The Texas Education Agency said 196 people attended at least one day of training to become takeover managers.
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If you find an error, email Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath watches a group of seventh graders read a poem in Fort Worth ISD’s William James Middle School on Aug. 28, 2025.The Fort Worth Report obtained and verified a list of 180 applicants who attended mandatory governance training hosted by the Texas Education Agency. Eleven people on the list confirmed they applied to be a manager and attended the training. This marks the first public disclosure of those seeking to be a manager for the nearly 70,000-student district. Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky said the selection process remains ongoing and that 196 individuals attended at least one day of training. The list obtained by the Report did not include names of the remaining 16 people. The list has been narrowed down to 21 candidates, said Tom Harris, a Hillwood executive vice president who is among those advancing to the next round. The smaller group recently attended additional training sessions, he said. Harris applied because of his work through the Mayor’s Council on Education & Workforce. He said he’s a public education advocate whose children graduated from public schools, but he’s also seen local schools struggle. “I’ve been here for 36 years, and some of the public schools have been underperforming that whole time,” said Harris, who has worked closely with Fort Worth-area school districts at Hillwood. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is still deciding who he will appoint to the board. Morath is expected to announce those appointments and a superintendent in the coming weeks. The managers will replace nine locally elected trustees and have the authority to set policy, budgets, property tax rates and more. Their goal: Bring about immense academic improvements across the district after a Another applicant said he applied to bring financial and staffing expertise to the district’s turnaround. Curtis Mahanay, a Fort Worth resident and former budget manager for St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota, said he attended the state’s two-day governance training but did not advance in the selection process. He said the takeover will require deeper alignment of budgeting, staffing and student needs. “Effective district leadership requires integrating finance, staffing and student priorities,” he wrote in an email to the Report. “Governance is necessary but not sufficient.”, arguing the materials were part of a “pending audit” tied to the Fort Worth ISD takeover and, therefore, exempt from disclosure under state law. Agency officials sent the request to the Texas attorney general’s office for a ruling.Joe Larsen, a Dallas attorney who represents media organizations in public-information disputes, said he has never seen applications for appointed public officials treated as audit working papers.Once the state decides to take over a district, the audit that led to that decision is over, he said. What comes next — selecting new leadership — is not an audit, he added. Larsen said transparency is especially important when appointed managers will exercise the same authority as an elected school board. “The whole point of a takeover is to restore public confidence,” he said. “The only way you do that is by bringing the public on board.” Applicants come largely from within district boundaries — 112 with identifiable ZIP codes live in FWISD — with the highest concentrations in west and southwest Fort Worth ZIP codes such as 76109, 76107 and 76110, according to a Report analysis. FWISD resident Dainer Williams wants appointed board members who serve for the district’s diverse communities and lead with empathy — and transparency. They must have a mission to improve academics, she stressed. “I teach kids in my youth ministry, and a lot of them can’t read or write,” Williams said. “We got to get on our grind.” Adrienne Haynes, a mother in the district, wants the same, along with managers who are diverse and relate to the communities they will serve.this month. You have unlimited free articles remaining because we don't have a paywall.Independent Texas reporting needs your support. The Texas Tribune delivers fact-based journalism for Texans, by Texans — and our community of members, the readers who donate, make our work possible. Help us bring you and millions of others in-depth news and information. Will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount?Texans need the truth. Help us report it. Independent Texas reporting needs your support. The Texas Tribune delivers fact-based journalism for Texans, by Texans — and our community of members, the readers who donate, make our work possible. Help us bring you and millions of others in-depth news and information. Will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount?
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