Fort Worth ISD superintendent finalist Dr. Angelica Ramsey discusses plans for the district

FORT WORTH, Texas - While it’s not yet official, it appears an educator known for turning around underperforming schools will be Fort Worth ISD’s next superintendent.

Earlier this week, the district’s trustees voted unanimously to name Dr. Angelica Ramsey as the lone finalist for the superintendent position.

She is currently the head of Midland ISD. Prior to her being hired in Midland in 2021, she served school districts in California and gained a reputation for helping campuses show improvement.

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Dr. Ramsey will replace Dr. Kent Scribner, who left his role since 2015 this week.

When asked about her plans for the district, Ramsey said her first step will be meeting with all the stakeholders about what she considers three important questions. 

"The first question is, ‘What do we do well in Fort Worth ISD?’ ‘What do we need to change?’ is the second. And the third is what commitment can we have from that person or group or partnership organization to help us improve," she said. "We know that we want to continue to propel academics. That’s at my forefront – student’s first. And then we also need to look at our budget and we need to continue that successful bond program."

Recently released national test scores show the pandemic has had a huge impact on learning. The National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years.

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Ramsey said there are a lot of components to that, most importantly recognizing that students need to be taken care of.

"Within Fort Worth, the work has begun on multi-tiered systems of support that really looks at both the academic and the behavior side at the same time," she said. "We need to make sure that our students feel safe, healthy and connected at school and that they’re ready to learn."

There is a lot of acceleration that needs to happen and Fort Worth ISD needs to ensure that its teachers are equipped in new and different ways, Ramsey said.

"Typically what we ask of our teachers is to get students to learn material for an academic year. Now after the pandemic, it’s different. We’re asking them to also close the gaps of the loss that happened during the pandemic. And so, supporting our teachers, listening to them about what their needs are and then finding ways to assist our students as they continue to accelerate that growth," she said.

Politics continue to weigh heavily on school districts across Texas. For the past year, nearly every Fort Worth ISD school board meeting has included comments from angry or frustrated parents with political passions.

Dr. Ramsey said she plans to spend her first 100 days focused on teachers and students, but also has specific plans to talk to parents.

"I provided the board with an outline of how I really wanted to spend my first 100 days. In that, it’s talking to all stakeholders and having conversations with our students, our parents, our teachers, our support staff, our community, our business community, philanthropy, also our church leaders. It’s really important to talk to everyone and get a 360 view about how they feel about education," she said.

She said she’s eager to get started and hear from parents about their expectations, despite some drama from parents who think she may push topics they don’t like, like diversity and inclusion.

"You guys didn’t listen at all. You wasted tens of thousands of dollars and tons of time from parents that showed up to the superintendent search meeting," Fort Worth ISD parent Hollie Plemons said during the public comments portion of this week’s school board meeting. "The results came in, and we do not want it."

Ramsey said she values everyone’s opinion because she knows they all want the same thing – what’s best for the children of Fort Worth.

Trustees will make a final decision on her hiring in September.