Appointed school board managers in some of Texas’ districts under a state takeover said Friday that they are preparing to be out of a job as soon as January.

Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned to stop state takeovers in public schools and to replace Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath with an educator on her first day in office, which would be Jan. 19. The new commissioner could immediately change the governance of the eight districts that were taken over by the state because campuses persistently failed academic standards.

During a state takeover, a commissioner appoints managers who assume the authority of locally elected trustees. Hinojosa’s appointee could replace any or all appointed board managers at any time with new appointees, education experts said.

Although Hinojosa hasn’t said if or when a new commissioner would replace appointed leaders, presidents of Houston and Fort Worth ISD’s board of managers said they’re making plans now. That includes speaking with elected trustees about what transition of power would look like to ensure they best serve students, they said.

Ric Campo, the Houston ISD board of managers president, said some of the state-appointed managers plan to meet with the elected trustees Monday to lay out a “robust” plan. Campo said he’s making the assumption that the trustees must be ready by January.

“I’ve always said — in public and to the elected trustees — that we’re working ourselves out of a job, and we’re happy to do it,” Campo told the Tribune. “What we really want to make sure happens is that we have a great, smooth transition, and that the elected trustees, when they do come back, are prepared and have the information they need to do the best job they can.”

Trustees in districts under such state intervention remain in office but do not have the power to vote on anything, including to pass a budget or change board policy. The state takeover of HISD began in 2023, and Morath already planned to announce the timeline for the district to return to elected control by June.

Managers have been meeting with the trustees throughout the takeover. Now they and district staff will prepare a transition package that includes everything board members “ever wanted to know” about the district, including details on operations, transportation, human resources, classroom learning and teacher incentive pay, Campo said.

Pete Geren, the appointed president in Fort Worth ISD, said he expects that he and the other board managers will be removed soon, although he’s not sure when. He said he called the elected FWISD board president the day after Hinojosa’s election to say he plans to do “everything possible to ensure a smooth transition.”

“I know they will have the authority on day one to replace all of us,” Geren said of a new commissioner. “Regardless of when it happens, we’re in this limbo. And we can’t let being in limbo do anything to disadvantage the kids.”

Texas law requires the commissioner to take over a district after one of its campuses earns five consecutive academically unacceptable ratings from the state or close the failing school. Some have praised the intervention as a way to aggressively improve achievement for low-performing students in these districts.

Hinojosa’s win elated many teachers, parents, and community members, who said they voted for her with the hope that she would facilitate the return of local control to their school districts.

“Everybody thought this trend of the state running schools was unstoppable,” said Elizabeth Chapman, an English teacher and parent in Houston. “We anticipated that they were just waiting until after the election to announce that Austin ISD was next, and now we have an answer that the people of Texas want local control of their school districts.”

Jessi Heiner, an organizer with the Houston Federation of Teachers, said she started sobbing Tuesday evening when she learned that incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott conceded.

A change in governor “felt like it was the only way that we could get our school district back and help make sure others didn’t lose theirs,” said Heiner, a volunteer with Hinojosa’s campaign. “It felt like it was literally saving our school district and the Texas public education system.”

Under the takeover, Houston ISD saw rising teacher turnover, reporting a rate nearly double the state average in the 2025-26 school year. The share of students leaving has accelerated every year since the takeover started at a rate unmatched by similar districts, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.

Several Republicans state leaders and national education reformers have pointed to HISD state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles’ reforms as a model for improving academics for schools that are consistently struggling with student achievement, particularly among Black and Hispanic students.

Under the model, teachers face strict mandates to implement standardized, district-created lesson plans and materials, which include daily quizzes and frequent multiple response strategies. Other districts have copied those efforts.

New managers or trustees who resume control could opt to reverse any changes implemented since the takeover.

“To throw the whole baby out with the bathwater would be a huge mistake,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education think tank. “We go back to Houston’s performance before this takeover. I mean, it was abysmal for a long, long time, and so I hope that people understand we don’t want to go back to that.”

Hinojosa is interviewing candidates to be the next commissioner, although it’s unclear when she’ll announce her appointee. Morath, who is the second-longest-serving education chief in Texas history, appeared to accept his imminent departure from office in a brief statement Thursday.

“TEA’s mission of supporting Texas’ students, educators and school systems continues,” Morath said. “I’m praying for the success of our incoming leaders and am committed to ensuring a smooth and successful transition for the next education commissioner.”

Hinojosa would be able to appoint an acting commissioner immediately, but a gubernatorial appointee needs approval from two-thirds of the Texas Senate during the upcoming legislative session. If her nominee is not approved, she can appoint someone else amid the recess, who would remain in place until the Senate returns to session.

Appointed board presidents prepare for potential removal

Raymond Tijerina, the president of the appointed South San Antonio ISD board, said while he hopes the appointed board overseeing that 7,000-student district is not “yanked out,” he’s thinking about speeding up the process of integrating the elected trustees more into board operations to prepare for the possibility of his removal.

