EPISD Board President: No Failure In Oversight Of Garcia

The El Paso Independent School District is attempting to rebuild its reputation and gain the trust of the community.

Thursday night, Interim Superintendent Terri Jordan refused to answer questions about former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia’s guilty pleas to a pair of conspiracies to defraud the district.

Phone calls made by ABC-7 to six of the seven Board of Trustees members went unanswered.

Board President Isela Castanon-Williams agreed to an on-camera interview.

She said it’s Board of Trustees policy that members not talk to the media unless they are instructed to.

“Most of the time it (interviews) goes through me, unless it’s an issue that has to do with a particular district then I try to yield the floor to that particular trustee, but I am the voice of the board,” said Castanon-Williams.

The EPISD Board of Trustees is meant to oversee the work of the superintendent.

Castanon-Williams said there has always been a great deal of oversight in the duties of the superintendent.

“I don’t feel there was negligence on the part of the board, this board asked questions and at all times this superintendent provide answers and explanation,” said Castanon-Williams.

Dr. Garcia admitted defrauding the district by steering an overpriced contract to a girlfriend’s company and manipulating standardized test scores to fake improvements that brought him financial incentives.

As the district moves forward they want to make sure that students, parents and employees of EPISD are never lied to again.

“I would personally apologize to them at this moment and time. This is an incident that should not have occurred,” said Castanon-Williams.