Fort Worth ISD superintendent to resign at end of school year

FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth ISD's superintendent intended to stay with the district for at least one more full school year. But that changed Tuesday night.

Superintendent Kent Scribner announced in January his plans to retire after his contract ended in 2024. Instead, he’s now going to resign and leave much sooner in August.

A handful of people held signs calling for Scribner to resign Tuesday afternoon. They say they don’t want him sticking around until his contract ends in 2024 and want him gone now.

In a special-called meeting Tuesday, people lined up to speak out against Dr. Scribner.

"I want to urge you to be prompt with this and get rid of Dr. Scribner," said Fort Worth business owner Todd Daniel.

The special called meeting Tuesday was for the board to decide on an earlier separation between Scribner and the district amid public pressure on topics like critical race theory and mask mandates. 

"Today is a historic day ladies and gentlemen," said Fort Worth resident Carlos Turcious. "Today is the day you can finally end this era of chaos and open a new chapter."

Hollie Plemons is a parent of three Fort Worth ISD students.

"Please go ahead and let Scribner go at the end of this school year," she said. "We need to start our next school year with a strong superintendent who is going to put his political beliefs to the side and strictly focus on education."

In a roundtable with outgoing Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and former Richardson Superintendent Jeannie Stone last week, Scribner discussed why other people’s political beliefs have, in his opinion, infected school boards across North Texas. 

"From my perspective, the school boardroom has become the public square where our political grievances are aired," he said.

Plemons and others came to Tuesday’s meeting to condemn Scribner’s comments.

"For you to sit up for an hour in Dallas and lie, it was mind-blowing," she said.

Others offered perspective.

"Let’s focus on what we have in common and not what separates us," said Fort Worth resident John Hoaldridge.

After an hour-long, closed doors meeting, the school board voted unanimously to accept a resignation, ending Dr. Scribner’s tenure at Fort Worth ISD in August.

The financial details of the resignation were not discussed publicly, only in executive session. The board also voted to hire a search firm to start the process to replace Scribner.