Complaint: Fort Worth seniors told to drop capstone projects for class they didn’t need

Barton Scott, the department head of Career and Technical Education at Young Men’s Leadership Academy in Fort Worth, filed a whistleblower complaint against the school district in September with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.

In it, he accused the Fort Worth school district of requiring students to take an occupational safety course that is not needed in their industry and profiting off of students by receiving bonuses for their achievement as part of a Texas Education Agency program. In interviews following the complaint he said the district is funneling at-risk children into low-skilled jobs instead of preparing them for higher-paying careers.

The district has vehemently denied the allegations, stating that the course offered was optional and given due to the ability of students to earn a certificate online — key during the disruptions caused by COVID-19. The course also did not apply to any bonuses received under the TEA program, according to district officials, who said the program was designed to expose students to a variety of careers.

District officials dismissed a grievance filed by Scott that included a copy of the whistleblower complaint for lack of standing and lack of timeliness, according to documents reviewed by the Star-Telegram.

He brought his concerns to the school board directly at the November board meeting on Tuesday night and met Thursday with Superintendent Angélica Ramsey, who Scott said was looking into the course and would follow up with him next week.

Complaint centers around OSHA course

Some seniors’ hopes of finishing their capstone projects were dashed during the pandemic, Scott and other former CTE teachers said, as they scrambled to complete a 30-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration course intended for managers overseeing work sites. The changes didn’t impact their graduation plans, but still upset the students, according to the teachers.

During the 2020-21 school year, senior students at specialized high schools across Fort Worth ISD were turning to capstone projects that would encapsulate everything they learned over the last four years, giving them the opportunity to create a new product, pitch a business model and more depending on their program.

One student planned on using their engineering skills to create a product that would help people in wheelchairs, including their mother, Scott told the Star-Telegram and wrote in his complaint.

Then, in early April, teachers learned of the lengthy course required to earn the certificate. The capstone projects were put aside, they said.

“There would have been no way for them to finish given the amount of time left in the school year and how much time was required to complete the OSHA course,” Tina Vasquez, a former CTE teacher, said. “There were a few hard conversations that I had to have with students.”

“Students were upset about having to abandon projects that they were working on that we’ve been doing all year and we didn’t get to finish,” she added.

That outcome was not intended by the district, said David Saenz, the district’s chief innovation officer. The OSHA course was offered as an option to schools after principals shared concerns about seniors graduating amid COVID not having any certifications due to the disruptions and school closures, he said.

“Was it required? No, it was an opportunity for them to do it,” he said. “We buy the licenses, so we told them, here is a way that you can offer the test, here’s a cadence in which you can offer it, but no one was asked to cancel certain courses or cancel something else to do it.”

The course was not offered at YMLA that year after a discussion with the principal, Saenz added.

The schedule, which was outlined in emails to teachers reviewed by the Star-Telegram and described different options based on when students began the work, included the possibility of students working on weekends and after school if they were unable to complete the full course in class. The start date was listed as April 5 in the email, attached to the complaint.

“If the student were to work one hour per weekday they would complete the 30 hours sometime around May 31st,” the email said. “If they add extra time (at lunch, after school, at home late at night etc.), they would complete the 30 hours earlier.”

In addition to the amount of time the course took, Scott and other teachers questioned the necessity of the course, and the motive behind offering it.

Dept. head alleges district ‘profiting’ off students

In his complaint and interviews, Scott said the course given to students was not aligned with the various careers the program at YMLA was supposed to be preparing students for, and instead matched with lower-skilled jobs.

Scott, who started his education career as a middle school science teacher in Grand Prairie before becoming a CTE instructor, said he spent years building up the program at YMLA into “easily one of the best in the Metroplex.”

Much of that work went toward getting students on track to enter careers that were high-paying and skilled, something he sees the current program and the leadership of Saenz as reversing.

“I fought to get us away from repair jobs,” he said. “And now six years later, when I’ve got one of the best programs in the state, he wants to take our kids back to repair jobs.”

That, along with a financial incentive are the motive behind offering the class, Scott alleged.

The TEA offers incentives of up to $5,000 per student that could go to a district to help fund programs and teacher salaries if students are able to excel on academic tests like the ACT or SAT as well as meet other requirements, like receiving a certification or college degree.

