Lake Worth sees low interest as state-appointed board of managers deadline ends

The application deadline for the Lake Worth school district’s state-appointed board of managers passed Friday after it was extended 20 days due to a low number of applicants.

Just 14 people applied for the state-appointed board of managers, with more of those applicants living outside the district than inside of it, according to data provided by the Texas Education Agency.

Ten applicants reside outside the Lake Worth district, and four live in the district. Five applicants have a bachelor’s degree, three hold a master’s, three have a doctorate, and one holds an associate’s degree, TEA data shows.

Thirty-one percent of applications have or have had students who were enrolled at Lake Worth, and 31% are or were employed by the district.

Lake Worth’s applicant total is significantly lower than other districts that had a state-appointed board of managers application period in recent months and years. Fort Worth, which closed applications for its state-appointed board of managers on Dec. 1, had 286 total applicants. Lake Worth is exceptionally smaller, with a student population of around 3,300, according to district data.

Lake Worth’s low application totals come after parents of students who attend the district told the Star-Telegram that one of the main issues plaguing the struggling district is parent apathy and a lack of overall involvement.

Lake Worth’s school board, which will be replaced by the state-appointed board after the interview process concludes, has seven seats. Half of those who applied will earn a seat on the board, if another application window is not opened.

Candidates will be interviewed for Lake Worth’s board March 2-13 and TEA Commissioner Mike Morath will decide who will be named to the board shortly thereafter. There is no official timeline for Morath’s decision.

TEA took over Lake Worth in December when Marilyn Miller Language Academy received a fifth consecutive F grade by the state in its yearly accountability ratings. That triggered a Texas law allowing Morath to replace the school board and superintendent and name a conservator to oversee the takeover process. Morath has already appointed Andrew Kim, a former superintendent who is a co-conservator at an El Paso area school district, as Lake Worth’s conservator.

Lake Worth’s seven school board members unanimously voted at a meeting last month not to appeal the TEA takeover, instead blaming itself for taking “too long” to name a superintendent when the search began in September 2024. The board did not hire Superintendent Mark Ramirez until May 2025.

Had the current board appealed, it would have delayed the state-appointed board of managers process even further.