Internal Investigation Unveils Numerous Issues At EPISD

The list of allegations from the latest internal investigation performed at the El Paso Independent School District could likely fill an entire book’s pages.

On Tuesday afternoon, interim superintendent Terri Jordan took to the EPISD podium at the district?s headquarters and spoke for more than 10 minutes highlighting the issues that appear to have plagued the EPISD from 2008 until 2011.

?There are significant failures in our No. 1 job of educating every student,? said Dr. Jordan.

Jordan explained EPISD employees directly violated policies. During an internal investigation Jesus Chavez, the former Bowie High School principal who was reassigned to a new position on Monday, admitted to auditors that he faced ugly scenarios and was forced to violate policy due to circumstance.

Mark Mendoza, the EPISD director of pupil services, sent numerous emails to investigators that showed issues that seem to have plagued the district for three years. Correspondence recently unveiled by the EPISD show that more than 30 cases were found where students were disciplined, forced out of Bowie High School and made to enroll in alternative schools, without due process. Allegations have been made that numerous documents tied to those students? records were falsified, perhaps the most alarming discrepancy given that they?re government documents.

The most widespread issue brought up though, was erratic grade changing. According to Dr. Jordan, students were denied enrollment despite being qualified. In other cases, students were held back in ninth grade, or promoted to a higher grade, in order to avoid state testing that takes place during 10th grade.

Jordan specifically mentioned an email, later allowing her public relations director to hand hard copies of the email they obtained out to reporters, which appears to be written by Damon Murphy and orders area principals to break EPISD policy.

“A student coming in from out-of-country should be placed in ninth grade regardless of out-of-country transcript notations,” read the email. “The student may accelerate to a higher grade level based upon those out-of-country transcript notations, but not during the initial year of U.S. enrollment in EPISD. Caveat: Special Cases can be reviewed on an appeal basis to the Priority Schools Division at Central Office.”

If the email did indeed come from former associate superintendent Murphy, he was ordering area principals to directly disobey EPISD policy. Jordan called the discovery unconscionable.

“That is a stunning and deeply troubling directive from a former top official of this school district,” said Jordan.

Murphy was once an associate superintendent at EPISD, but currently serves as the superintendent at Canutillo Independent School District.

Numerous text messages, cellphone messages and notes to Murphy’s office were left inn relation to this story. His public information officer, who was returning from a business trip with Canutillo’s superintendent, spoke with an ABC-7 reporter while the two were bordering a plane to El Paso. He explained that Murphy would not be commenting, but added that the problems do not have any relation to CISD.

ABC-7 later met Murphy at the airport where he claimed he had no knowledge of the allegations, and declined comment again.

No word yet on what could become of Murphy if the allegations are true, but two top-ranking officials with the EPISD have been taken off their jobs. However, neither former Bowie High School principal Chavez nor director of EPISD’s Secondary Schools Myrna Gamboa have been fired. Both have been accused of taking part in the alleged scheme to manipulate the student population to improve test scores, but until a federal investigation is complete the two have been reassigned to administrative duties with the EPISD away from students.

Eric Winkleman, the director of Career and Technology Education and former Center of Career and Technology Education principal, will serve as a temporary administrator as students perform their STARR testing this week. The test that has replaced the former TAKS test that administrators are accused of manipulating score for in the first place.

This scandal has been brewing for some time. In fact, an internal audit alleged some wrongdoing back in May 2011. That audit, according to EPISD officials, appears to have been flawed itself. An auditor had previously written about 24 cases in which students advanced from ninth grade to 11th grade stating: “By the time Mexican credits were entered, the students had also earned additional credits. The students were then properly promoted to 11th grade because they had the required credits.”

Jordan said those statements seem to gloss over the illegal practice of holding Mexican students back in ninth grade for their first year at Bowie High School, in direct violation of EPISD policy.

To remedy the situation the EPISD has requested the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to appoint a administrative partner that would work with interim superintendent Jordan to make sure the district is accurate in grades and placement. They have also started a new hot line for teachers, students, and parents to report issues to anonymously: 800-621-8591, and they’re requested the U.S. Department of Education review a federal accountability award given to Bowie High School in 2009.

A TEA spokesperson said that it is rare for a district to request such personnel, and is usually a punishment levied by the TEA as opposed to a request. However, it is not unprecedented, though there are varying degrees of the type of personnel they can offer. In most cases a person is assigned to a district, although the cost of the employee would be footed by the EPISD if approved.

While it appears steps are being taken by Jordan and her staff to correct the issues that allegedly hampered the previous administration, questions remain about what she knew, and when.

Jordan served as the chief of staff under former EPISD superintendent Lorenzo Garcia. Testimony Jesus Chavez gave during the most recent audit shows that she even visited Bowie High School to discuss the issues with the school, and helped bring additional guidance counselors to the school to straighten out problems.

On Tuesday she faced tough questions from members of the media about whether she reported information she discovered to the federal authorities. Rather than answer questions directly she gave blanket statements.

When asked directly what she knew, and when she replied, “All the documents requested by the federal government have been provided. Again, I worked with the information I had access to and was provided.”

Asked again whether she was a) aware of any criminal actions, and if so b) when did she report it, she said, “I have cooperated completely with federal authorities. I am the interim superintendent, I will continually work aggressively to find the answers to all of our questions and take appropriate reactions as it becomes available to us.”

Despite her lack of clear answers to the questions before her, Jordan continually spoke about being transparent and creating trust. After she left the room, School Board President Isela Castanon Williams, who served a portion of her term while the alleged activities had occurred, was asked whether she had faith in Jordan given how close she was to the previous administration. Williams paused for at least five seconds before responding, “yes.”

The federal investigation, which involves the U.S. Department of Education and the FBI, is still ongoing.

Bowie High School was the only high school discussed at the news conference on Tuesday, however, allegations have existed for years about Bowie and other EPISD schools. Former state senator Eliot Shapleigh accused Bowie of wrongdoing since 2008. He also accused Austin High School of the same infractions.