During a special board meeting on Tuesday, the Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees announced the lone finalist for superintendent. This move triggered the legally mandated 21-day waiting period before the selected person can step into the role.

Board President Tobi Jackson explained on August 30, “We are excited to name Dr. Angelica Ramsey as the lone finalist for superintendent of the Fort Worth ISD. She will bring her many amazing leadership qualities to our district and to the benefit of our greater community.”

When the scheduled time came for public comment, many citizens voiced their opinions for and against Dr. Ramsey.

Steven Poole, the United Educators Association executive director, stated, “With every new superintendent brings new hope and new opportunities.”

Poole continued, “If we want successful students, we need successful teachers, and for teachers to be successful, we need successful schools, and for all of that to occur, we need our superintendent to be successful.”

Public comments were divided between support for the new superintendent and disagreement with the choice.

Meredith Bowman is a parent of students in Fort Worth ISD and a teacher for Fort Worth ISD. She stated, “I am here this evening to speak to you about my concerns on this lone candidate for the superintendent position.”

She brought up that Dr. Ramsey had only acted as a superintendent for Midland ISD for a little over a year. Suggesting, “That’s very little experience for a smaller district, compared to Fort Worth ISD being a large district.”

Estella Williams, however, thanked the board for conducting hearings to get community input. “Thank you, board members, for listening and hearing those comments that were provided by some of us.” She continued, “Thank you for considering an individual who recognizes the importance and also embraces inclusion, diversity, and racial equity.”

After a brief recess, the board reconvened to officially vote and announce the result. Dr. Ramsey was accompanied by her husband, sister-in-law, and niece.

When given an opportunity to speak, Dr. Ramsey first thanked the board “for the exhaustive process that you went through.” She introduced her family and stated, “I just want the community to know that I’m thrilled to be here.”

“I will be brief and just say that I work for children with all of you, and I mean that we need to work together.” She expressed the intention of “hitting the ground running, getting into schools, meeting with our support staff, meeting with our students, our parents, our teachers, our community members. … everyone that plays a role. That is so important, to ensure that every single child graduates from Fort Worth ready for that next step, whether that’s college, career, [or] military.”

The superintendent finalist added, “I want to provide a voice to all of those … including students that have not felt like they’ve had that advocacy.”

After the waiting period, Ramsey will officially begin her role as superintendent, likely earning over $300,000 a year based on prior salaries for the position.

Future Superintendent Ramsey will face a considerable challenge as students in Fort Worth ISD have struggled to meet learning standards recently. In 2019, only 35% of students met grade level requirements in the STAAR test. By 2021, however, that number had cratered even further to a scarce 25%, according to a report by the Texas Education Agency.