The Lake Worth ISD says its conservator has appointed the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning to serve as acting superintendent until someone is hired to permanently fill the role. According to the district, Trent Dowd will serve in the interim role until the Texas Education Agency appoints a new superintendent to replace Dr. Mark Ramirez, who announced he would retire after less than a year on the job. Dowd shared that he is honored to serve in this capacity and looks forward to continuing the important work already underway across the district. He emphasized that Lake Worth ISD will keep students at the center of every decision. In December 2025, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath ordered the appointment of a conservator and a board of managers to govern the Lake Worth ISD after several consecutive years of failing ratings at the Marilyn Miller Language Academy. When a school in a district fails to meet accountability standards for five consecutive years, the TEA is required by state law to intervene in what is commonly called a “state takeover,” where the commissioner must either close the failing school or replace the district’s elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers. In December, the TEA said that, in addition to the academy’s fifth consecutive unacceptable rating, every campus in the district earned either an F or a C, with five earning Fs and one earning a C. The district currently has five of its six campuses rated academically unacceptable for consecutive years. In January, the TEA named Andrew Kim the district’s conservator after saying, “Lake Worth ISD has demonstrated a chronic inability to support students to learn and achieve at high levels.” In its letter to the district, the TEA added that “across all grades and subjects, only 22% of students in Lake Worth ISD are meeting grade level. This is 28 percentage points below state average.” Lake Worth Jan 9 Who is Andrew Kim, Lake Worth ISD's new conservator? Lake Worth Jan 8 Former superintendent named conservator to oversee Lake Worth ISD, TEA confirms Lake Worth Dec 17, 2025 ‘I'm disappointed,' Lake Worth ISD Superintendent reacts to looming TEA takeover ...read more read less