Below are the citizen focus group comments.

GROUP 1

STRENGTHS

1. Cost of living is great/low cost of housing – no state income tax
2. Community feels like this is “home” - people move here and stay
3. Great schools
4. Teachers care about students.
5. Small town feel, but in a large city that offers lots of options
6. An original Michelangelo, strong commitment to the arts
7. Partnerships with city and community organizations – ex. after-school programs
8. Great educators
9. History of sitting down and talking with each other, working things out
10. Good students
11. Higher education opportunities - TCU, SMU, Texas Wesleyan, Tarrant county Community College, etc.
12. Churches, faith-based organizations are supportive
13. Generous with time, money, ideas – active participation
14. Neighborhoods are close-knit, creating small town feel
15. Traffic isn’t bad in Fort Worth.
16. Nice outdoor features – parks, hiking trails, etc.
17. Welcoming community
18. Safe place
19. Diversity, able to go to different areas of town and ethnic neighborhoods and feel accepted
20. Powerful sense of belonging – people feel included and participate
21. Vibrant city and open to change
22. Great labor pool of young people with good education and training, many want to be teachers
23. Low taxes – Texas is a state to work in, not necessarily to retire in
24. People from many other countries
25. Public transportation is good.
26. Free resources – events, parks, community centers
27. Large job market
28. Good restaurants
29. Urban district, but size is still small enough that superintendent can make an impact
30. Community college system
31. Revitalization of older close-in areas
32. Always moving forward, innovative
33. Excellent healthcare facilities
34. Very engaged business community
35. Low crime rate

CHALLENGES

1. Strong perception and appearance of friction and fracture with board of trustees, making it hard for educators, sense of personalities and personal issues taking priority over school and students
2. Dropouts, students who are negatively influenced
3. Trying to get the different neighborhoods to work together for the good of the entire city
4. School board arguing among themselves too much
5. Getting more parents and volunteers engaged and involved
6. Building stronger relationships at the campus level
7. Friction and issues between campuses and central office – too much “us” and “them”
8. Need to get more people actively involved and voting in school board races
9. “We have seen the enemy and it is us” – splits on the board discourage many candidates
10. FWISD needs to be the school of first choice for people in the community, not 2^nd or 3^rd choice.
11. Achievement scores lagging behind other urban districts in Texas
12. Perception that central administration supports some schools and high schools more than others
13. Teen pregnancy, providing opportunities to keep young girls in school
14. Political climate on board, not focusing on what is best for kids, too much in-fighting
15. Need more consistency in curriculum and programs
16. Getting trustees more involved with parents and community organizations
17. Educating voters
18. Need for transparency
19. Drugs and drug use in schools
20. Positive active teenagers
21. Problems that adults don’t see, need to listen to students about what is really going on in schools
22. Stress on organization because of dysfunction at the top
23. Repeated changes at the top force teachers to “restart” every couple of years with some new initiative
24. Interest in charters and private schools, FWISD not the first choice for too many people
25. Great differences and disparities in FWISD, hard for one plan to fit all
26. Huge differences in resources between schools in different areas of town
27. Ability of PTAs/PTOs, business partners, etc. in some schools to raise resources not available to other schools
28. Lack of discipline in some schools, gangs, crime on campuses
29. Bullying – persistent and pervasive, 30% of students are bullied, policy needs to be implemented, need clear message from the top
30. Some neighborhood schools simply are not good, students choose to go elsewhere
31. Parent accountability – what can teachers and principals do when parents don‘t do their jobs?
32. Dealing with growing challenges at same time as resources declining
33. Curriculum frameworks need expertise
34. No hall monitors in schools
35. Allowing kids go off campus at lunch, this is when drug use frequently occurs
36. Without discipline in classrooms and on campuses, it is hard to accomplish what we want to do for kids
37. Lack of support for teachers
38. Lack of enforcement of uniforms
39. Lots going on in students lives outside of school
40. Need for new communications vehicles, use of social media to reach parents and communities
41. Need for parent-teacher contract
42. Lack of parent involvement
43. SATs/ACTs – kids don’t know how to sign up, how to pay for it, etc.
44. Start too many things, don’t finish them or see things through
45. Buck doesn’t stop with the superintendent, buck has to stop with the trustees, trustees too involved in mechanics and minutia of issues instead of focusing on policy for whole district
46. Non-English speaking students and parents
47. Discord and division on board sometimes sown by superintendent, this flows both ways
48. Good people want to work for good people, board as an entity has to be the kind of body that good superintendents would want to work with

PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Teacher and principal experience
2. Experience with diversity
3. Out-of-the-box thinker
4. Educator experience
5. Doctorate preferred
6. May be from a corporate background
7. Buys into Bill and Melinda Gates model
8. Ability to manage money
9. Business person
10. Recent strong curriculum experience and expertise
11. Successful current superintendent, not on-the-job training
12. Bilingual is a big plus
13. Experience in different cultures and countries
14. Not tied to dysfunction currently in the District
15. Must have passed superintendent’s exam
16. Private sector experience
17. Financially savvy
18. The face of and spokesperson for the FWISD
19. Brutally efficient delegator to, and evaluator of, personnel
20. Ability to motivate, inspire and uplift people
21. Doctorate in curriculum and instruction
22. Master communicator
23. Strong communication skills

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Sense of humor
2. Builder of leadership capacity
3. Love of children
4. Outstanding listener
5. Intelligent
6. Passionate
7. Understands minorities
8. Open and strong
9. Stable home life, personal life
10. Team builder
11. Willing to make hard decisions
12. Ship isn’t sinking, but it isn’t headed in the right direction, need someone from outside FWISD
13. Strategic
14. Open-minded
15. Good role model
16. Creative, out-of-box thinker
17. Inspiring personality
18. Welcomes diversity
19. Someone from within FWISD who can start off immediately, not take a long time learning and getting up-to-speed with FWISD
20. Someone who truly champions strong leaders and principals, who highlights others
21. Proven track record of success

GROUP 2                  

STRENGTHS

1. Community involvement and collaboration
2. Has all the amenities of big city
3. Churches
4. Culture
5. Wealth and resources
6. Diverse culture
7. District and city give our students every shot possible at success
8. Commitment to every student
9. Community support for all students
10. Business backing of initiatives
11. Philanthropic city
12. Opportunities for students
13. Great pride in city and school
14. Choice in educational programs
15. Business and faith-based communities support
16. Structure of FWISD is strong
17. Environment that can set all students up for success
18. Health care community
19. Centrally located – no income tax, climate
20. Reasonably priced housing
21. Stable economy
22. Low traffic congestion
23. Much opportunity for improvement
24. Small town feel
25. Cultural aspects of Fort Worth
26. Museum district, zoo
27. Hometown atmosphere
28. Always seeking improvement
29. Friendliness
30. Low crime
31. Warmth of citizens
32. Community colleges, universities
33. Strong economic base
34. School district recognizes talents of all students
35. Programs of choice – school offers options
36. Dedicated teachers
37. Collaborates well with public/private foundations
38. We meet problems head on
39. System is better than community gives it credit for being
40. Connections in community are strong
41. School board and city council meet together

CHALLENGES

1. School board needs to work together better.
2. Focus has to be on students
3. Community expectations for district have slipped
4. School finance challenges
5. Communications from superintendent to board and public at large
6. Demonstrating quality outside of ratings
7. Differentiate between “sizzle” and “steak”.
8. Change negative attitudes toward schools.
9. Who is going to run schools?
10. No vision in the school district
11. School board operations in catastrophe
12. Let diversity of community be a unifying effort
13. Community has to be more mature
14. More accountability at all levels
15. Better PR on what students are doing well
16. Tapping into community resources
17. Redistricting
18. Budget challenges
19. Visibility on budget metrics
20. New assessments
21. Getting past “good old boy system”
22. Size of district
23. Having a plan of growth for employees
24. How to deal with shortfall
25. Communicate and leverage strength of community
26. Working with a divided school board
27. Lack of infusion of poorer community
28. Failure to recognize success of FWISD graduates
29. School board as a leader
30. Parent engagement
31. Large economically disadvantaged population
32. Engaging entire community
33. Streamlining process to assist schools
34. Recruiting and retaining quality administrators
35. Honoring diversity
36. Divisiveness
37. Balancing financial needs
38. Closing district achievement gap
39. No record of academic success for African American boys
40. System needs a close look
41. Teachers lack of confidence in administration.
42. Disconnect between teachers and administrators, particularly in Southeast Fort Worth

PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Fort Worth educator
2. Knowledge, experience and success in managing a large school district
3. Communicator
4. School finance
5. Solid understanding of educational policy
6. Builds coalition
7. Committed to arts
8. Technology, embrace innovation
9. Familiar with district
10. Teacher
11. Success in turning school system around
12. Experience running a large system
13. Focused on instruction
14. Successful background
15. Doctorate
16. Conflict resolution
17. Experienced superintendent
18. Proactive risk taker
19. Experiences in urban area, start by looking within the district
20. Superintendent who understands alternative education
21. Broad base knowledge of school district functions
22. Superintendent certification
23. Knowledge of state
24. Permanency
25. Strong background in curriculum and instruction
26. Strong interpersonal skills
27. Clear vision
28. School law and finance
29. Proven ability to build a consensus
30. Career educator – teacher, principal and up

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Servant leader
2. Ethical
3. Determined
4. Communicator
5. Long suffering
6. Personable
7. Patient
8. Integrity
9. Conviction
10. Common sense
11. Courage to make difficult decisions
12. Collaborative
13. Leader
14. Committed
15. Risk taker
16. Passionate
17. Inspirational
18. Loyal
19. Strength based
20. Motivator
21. Perseverance

GROUP 3

STRENGTHS

1. Great teachers
2. Friendly city
3. Puts students first
4. Robust, fast growing community
5. Vibrancy, you can do it here
6. Approachable, accessible place to live
7. Committed educators
8. Parent involvement, at least in certain areas
9. Business community involvement
10. Diverse population
11. Educational opportunities
12. Opportunity for leadership
13. Community support for new superintendent
14. Something here for everyone
15. Sense of community around schools
16. Generous business community
17. Great students
18. Every school in district can succeed
19. Lots of small schools provide opportunities to develop student leaders, professional staff leaders
20. “Can do” attitude
21. Fantastic support system – teachers and principals support each other
22. Respect for diversity
23. Sophisticated commitment to the arts
24. Faith community is involved with schools
25. Compassionate community
26. Everyone has a place.
27. Commitment to opposing bullying
28. Good school board that works well together
29. Big city with a small town feel
30. Old time values
31. Neighborhoods
32. “We’re not Dallas”.
33. Friendly place to live
34. Marvelous hospitals
35. School-based health clinics
36. Access to DFW Airport
37. Higher education opportunities
38. Museums and zoo
39. Arts organizations all have an education component.

CHALLENGES

1. Bilingual program
2. Serving all students
3. Decision making on political issues
4. Image problem for public schools in FWISD
5. School board support of new superintendent, need to bring board members together to work for all schools
6. School funding
7. Special education program is in serious trouble and needs immediate attention.
8. Getting Anglo, Hispanic and African American groups to work together, not pull in different directions
9. Need to support staff, make sure district employees get treated fairly and consistently
10. Need for more parental involvement, including non-English speaking parents
11. Central staff seems entrenched, not willing to change – ex. – District Improvement Plan has same three goals as before.
12. Too much testing of students, benchmarking
13. Adult Basic Education cut because of funding concerns
14. Increasing support among people who don’t have kids in FWISD -  we are all in this together, must see educating students as priority for entire community
15. PTAs/PTOs need more support
16. Low performing schools – cheats some students out of their education
17. Have/have not image, disparities between schools
18. Lack of leadership within board,  not be so politically motivated
19. Each area has different issues and needs
20. Can’t do things the way we have always done them
21. Behavior on school board, on verge of fracture, a broken system, dysfunction that FWISD has not seen
22. Getting board to function as a board
23. Diversity – can be a strength and challenge
24. State funding as standards increase
25. 780 in administrative directory, not working in schools, ratio is too high
26. Student discipline, sense that schools aren’t safe
27. Disparity between skills of graduates and needs for entry level jobs
28. Drugs and alcohol use among students is huge, what we are doing isn’t working
29. What is measure of success for superintendent?
30. Span of authority isn’t consistent with span of responsibility/accountability.
31. Lack of a global perspective, not teaching kids today for world of tomorrow

PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Professional educator
2. At least 10+ years classroom teaching
3. Financial experience and management expertise, business common sense
4. Proven success in parental engagement
5. Experience with diversity
6. Willing to tackle difficult issues, do what needs to be done to benefit students
7. Successful principal
8. Someone who can hire well, who can put the best team together
9. Experience and professional training in curriculum development, K-23
10. Someone who is still learning, who doesn’t think they know it all
11. Experience with CATE
12. Charisma
13. Community driver
14. Able to do a needs assessment
15. Fundraising, grant writing experience
16. Doctorate preferred
17. Experience in similar district
18. Successful experience as superintendent in comparable district
19. Team building skills
20. Urban school superintendent experience – dealing with low SES students
21. Leader
22. Creative
23. Visionary
24. Not a micro-manager
25. Must care about kids more than anything else
26. Someone who values arts and wants well-rounded students
27. Bilingual

