EPISD agenda set to discuss current superintendent position

A personnel appointment for a temporary interim superintendent is scheduled as the final agenda item during the El Paso Independent School District’s upcoming Tuesday meeting.

Back in 2011, the quick exit of then-superintendent Lorenzo Garcia caught many off guard. He was arrested on federal fraud charges.

A chain reaction following Garcia’s leave put Dr. Terri Jordan, Garcia’s one-time chief-of-staff, in charge of the largest school district in El Paso.

Since April of this year, Jordan has faced a growing challenge. Outrage has grown over an alleged scandal that held back students to improve state testing at the El Paso Independent School District.

A month after the challenges facing Jordan began, board members told ABC-7 that there was no timeline to hire a new superintendent.

Isela Castanon Williams, the board president, told ABC-7 at the same time that the new hire likely wouldn’t be considered until investigations and court cases tied to EPISD were settled.

Garcia has yet to be sentenced in his case, which involved cheating the district out of thousands of dollars.

Little information has been given on the continued FBI investigation about the scandal involving EPISD schools.

It is known that Jordan’s contract was extended for another year in June.

However, that contract allows her to move back to her original position of chief-of-staff if a superintendent is hired.

There have been calls for Jordan to resign, both through editorials in a local paper and at a recent meeting.

Jordan has said little since self-reporting her district’s wrongdoing in April.

An item for a personnel move for superintendent has shown up at least once before since Jordan took over, but at that time they reset the schedule for a later date.

ABC-7 is continuing to reach out for comment from the district.