New Leaders Take Charge in Fort Worth, Lake Worth Schools

0:00It's March 27. You're listening to El Paso News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey with the story. Two North Texas school districts are under news day control after the Texas Education Agency stepped in due to failing academic standards. Fort Worth Independent School District and Lake Worth Independent School District both saw leadership shakeups this week as the agency moves to. Improved student performance. And Fort Worth, the agency removed the previous superintendent back in early March and named Peter Lakata as the new leader. Lakata joins from Florida when he turned around one of the largest districts in the country to earn top marks for the first time in 14 years. The agency also appointed a nine member board of managers with former U.S. Army Secretary Pete Garen as president. Local leaders see this as a fresh start after years of poor results. Eleven schools in Fort Worth carry failing grades and only about one in three students reads at grade level. District officials admit

1:00they've let kids down for over a decade and now aim to make it the best in Texas. Over in Lake Worth, the change came from within as the agency tapped assistant superintendent Trent Dowd as acting leader. The prior superintendent retired amid the takeover. Both districts have battled low-state ratings and reading struggles for years. Lakata starts on a 21-day contract pending board approval with leaders vowing tough work ahead to put kids first and lift standards across the board.