Sen. Shapleigh Announces Next Town Hall to Reform EPISD

Read the court document of charges against Lorenzo Garcia, the disgraced, indicted and convicted ex-Superintendent of the El Paso Independent Public School System. In spite of all we know and all that the El Paso Times has brought out publicly, the EPISD School Board voted unanimously yesterday to direct attorney, Tony Safi, to get clarification from the Texas Attorney General's Office regarding audits and the Texas Open Meetings Act. (EP Times story.) Not just a majority of the board seeks to continue this Nixonian policy of cover-up - but a majority.


The incompetence and seeming complicity of the EPISD Board of Directors is the reason to get behind the reform efforts of former Senator Eliot Shapleigh. Sen. Shapleigh sent out the following email announcing another citizen's event:

Dear Fellow Paseños—

Wow! What a great town hall at Valle Verde! That story by Bowie teacher Pat Padilla on how her students got ‘disappeared’ at EPISD made me really want to do more. So many more teachers, students and parents are now coming out with their stories.

Let’s do our next Town Hall — mark your calendar now -- UTEP on August 2^nd at 5.30 at Union Cinema. Strap on your chanclas—and let’s get going!

Over the last few days, dozens of you have helped on a petition, work on a website and share great ideas about great schools. Let’s first thank all the great students and teachers at EPISD for a job well done. But let’s roll up our sleeves now to un-do the monumental mess Lorenzo Garcia made at our largest district.

If you want a road map to corruption, here is Garcia’s federal information. [Court document link above] When school starts, our job is to stop the corruption, kick out the culprits and restore great education to a great district.

Join me at UTEP, Thursday, August 2^nd at 5.30p at the Union Cinema. Please, send this email to ten of your friends—don’t wait. Do it now. And on August 2^nd give each a call to get them to UTEP.  Better schools start today.

For all of us, for all our children and grandchildren, it’s worth the fight!

Eliot Shapleigh

Proud Paseño  

The sustainability of our City depends on an educated citizenry. Poorly managed, EPISD must be reformed now. Changes must occur now. Transparency must be paramount.