El Paso Trustees Appeal Removal From School Board

Two West Texas legislators have testified in favor of the state's removal of trustees from a district mired in a testing scandal that sent an educator to prison.

A state hearing officer in Austin is expected to rule March 6 on an appeal by El Paso Independent School Board members.

Sen. Jose Rodriguez and Rep. Marisa Marquez spoke Thursday in support of Education Commissioner Michael Williams. Williams in 2012 named a conservator to oversee the district and appointed a board of managers to replace the trustees.

EPISD attorney Tony Safi says trustees cooperated when the Texas Education Agency lowered the district's status to accredited-probation.

Written closing arguments are due Feb. 19.

Ex-superintendent Lorenzo Garcia pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced last fall to more than three years in prison.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.