The Texas Education Agency’s appointed conservator for Wichita Falls ISD, Karen Garza, recently spoke at a School Board meeting for the first time, and she was on hand to hear how board members assessed a number of key topics.
Garza took to the podium to introduce herself to the trustees and outline some of what her presence and influence in the district will look like.
Garza has been an educator for 40 years and will be working on behalf of the Texas Education Agency to ensure WFISD’s progress stays at an acceptable level, she told trustees April 20.
She said her main focus is on increasing student achievement and academic outcomes. Garza said she plans to be in the district at least every two weeks, traveling up to Wichita Falls to attend School Board meetings, speak with administrators and visit classrooms.
In her presentation, she shared that the typical length of a state-mandated conservatorship is at least two years although TEA Commissioner Mike Morath assesses progress every 90 days.
WFISD Superintendent Donny Lee said, “Also her role, more specifically, is to take the systems that we have now, build upon or improve them if possible and expediate the change. That’s her whole role — faster.”
Garza said she intends to work closely with the School Board and with district administrators.
If for any reason she feels the district is not progressing or is resistant to changes she deems necessary, Garza has the power to replace any or all school board members.
But Lee said the chances of that happening were miniscule.
“That’s scorched earth. That’s if we’re not doing something,” Lee said.
But WFISD is making many efforts, so the possibility of that happening “is literally zero,” he said.
“That’s just on if she said, ‘Hey I’d like to see this,’ and we said, ‘We ain’t doing none of that,’ and we’re not making progress,” Lee said.
In a meeting that lasted over an hour and a half, the board also discussed and listened to presentations on a new use for soon-closing Jefferson Elementary, ways to combat falling attendance and enrollment, and a state grant that aims to boost district math scores, among other topics.
YMCA proposes partnership
Wichita Falls YMCA President and CEO Jon Dearolf spoke to the board at length about a proposal for a WFISD-YMCA partnership. He outlined a plan for the YMCA to lease what is currently Jefferson Elementary School from the district for use as an early learning center prioritizing pre-kindergarton kids.
Jefferson Elementary will be closing soon, and its students are set to go to McNiel Elementary School. The former middle school is planned to open as an elementary school in August.
Dearolf told the board that, at full capacity, the YMCA could serve 350 pre-school children, in addition to another 250 school-age kids in after-school programs.
Lee said he thought the partnership might be a win for everyone.
“That aligns with our objective of ensuring that all of our students are college ready, career ready, military ready, but they need to be kindergarten ready. So they get them ready at an early age,” Lee said.
Trustees spoke positively of the proposal, citing increased school readiness and the opportunity to keep a facility from sitting vacant as positives.
Superintendent’s report
Lee gave a superintendent’s report during the meeting. One of the key topics he and the School Board discussed were the lingering issues surrounding average daily attendance and enrollment. Enrollment in the district has declined steadily over the past decades.
Lee said in 1980, the district had over 22,000 students enrolled while current enrollment now at 12,289.
In a preliminary look at budgeting considerations for the upcoming 2026-27 school year, Lee shared that the district is projecting an additional 2% enrollment decline, which would equate to around 249 students.
He said losses stem from a variety of factors, such as economic factors and more options for parents to choose from including homeschooling, private schools, surrounding districts and the Premier High School, a charter school.
“It’s just more competition now, and we have to be able to compete and out-compete those around us, offer a better product,” Lee said.
Another area Lee touched on in his report was that WFISD has the largest special education population by percentage of any of the 100 largest districts in the state: 20.5% of WFISD students are special ed students.
“It’s hard to say why we’re number one. A lot of parents hear about the amazing programs we have . . . . They say, you know, ‘We want to send our kid there. We know they’ll be taken care of,'” he said.
“We have the only deaf and hard-of-hearing program in the region at Cunningham. They want to send their kid to school here. So when you have good programs, you’re going to get a mass following,” Lee said.
Grant for math help
Kristi Dorman of Carnegie Learning also presented to the board Monday night. The TEA recently awarded WFISD a Leadership and Foundational Instructions for Texas grant to provide $794,000 over three years to improve student math outcomes. WFISD selected Carnegie Learning as the grant servicer.
Dorman said the work will target middle school and high school algebra classes in addition to helping to set up professional learning community supports at Fain and Cunningham elementaries.
School Board members also approved contracts for renovations at Zundy and fresh paint at Booker T. Washington.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls ISD’s conservator explains her role
Reporting by Cecil Witherspoon, Special to the Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
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