Parents push for less testing, scripted learning at FWISD-led listening sessions

Members of the Fort Worth school district’s state-appointed Board of Managers have held a number of community listening sessions across the city this week to hear from parents and residents as new leadership creates goals and guardrails for the 2026-27 school year.

The listening sessions, which were announced earlier this month, have already been held at three campuses in the district, with two more scheduled for next week. District leaders have also said they plan to schedule more sessions later this summer. The first three were held at Northside High School, Southwest High School and Benbrook Middle-High School. Next week’s sessions are scheduled at Paschal High School and Dunbar High School.

The first session, held Monday at Northside High, was very lightly attended, with barely a dozen people in attendance, according to former elected school board chair Roxanne Martinez, who was in attendance for the session. Wednesday’s session at Southwest was better attended. Thursday’s session at Benbrook Middle-High was the best-attended session yet, with several dozen in attendance in the school’s cafeteria.

State-appointed Board of Managers Chairman Pete Geren and members Bobby Ahdieh and Lauren George were the only three in attendance Thursday, but other board members were present and will be present at other sessions. Also in attendance were members of Superintendent Peter Licata’s cabinet, including Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Schools Daniel Soliz.

Thursday’s session began with a quick introduction from Geren and Ahdieh before they turned it over to attendees to answer five broad questions to help the district form its vision, goals and guardrails for the upcoming school year. Those five questions were:

• What should Fort Worth ISD students know and be able to do?
• What describes a successful Fort Worth ISD graduate?
• What are the most important values of the community that the superintendent must honor regardless of pressure or politics?
• What things are happening at Fort Worth ISD right now that are working?
• What things are happening at Fort Worth ISD right now that are not working?

Unlike the public comment sessions of school board meetings, which have been overwhelmingly well-attended since the Texas Education Agency took over the district in March, there was no time limit for remarks. School board meetings have a three-minute limit.

Among the most common answers to questions about what they want to see change, attendees mentioned using less scripted curriculum, giving teachers the freedom to teach the way they want, putting less focus on exams like the STAAR and MAP tests, and improving student skills such as literacy, communication and critical thinking.

“One thing I want to change is our hyperfocus on testing,” an attendee told Ahdieh, who primarily led the session while Geren and George took notes. “Obviously, if you look at the past few years, it’s not working. So we want less focus on making sure our students are good test takers, which is the lowest form of learning. That is not teaching critical thought.”

When attendees were asked what they hope to see from future Fort Worth ISD graduates, the most common answers included seeing young adults who have sharp communication skills, are curious about life and eager to embark on a post-graduate plan, whether that be college, trade school, the workforce or the military.

The listening sessions, however, are not an opportunity for parents and community members to voice their displeasure with district leadership about specific decisions or to resolve issues on the spot. Thursday evening’s session in Benbrook was not a question-and-answer-style meeting. Board members did not provide answers or replies to most remarks. They instead heard them all, wrote them down, and will deliver them to Licata and other Board members.

The listening sessions come after the Board of Managers has made a concerted effort to create a more transparent experience for parents and the community since they were appointed by the TEA in March. The board removed its previous time limit rule at public comment sessions during board meetings when more than 20 speakers are signed up. The district also had a separate listening session at International Newcomer Academy days before the Board voted whether to close the campus.

Despite overwhelming pushback at the listening session and beyond, the board still unanimously voted to close the International Newcomer Academy.

Licata and the state-appointed board’s tenure so far has been met largely with mixed reviews across Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Despite a pointed effort to improve transparency, a large group of regular board meeting attendees see it differently. They have spent large amounts of time at meetings pointing out flaws and voicing their displeasure with decisions made by Licata.

“We have seen the term ‘radical transparency’ used by this board,” said Keith Ennis, a Fort Worth ISD parent, to the board during an April public comment session. “Answering our questions and holding to those answers is my definition of radical transparency.”

In the weeks after its first meeting, the state-appointed Board changed its meeting time from 5 to 5:30 p.m. to allow parents more time to arrive after work, added links to supporting documents that better explain agenda items and gave public commenters more time to speak at board meetings. Some parents and community members have still been frustrated.

But Thursday’s listening session at Benbrook Middle-High was notably more cordial than most board meetings, which have turned hostile and aggressive at times in recent weeks and month, so much so that Licata told attendees some things they said were “offensive” during an April 28 board meeting.

While there was visible and tangible emotion in the room Thursday, most attendees said at the end of the session that they found the dialogue to be productive. Several thanked Geren, George and Ahdieh for holding listening session.

“Things like these, this is a step in the right direction. I want to thank you all for this. And to everyone here, please be patient, even if you don’t agree with the takeover, please be patient and give everything a chance, for our kids,” a Fort Worth ISD teacher in attendance said near the end of the event.

Despite attendance improving at the sessions since Monday’s lackluster showing, Martinez told the Star-Telegram she believes they would be even better attended if the district better promoted them. Planning them at 5:30 p.m., right after most working parents get off work, also doesn’t help, she said.

“This is not a good time for parents,” Martinez said. “Like, 5:30 p.m. is not a reasonable time when you know the vast majority of Fort Worth ISD parents are working-class parents that cannot be at a meeting at that time. Secondly, they were very poorly promoted. I only saw about it one time on social media, and that was a few weeks ago.”

Fort Worth ISD’s Board of Managers will hold two more listening sessions next week. On Monday it will be at Paschal High School at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday’s session will be at Dunbar High School, also at 5:30 p.m.

This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 10:14 PM.