The Fort Worth ISD is now officially operating without a leader. Superintendent Angelica Ramsey officially resigned at the end of September, and the school board has yet to name someone to temporarily take over.
Ramsey officially cleaned out her office at Fort Worth ISD headquarters on Monday, leaving the chair empty per her resignation deal with the school board, which was approved last week.
While the board seemed laser-focused on quickly removing Ramsey from that chair, they’ve made no public moves on putting anyone else in it.
Two sources close to Fort Worth ISD’s leadership told NBC 5 that none of the deputy superintendents, Karen Molinar, Muhammad Choudhury, or Kellie Spencer, have met with the board or been given any direction as to how the district is supposed to run with Ramsey gone and no new leader named.
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Board President Roxanne Martinez didn’t sit down for an interview with NBC 5 but did send us an email saying,
“A special meeting has been called for Oct. 8, at which time the Board will hold discussions and possibly consider taking action on the appointment of an interim superintendent. In the meantime, the district’s leadership team will continue to manage day-to-day operations in accordance with established procedures.”
The decision to operate without a captain may have been in the plan all along. Mayor Mattie Parker, who seems to be operating in close contact with new school board leadership, mentioned this gap in district leadership the morning after Ramsey resigned.
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"The most important first next step is to appoint that interim superintendent which I think they'll do that in the next, I think, three weeks is what I'm hearing," said Parker that morning.
Current and former superintendents told NBC 5 that a three-week period without a superintendent, while legal, is very unusual; almost all boards announce it at the same time a superintendent steps down.
Ramsey, meanwhile, moves to a new position with the district. What exactly that is, what her duties are, and who she will report to are all unclear as the district has yet to release the terms of the resignation agreement.
NBC 5 has filed a freedom of information request for that agreement and expects to receive it this week.
