As Fort Worth ISD implements a turnaround plan to boost student achievement and revive community relationships, a 26-year district veteran is leading the charge. As interim superintendent for about two months, all eyes have been on her and her initiatives to get the district moving in a positive direction. But what experiences and roles has she served in leading up to this crucial time in the district? Interim Superintendent Karen Molinar first joined the district in 1997 when she started out as a teacher at Washington Heights Elementary. More than two decades later, she took over the helm of the district in October after the resignation of former Superintendent Angélica Ramsey. Ramsey faced backlash after Mayor Mattie Parker and several community leaders voiced their concerns about the state of the district and its academic performance in late August, calling for a “bold, unified approach” to turn it around. It remains to be seen if Molinar will stay in the position permanently as the school board has yet to release a plan for a superintendent search, but her time in the position is valuable nonetheless, as pressure mounts on the district to redeem itself primarily in its stagnant academics.

A familiar face, Molinar has been viewed as a source of stability as a hectic fall semester pushes farther into the rear view while community members are eager to chart a new path forward.

So, how did she climb the district’s ranks?

Molinar has held 12 different positions district-wide in the past 26 years. She taught first grade, fourth grade and fifth grade with a focus on reading, language arts and social studies at Washington Heights Elementary. Moving across the country alone for the job, she said, it took time to adjust to the general responsibilities of working full-time in a classroom her first school year, but the mentorship she received from colleagues helped her settle in.

“I just had great mentors to help me really become used to not only the curriculum and the materials and instructional delivery, but also the logistics of teaching,” she said. “It was more after-school training and Saturday training that teachers could sign up for. Being a first-year teacher, I went to everything. Young, single, I didn’t really know anyone here, so I did a lot of extra professional development myself on the weekends.”

Six years later, she stepped into an assistant principal role at Bonnie BraeElementary after being encouraged by the then-Washington Heights Elementary principal to apply for an aspiring administrators program allowing her to obtain her master’s degree and do a second-year residency as an assistant principal. Once accepted into the program, she helped oversee the Bonnie Brae campus the first year it opened, she said.

“As a first-year assistant principal, finishing my master’s, going to class, I was also helping the principal open a school,” Molinar said. “I really think learning to be a teacher and how to balance many things kind of prepares you for your next role every time.”

After a couple of years at Bonnie Brae, Molinar temporarily left Fort Worth ISD for one year for a different assistant principal job in Delaware before returning in 2006for the same position at MG Ellis Elementary, which only served pre-K and kindergarteners. She had been familiar with traditional elementary and middle school ages, so the sole focus on the district’s youngest students was new territory, she said. But she would soon receive her next promotion to principal the following school year at Oakhurst Elementary — her first experience as a leader who would have the last say.

“You are the face of the school and the leader,” she said. “When there were hard decisions to make or situations occurred, you knew, ‘Whatever I decide, I have to own this. I’m accountable for all of these students and teachers and parents.’” 

When Molinar stepped into higher, district-level roles beginning in 2010, her commitment to supporting students and staff remained the same, said Marta Plata, former district principal and current executive director of student and family experience. Plata had first worked with Molinar at MG Ellis Elementary when Plata was an early childhood specialist and Molinar was an assistant principal. Later when Molinar became a school leadership director and Plata became principal ofManuel Jara Elementary, Plata remembers Molinar showing up for her campus in unexpected ways.

She recalled a difficult time when one of the teachers was killed in a car accident, and initially there weren’t enough people available to cover for the staff who wanted to attend the funeral that was scheduled on a Friday.

“As I was trying to figure it out, here comes Karen with other directors that she had brought with her to take over the classrooms,” Plata said while holding back tears. “I will never forget that because it’s one thing to lead with your mouth and another thing to lead by example. I saw her heart, and she wasn’t so high up in the ranks thats he forgot what it’s like to do the work in the trenches.”

From 2010 to the present, Molinar’s promotions translated to a larger network of responsibilities, communities and staff members for whom she was responsible. As director of elementary school leadership, she was assigned to about 20 to 25campuses and supported principals through evaluations and professional development. As assistant superintendent for learning network 1, she supervised directors who oversaw elementary, middle and high school campuses. This position introduced her to the nuances of high school, she said.

“High school is just different,” Molinar said. “The master scheduling, just all the(University Interscholastic League) requirements for sports and athletics. Their day looks very different, and instructional delivery is very different for high school students versus a middle school or elementary — a little bit more independent, and where the teacher is more stand and deliver versus more of the collaboration you see in elementary, where the kids are working more in group settings and the teachers more facilitating.”’