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Outgoing and approachable
2. Integrity
3. Friendly
4. Great communicator
5. Friendly
6. Passionate
7. Creative thinker
8. Ethical
9. Charismatic visionary
10. Proven leader
11. Fearless and devoted
12. Delegator
13. Open and transparent, no backroom deals
14. Compassionate and understanding
15. Faith
16. Humble
17. Bilingual
18. Trustworthy
19. Open door policy with principals
20. An ethical true leader, someone people with follow
21. High energy, tireless
22. True believes in education
23. Someone who can influence community to see things differently
24. A questioner
25. An advocate for teachers and parents
26. Enough self-assurance and confidence to be able to trust others to do their jobs well and hold them accountable

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL

1. Mr. Dansby should be the new superintendent. He was at several schools the first day of school. I think he is just what this district needs. Someone who knows what is expected of the students and teachers and can help facilitate all schools to be tops at the TAKS.  I am a parent and a volunteer at the school my daughter attends.  Thank you for your time.
2. Because the student population in the FWISD is now over 80% minority, I recommend that the new Superintendent also be a minority, either Hispanic or Black.
3. That individual must possess good communication skills and have experience as a Superintendent or as an interim Superintendent in a school district of similar size (in student enrollment) or a slightly smaller one than FWISD. He or she must have a record of success in the current or last job held.
4. The Hispanic or Black person selected must have experience working with students and parents of  Mexican-American origin in a district where they constitute a majority, as they do in the FWISD. For example, someone from New York City (who may be  Hispanic) with experience working with Puerto Rican students, whose culture is different from the Mexican-American culture of Texas, the southwest or California would not be a good fit and should not be considered for the job. The new Superintendent will be a role model for students and parents whose participation in the education of their children will be of outmost importance. I want to emphasize that communication with parents will be of outmost importance in the success of their children. Parents must play a much larger role than they are now in the education of their children.  In many instances that communication with parents will have to be in Spanish so it's important that a candidate be fluent in that language. A candidate of Mexican-American origin not fluent in Spanish must not be considered for the job.
5. The Superintendent candidate must have a clear vision of what needs to be done to improve the district and be able to clearly articulate that. Some programs at FWISD are working and should be continued or expanded . Others are not working and should be modified or discontinued. Decisions made should be based on data and facts.  Changes in policy should be well articulated.  The person selected must have a good  level of knowledge of successful programs elsewhere.  He or she must be able to recognize and understand the problem areas that exist currently in the FWISD.  That person must be ready to implement a plan of action in a short period of time, or explain the reason why not. In other words, the candidate must expect to, as they say, "hit the ground running." But, I want to emphasize the need for a candidate to have a short and long range VISION.
6. The importance of the recommendations I've made should be considered in their chronological order.  In other words, recommendation 1 should be weigh more than 2 and on down.
7. It's time for the FWISD to break new ground by going in a different direction and naming a minority as its Superintendent. Look no further than Dallas as an example of an ISD where a man of Mexican-American origin achieved relative success. Educating over 80,000 students (mostly of Mexican-American origin) will be a challenging task. It will take a special person to lead that effort. I am convinced that person is out there ready to accept the challenge. We as a community must find him or her and make the right hire. If we don't, all of us, regardless of race or ethnicity, will pay the price.
8. 8.      I love this school district. I believe we have outstanding teachers and an excellent curriculum. There is one thing, however, that we don’t have….
9. 9.      We don’t have discipline. We need a Superintendant that will adopt a zero-tolerance policy for those students who CONTINUALLY disrupt our classrooms and destroy our teaching/learning. We need someone who will REMOVE these students from our classes. We need a school for children with behavior issues. (It needs to be a permanent situation because these children do NOT change their behavior… no matter what programs have been tried.)
10. 10.  There is a Federal law that says our students have a right to learn uninterrupted. Yet, day in and day out, disruptive students prevent others from learning. I believe this is WHY our test scores are not where they should be.
11. 11.  No discipline problems = higher test scores!!!
12. 12.  The city of Fort Worth continues to grow both in population and economically with a number of corporate companies making Fort Worth their home. Fortunately, the district has positively benefited from the growth.  The district has attained partnerships with the business community and local universities.  In addition, the district has also created and implemented innovative programs, as well as, acquired grants and additional funds for FWISD’s most struggling schools.
