react to Fort Worth ISD naming lone finalist for superintendent
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth ISD students, parents, and teachers are learning more about the district's next leader.
The Fort Worth ISD school board unanimously named Dr. Angélica Ramsey as the lone finalist for superintendent.
"I think Dr. Scribner left big shoes to fill, but there's always room for improvement," said Christina Juarez, whose son attends a FWISD elementary school.
Many parents CBS 11 talked to on Wednesday hadn't yet heard the announcement, but they said they hoped the future superintendent would keep the focus on helping students recover from the toll COVID took on their education.
"Just kind of get them back from the pandemic style of learning when they were virtual," Juarez said.
Parent Heather Walters expressed a similar sentiment.
"They do Saturday school, and they work with them one-on-one," she said. "Just hoping it gets better for the students because it's been hard for them after COVID hit."
Also at the top of these parents' list of priorities for Dr. Ramsey: supporting teachers, keeping schools safe, and improving academic outcomes.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker is calling on the community to rally behind the district as it begins this new chapter.
"Now is the opportunity to move forward, and build on the upward trajectory, and be a transformational leader, which I believe she will be," Mayor Parker said.
Not everyone agrees.
"I do not have confidence Mrs. Ramsey will bring transformational change for FWISD," said former FWISD student Carlos Turcios. "FWISD has made a mistake picking Mrs. Ramsey as our next Superintendent. Mrs. Ramsey will be supporting all of the equity Critical Theory policies that Superintendent Scribner has pushed since Mrs. Ramsey wrote a 191 page dissertation in 2013 about Latina Critical Race Theory. We will continue attending the school board meetings, protesting and pushing back against policies that are divisive."
Turcios is planning a protest against the district's pick on Sept. 27th.
At Tuesday night's board meeting, Ramsey denied she would push critical race theory in the district.
"I do think in this situation, specifically with this superintendent, it's been completely blown out of proportion in my understanding," said Mayor Parker. "Look at her record of academic success as a teacher, as an administrator, as a leader, and this is not a focus for her. She's focused on the right thing."
Dr. Ramsey says her focus in her first few months on the job will be to meet as many people in the community as she can to start building bridges.
"Hopefully people are open and welcoming," Walters said.
She'll start her new job in a few weeks.
