Former EPISD administrators plead guilty
a lon time coming. do you have anything to say to people who have been waiting for something to happen?” dr. murphy: “n comment at this time. thank you.” former e-p-i-s-d associate superintendent dr. damon murphy is still waiting to see if his trial will be moved out of town. his attorney claims the media attention will keep him from getting a fair trial. this is video murphy being walked to the federal court house after his arrest in april. with him that day, the former principal and assistant principals at austin high school. they’re accused of taking part in a cheating scheme to get higher scores on state mandated tests. they’ve pleaded not guilty. a trial date is set for august 15th. new tonight… abc- seven’s complete coverage of the district’s cheating scandal… … continues tonight with two more former e-p-i-s-d administrators in court. only this time, they pleaded guilty! that means a total of four guilty pleas out of the ten administrators charged in connection with the scandal. 61-year-old maria flores and 48-year- old vanessa foreman will have to wait until september to learn their punishment. they could get five years in prison. this morning, both admitted to conspiring to defraud the u-s … abc-7’s darren hunt was there… rick/estela, it was an emotional morning at the federal courthouse … flores sobbed for several minutes before finally admitting she was guilty: guilty: “she’s accepted ful responsibility, we just want to move forward and no further comment at this time.” “miss flores any comment? “she has no comment.” “would you like to apologize fo what’s been done?” “she has no further comment right now.” maria flores had no comment after admitting to authorizing mini- mesters for bowie high school students … allowing students who had fallen behind to earn make-up credits without doing the normal work required. “miss flores do you feel for th students that were affected by this?” both flore and vanessa foreman, have agreed to testify against others if need. foreman admitted in court to directing jefferson administrators to reclassify students and keep students with limited english proficiency out of the 10th grade, where they are required to take the taks test for federal accountability. foreman tried to cover her face with a couple of parasols as she exited the courthouse this morning with her attorney rebecca reyes. “miss foreman any comment?” “we have no comment today, than you.” “your client has accepted responsibility for what happened here?” “we have no comment, thank you. i continued to ask questions, but foreman never answered. “miss foreman do you want to sa something to the children, the students that you affected by this?” “excuse us please, no comment.” the texas education agency says foreman voluntarily surrendered her teaching certification … and the t-e-a is trying to revoke flores’ certificate. a big setback for the tigua tribe in their fight to keep gaming going. a federal
