El Paso School Board Stripped of Authority in Wake of Grade Scandal

A West Texas school board is stripped of its duties by the State.

The Texas Tribune reported earlier Thursday afternoon that the Texas Education Agency and Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams are stripping the board of Trustees at El Paso Independent School District of their authority.

This comes in response to the board not catching the plan by former Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia that removed failing students from the district or advanced them to the next grade level. Garcia is currently serving out a federal prison term of 3 ½ years due to the scheme.

"In this moment, in order to regain the full trust of this community and in order for this community to move forward, it is important to change the players in this particular game," Williams said Thursday in a news conference.

Current board members will stay in their positions, but have a 5-member board of managers watching over them. Williams also said in the news conference, “We're not going to allow cheating in this state.”

Garcia schemed to advance the students to receive more funding bonuses under the “No Child Left Behind” policy.

For more on this story, visit texastribune.org