Viewers Continue Pelting EPISD With Harsh Feedback

Parent and teacher outrage at the El Paso Independent School District continues. Here’s a sample of some of the things ABC-7 viewers have been telling station about the sensitive data breach that left Social Security numbers of as many as 70,000 students and teachers exposed on the internet. A great deal of the frustration isn’t purely about the leak, but rather the district’s inability or unwillingness to pay any of the cost toward mitigating the potential damage. The district maintains its hands are tied. The EPISD says the Texas Constitution prevents it from paying for the credit monitoring it says the victims of its security breach need. That doesn’t sit well with many ABC-7 viewers. A Facebook poster named “Ron” said, “It’s almost like a bank left the vault door open and money was taken, and they expect the depositors to replace the money. “Dolores” said, “The EPISD needs to own up to their mistake and help fix what is their responsibility. If you want Social Security numbers of the students and staff, you have to protect that information which clearly they didn’t do!” “David” pointed out, “This is the same district that continues to pay a one-thousand dollar a month cell phone allowance to the superintendent indicted for stealing from the district.” Dr. Lorenzo Garcia is under federal indictment for allegedly rigging the bidding to award a contract to a company operated by a friend of his, in which Garcia had a financial interest, at a price greatly in excess of the contract’s actual value. Garcia actually receives a communication allowance, including cell phone, of $1,000 a month. That’s part of a larger package of continuing payments to Garcia, including his accrued leave, retirement contributions and and health and disability insurance totalling more than $26,000 per month. The feedback ABC-7 is receiving is largely very critical of the district, but not entirely. Julie takes aim at the station. “Really KVIA,” she wrote. “Are you guys that hard up for news….you guys will never be happy no matter what they do. KVIA managing editor Eric Huseby, who is the father of two children whose personal information was accessed by hackers, said, “I would be perfectly happy if the district paid for the credit monitoring it says my children now need.” Huseby has been studying the EPISD’s justification for not doing that, and has researched what happened in similar cases. ABC-7 will have the results of that research in our next report.