Six outside organizations want to take over or redesign existing campuses inside Fort Worth ISD, turning them into charter-style schools under state law, though the district has not picked a single building yet. The proposals range from a high school for students who have dropped out to a kindergarten program built around entrepreneurship, and none of them have a launch date sooner than the 2027-28 school year.
The six groups have expressed interest in launching new school models or redesigning existing campuses within Fort Worth ISD as charter schools, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The newspaper reports that nine organizations initially signaled interest, but two missed the application deadline and a third, the Next Education Workforce Initiative at Arizona State University, withdrew after learning more about the requirements. An earlier account from the Fort Worth Report put the number of initial indications of interest at six, a discrepancy the two outlets have not reconciled.
Who Wants In, and When
Three of the six groups are targeting a 2027-28 launch, per the same Star-Telegram report: Ridgeline Education Corporation, Lamar Legacy Partners and Texas New School Accelerator. Ridgeline has written that its school will serve students who have dropped out of high school or are at risk of dropping out, the paper’s earlier reporting on the individual proposals notes. Lamar Legacy Partners has proposed a partnership serving pre-K through second-grade students with autism and related learning needs, while Texas New School Accelerator wants to bring a project-based New Tech model to sixth through eighth graders at a Fort Worth ISD middle school.
The other three groups, The Glory Impact Center, Eagleview Leadership Academy Inc. and Live Pura Vida, are aiming for the 2028-29 school year. The Glory Impact Center’s proposal targets pre-K students. Eagleview wants to serve kindergarten through fifth-grade students in East Fort Worth, opening first with kindergarten through second grade and adding a grade each year, while Live Pura Vida would serve kindergarten through fifth graders through a model built on experiential learning and entrepreneurship.
Nothing’s Been Decided About Which Schools Move
Despite the interest, the district has not determined which schools could be restructured, Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Evan Anderson said in October, as the Star-Telegram reported. The Fort Worth Report’s reporting similarly found that the district had not set a target number of schools and had not selected any campus for redesign. Any proposal still needs approval from the state-appointed Board of Managers before it can move forward…