“Fort Worth Independent School District leaders ... intentionally forced high school students to take a 30 hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification course beginning in March of 2021 and this continues to this day,” Scott wrote in the complaint. “The primary purpose of this program is financial gain and is based on the Texas Education Association’s launch of a new College Career and Military Readiness Outcome Bonus which would begin with seniors who graduated during the 2020-21 school year.”

Saenz said the OSHA course was not used for the bonus program and that no funds have been received because of it.

The Texas Education Agency has also unlisted the OSHA 30 program as being eligible for the bonuses for failing to meet the definition of a certification. The program will sunset after two graduating classes.

Funds that have come from the bonus program in general go back into helping students, Saenz said.

“Any funds that come to the district go directly back to the students and the teachers in those programs in some way, shape or form,” Saenz said. “So the district can see funds, but I think the good news is that the state has said if you’re successful with your students, we will provide some funds so you could continue that success.”

“We as employees, like the district, myself, we don’t get bonuses. That’s not like the corporate world — it all goes back into the programs,” he said.

In complaints to a principal prior to the whistleblower complaint, Scott said the bonus was the “real intent” of the course and accused the district of using “cloak and dagger” tactics to hide this from the parents and students.

Teachers have also questioned the necessity of the course.

Teachers say course wasn’t needed

Another longtime CTE teacher who has since left the district, Edith Lawson, said she has long had concerns over OSHA courses being offered where they were not necessary or relevant for the careers students were going into.

“The course actually does not align with any curriculum that we have,” she said. “It’s something added, it’s not part of the program.”

Over her career as a CTE teacher, Lawson said, she worked to help place students in a wide variety of jobs.

“I helped the gentleman get jobs at Lockheed Martin, Bell, Textron and other various different companies,” she said. “I would put them through the hiring process and everything, and OSHA, when I talked to all these different companies, OSHA is helpful but not needed.”

Lawson said that the certification could, however, account for up to 10 cents more per paycheck in certain jobs.

Saenz said the certification is a “stackable credential” that students could put on their resume, and use to continue building skills as they enter the workforce or continue their education.

While some states, unions and companies require the training, the course is not something that is required by the the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the namesake of the course.

In a statement the agency said the course “does not meet the training requirements contained in any OSHA standard.”

The federal government does not mandate OSHA Outreach Training Program participation, according to the agency.

Teachers question separate partnership

Scott and other teachers shared concerns about the direction in which the CTE program at YMLA is moving, pointing to a partnership between Fort Worth ISD and Texas Instruments, one of more than 30 industry partners that work with the district to provide career and college training, mentoring, job-site visits and more. The collaboration is with the entire CTE department at YMLA and one other school and is not related to the OSHA 30 course.

According to a memorandum of understanding, the program is designed “to support the academic needs of all students in earning a high school diploma, an associate degree, and the work experience needed to be a highly qualified candidate for career-track employment in the Construction field.”

That includes arranging site visits, advising on curricula and certifications, outlining the key skills students will need to work and succeed in positions and more.

The company said in a statement that it has similar relationships with universities, school districts and educators across the country.

But Scott said that from his perspective, the company is preparing students for blue-collar jobs, instead of higher-paying jobs that they deserve.

“TI is driving the boat, they are picking the degree plan, they’re picking the certification plan,” he said. “They’re taking kids of color and routing them into blue-collar jobs.”

Scott said the district was also buying calculators they didn’t need from TI in relation to the partnership, something both the company and district denied.

“As one of several companies that Fort Worth ISD partners with, we advise on needs for the workforce of the future and provide students exposure to potential STEM careers and opportunities for work-based learning,” a Texas Instruments spokesperson said in a statement. “There are no requirements to purchase TI technology as a condition to our participation in these endeavors.”

Saenz said the accusations by Scott were misinformed, adding that there is work being done to assure alignment between courses at the high school and several colleges.

Saenz also said that TI is just one part of the collaboration, which also includes administrators and teachers helping guide the program and its contents.

Scott, who said he expects to and is willing to lose his job over the complaints, wants the district to better align classes with the programs students choose, remove the OSHA program and reorient programs toward higher-paying jobs.