Continuing forward, Molinar’s positions took a birds-eye view structure, addressing policies and initiatives in the district as a whole. She worked with the district’s leadership team and collaborated with the school board as former SuperintendentKent Scribner’s chief of staff from 2018-2020. She then became the head of the leadership team as deputy superintendent in 2020, positioning herself two steps away from district leader.

“I’ve been very lucky (and) worked under multiple superintendents who have given me opportunities that I never, ever would have dreamt of having — to be sitting here from a small, east coast town in Delaware to leading this district right now. I’ve had a lot of great mentors that have been in and out of my life, so I’m lucky for that,” she said.

Community relationships

Facilitating community relationships is among Molinar’s current priorities, and during the Dec. 10 school board meeting she announced a challenge for local organizations to support school staff as part of their New Year’s resolutions. From January to May, they’re encouraged to do a monthly act of giving such as providing snacks and supplies or donating awards to recognized staff.

Natalie Young Williams, executive director of the Tarrant To & Through Partnership, said Molinar has worked with the organization for years to help manage its programs dedicated to post-secondary success for district students. The organization, also known as the T3 Partnership, provides college advising to help students meet college and career readiness upon graduation and also distributes scholarships to qualifying graduates who attend one of the organization’s partnering higher education institutions.

“Dr. Molinar definitely has the commitment to the district and has been committed to student outcomes (and) community engagement for the entirety of her time within Fort Worth ISD or the time that I have been engaged with her in Fort WorthISD,” Young Williams said. “We’ve certainly, truly enjoyed partnering with FortWorth ISD and being a collaborator. So not just us investing in, financially, the support of the district, but really being a partner in shared outcomes.”

T3 Partnership already has a strong existing relationship with Fort Worth ISD, which extends to providing support to staff and sponsoring recognition events, but it plans to extend further in needed areas in response to Molinar’s New Year’s call-to-action.

“We are going to join as a part of the 2025 New Year’s resolution challenge and partner with Dr. Molinar to extend the scope of our program,” Young Williams said.“We are definitely all in to support that effort because we are committed to the partnership and want to make sure that the entire team at the schools and middle schools that we’re working with know that we recognize their commitment to the success of all Fort Worth ISD students.”

Sara Redington, chief philanthropy officer for the Miles Foundation, said Molinar has been involved in the collaborations between the foundation and the district for at least a decade. Notably the Parent Pass app, which provides parents with tools to find child care, local schools in their neighborhood, after-school programs, local events and additional community resources. Parents can also receive notifications specific to their child’s school district, such as a school closings or an upcoming school fair. Redington said Molinar and other district leaders were eager to collaborate and issue information parents needed about their school through the app.

“When Dr. Scribner was here, we really leaned into a whole community approach, wrapping around our students and families. Our Parent Pass app that we developed has been integral in working with Fort Worth ISD. Karen has been at the table for those conversations of how we reach families and help boost their family engagement strategy,” Redington said.

The foundation has appreciated Molinar’s dedication to the district and ensuring every child reaches success, Redington said. Her acknowledgment of the district’s literacy crisis while taking actions such as providing additional tutoring and support to students by mobilizing central administration staff and ensuring after-school programs are being utilized are expected to make a difference for students, Redington added.

“She really has a heart for the work, and we’re so excited that she’s in her interim role as interim superintendent, and she has the opportunity to finally step up as the primary leader setting the vision for the future of Fort Worth ISD,” she said. “She’s making tough decisions that are in the best interest of serving Fort Worth ISD students, and that is the bold leadership we need at this time.”

All of Molinar’s roles and corresponding years, starting with her current position, are: 

• Interim superintendent, 2024-present
• Deputy superintendent of administrative services, 2023-2024
• Deputy superintendent, 2020-2023
• Chief of staff, 2018-2020
• Chief of elementary leadership, 2016-2018
• Assistant superintendent for learning network 1, 2014-2016
• Director of leadership and learning network 1, 2011-2014
• Director of elementary school leadership, 2010-2011
• Principal, Oakhurst Elementary, 2007-2010
• Assistant principal, MG Ellis Elementary, 2006-2007
• Assistant principal, Bayard intermediate (Delaware), 2005-2006
• Assistant principal, Bonnie Brae Elementary, 2003-2005
• Teacher, Washington Heights Elementary, 1997-2003