However, Tijerina said he urges Hinojosa to look at each district on a case-by-case basis before taking action. South San Antonio ISD has been “on a really good trajectory” since the state takeover in 2025, and the board could make things “work really well if we can have some more time,” he said.

Geren said he would respect whatever Hinojosa and the new commissioner decide, while Campo said he’s totally OK with the appointed HISD board being removed. While they are still in place, Campo said appointed board members would not be attempting to codify any of the reforms implemented since the state takeover.

“The board’s going to run the business the way we’ve run the business,” Campo said. “All the business as usual stuff we’re going to do, and that’s it.”

HISD officials said it would be “speculative” to discuss potential changes to the board of managers, district leadership or state oversight under a new administration.

Evan Anderson, Fort Worth ISD’s senior executive director of communications and community partnerships, said the district’s students are making “real, measurable progress.” For example, a fall benchmark exam showed student progress in every STAAR-tested grade.

“While political circumstances may change, our focus remains unchanged,” Anderson said. “We will continue to provide the highest quality education to every student in Fort Worth and keep building on the gains this community has earned.”

Multiple district officials and board presidents in districts under takeover, including Beaumont, Connally and Lake Worth, did not respond to a request for comment. TEA officials also did not respond to a request for further comment.

How could the state takeovers change in Texas?

It’s unclear how a new commissioner will interpret existing law.

A TEA commissioner determines when the board of managers’ terms expire and the elected trustees can transition back to their oversight roles. Texas law says that a determination must be made no later than the second anniversary of when the takeover began.

However, it also states that the commissioner may remove a board of managers only if the campus that was the basis for the appointment receives an “acceptable” performance rating of at least a “C” for two consecutive school years.

Morath previously said that the commissioner is legally required to announce by June 1 when Houston ISD’s transition back to elected board control would begin. For all districts more recently taken over, including Fort Worth and Beaumont, it may take longer to announce a formal transition.

One-third of the trustees would replace one-third of the appointed board of managers every year over three years once a transition begins, according to the law.

Rachel White, an associate educational leadership and policy professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said nothing explicitly prevents the new commissioner from appointing all of the elected trustees in each district as appointed managers.

The education code states that “a board of managers appointed by the commissioner must, if possible, include community leaders, business representatives who have expertise in leadership, and individuals who have knowledge or expertise in the field of education.”

Once she is restored to the board, Dani Hernandez, the elected HISD board president, said one of her first priorities is hiring an interim superintendent and beginning the search for a school leader to oversee the state’s largest district.

“We need to find a good superintendent that’s going to bring stability to the district, and somebody who’s going to listen to the community, rebuild enrollment, and focus on student performance, and, of course, the budget,” Hernandez said.

State-appointed superintendents each have contracts with their appointed board of managers, which typically outline termination procedures.

Miles’ HISD contract states that he could receive a payout of up to $924,000 and benefits if he is removed without good cause. However, he could be terminated without compensation if the board determined that he had met certain criteria, such as failing to follow the “lawful directives and/or policies” of the board.

If a superintendent decides voluntarily to leave or is removed while managers are still in place, education experts say it’s not explicit if a commissioner assumes responsibility for selecting the next superintendent or if the managers do. HISD officials told the Tribune that Miles “has no plans to resign.”

School boards typically hire superintendents. However, under Texas law, “if the commissioner appoints a board of managers to govern a school district … the commissioner shall appoint a district superintendent.”

The future of state takeover law

Hinojosa’s campaign promise to “stop” state takeovers permanently would require approval from the Legislature to change existing law.

While Texas Democrats earned a majority in the House during the midterms, the Republican majority in the state Senate could present an obstacle.

In an October hearing, senators praised HISD’s progress under the takeover with Houston, with Republican Paul Bettencourt characterizing Miles’ work as a “success by any measurement.”

In the meanwhile, instead of taking over districts that meet the criteria, Hinojosa’s appointed commissioner could opt to close the campuses that meet the threshold for intervention, which is allowed under the law.

Austin ISD triggered the law allowing for a takeover this year, and at least 14 school districts, including Judson, San Antonio and Spring, are at risk of triggering it next year.

The Commission on the State Takeover, which Democratic state lawmakers Sen. Molly Cook and Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons helped chair, previously released several recommendations for guardrails on school takeovers, including raising the threshold for triggering a takeover from one campus to 10% of a district’s campuses earning five consecutive failing ratings.

State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., a Houston Democrat who authored the initial amendment allowing the state to intervene after a single campus earned years of failing ratings, said he did not support raising the number of campuses required to trigger intervention, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Simmons, D-Houston, said she believes “it’s a red flag” for a campus to earn five years of failing ratings, and it should trigger action; however, that doesn’t necessarily require the state coming in with “a broad stroke.”

“I would love to eliminate the need (for takeovers,)” Simmons said. “I do believe that we have to have some type of remedy for school districts that are failing and having a hard time, but at the same time, I have faith in our new state leadership that will be prioritizing public education in such a way it won’t be necessary.”