13. 13.  The District is at a crossroads and must continue to change, just as the world changes around us. Although entering college may not be a first choice for all, our students should be afforded the opportunity to be graduate ready…prepared to enter college. At this time, only a few schools in the district are providing the opportunity to participate in STEM programs, specifically through the Gold Seal Program of Choice, but again, it is not provided district-wide and limiting the number of students who are exposed to and such a progressive form of education. Therefore, district students should not only be provided with the core academics, but should also be provided with skills to think critically, work collaboratively, and utilize technology to achieve academically. Cultural diversity is profound within the district. Students attending a school with a diverse population are provided with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the perspectives of those from different backgrounds. The positive factor of cultural diversity is that the student has the opportunity to learn to function in a multicultural environment.  Unfortunately as Fort Worth grows and becomes more diverse, we are encountered with the difficulty of finding best practices to help all students succeed academically regardless of culture or ethnicity.  FWISD is challenged to find teacher’s who understand the whole student.  As undergraduates, potential teachers are provided with course work/student teaching as part of the training to work with diverse groups.  Unfortunately, the training is sometimes not enough to help the teacher adequately deal with the challenges of teaching a diverse student body. Ultimately, when dealing with a multicultural district the following challenges come to mind: 
14. 14.  Disparities in outcomes for different groups--what measure are the district taking to close the gap?
15. 15.  How does the district address the needs of diverse groups?
16. 16.  What is the make-up the teachers and their aides?  Are a sufficient amount of teachers that the students can relate to?
17. 17.  Candidate should be a visionary, compassionate, and have political savvy.
18. 18.  The candidate must possess a sense of personal humility – give credit when credit is due and take responsibility in times of failure.
19. 19.  Candidate should demonstrate he is a team player.
20. 20.  The candidate should be able to organize people and resources to successfully reach goals.
21. 21.  Candidate should be fair and honest when making important district decisions.
22. 22.  The candidate should mentor future outstanding administrative and teaching staff to empower the entire district. Candidate should present determination to assure that the organization performs at the highest level of achievement.
23. 23.  The candidate should be able to demonstrate self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
24. 24.  Candidate should have an unimpeachable moral character.
25. 25.  Candidate should possess responsibility for leading a large, complex organization, or major division within such a district.
26. 26.  Candidate should possess experience with and demonstrate an understanding of work in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment.
27. 27.  Candidate should demonstrate the ability to communicate publicly actively participate in dialogue with a wide array of district employees, parents, students, and others who may assist in building a stronger district.
28. 28.   The candidate should demonstrate success in leading at least one large-scale, sustained, system-wide improvement effort in the private or public sector.
29. 29.  Candidate should demonstrate success working with a board of directors, and understanding the respective roles of the district board and administrators.
30. 30.  The candidate should demonstrate support for strengthening the performance of urban public education system.
31. 31.  The candidate should possess experience working with first-generation, low-income and students with disabilities…learning or physical.
32. 32.  The candidate should possess knowledge of federal funds and interested in writing grants for additional funding for underperforming and/or low-income populated schools.
33. 33.  The candidate should possess the desire to find equity between the rich and poor areas of the district.  Gifted students and struggling students should be afforded the same opportunities with the same resources.
34. 34.  Candidate should possess experience as a superintendent of a public education district or as the leader of a major system within such a district, and a demonstrate capacity to generate significant improvements in student.
35. 35.  In identifying personal and professional characteristics, it is also important to document the more obvious desired characteristics: academic credentials, length of experience, budget issues, and achievements at other school districts.  It is also important to state that although there is no way to avoid politics, the candidate should be first an educational leader, someone who will not be afraid to make hard decisions because they are the right decisions, not because they are giving in to political pressure. The candidate should be an individual who is afraid of failing a child in a district that ranks below , , , Burleson and Joshua ISD’s. 
36. 36.  The candidate should have the best interest of the professionals he will lead…a personal interest should be invested in making sure each of the district employees are doing their very best…power in numbers.  With this said, the candidate should also provide a philosophy of education that promotes authentic learning, where both student and teacher use the curriculum as a base which encourages the student to explore and develop through his/her experiences in the classroom.