EPISD trustees voted unanimously to fire two high-ranking administrators Tuesday.

The items were in closed session; board members and district personnel won't comment on the reason behind these agenda items.

District officials announced that athletics facilitator Luis Liano and one of the district's Title I directors, Vanessa Foreman, were put on notice that they are going to be fired.

The other directors, Craig Kehrwald and Diana Pena, could have potentially lost their jobs if the board of trustees voted to fire them, but it's not clear why.

An attorney for Liano and Foreman, Soraya Yanar Hanshew, believes the move has nothing to do with the district's cheating scandal.

"We received absolutely no due process so we have absolutely no idea for either client what this termination or non-renewal is about," said Hanshew.

Hanshew said both employees were placed on paid administrative leave last Wednesday.
Foreman is a Title I District School director at EPISD.

Liano is athletics facilitator, but was once a principal at El Paso High School.

He was re-assigned after hundreds of students walked off campus protesting their school's leadership.

"The only thing that we can come up with is the fact that he was an unpopular principal at El Paso High," said Hanshew.

El Paso High is one of the schools tied to the EPISD cheating scandal.

Foreman was part of the priority schools division. That aimed to help struggling schools try and meet federal and state accountability measures, a division under investigation by the FBI.

Hanshew believes the firings have nothing to do with the cheating scandal, arguing her clients are being unfairly targeted.

"I have requested just a sole three minutes per client to speak to them (board members) in regards to a correspondence that I sent to the board this week asking for reconsideration, obviously they didn't want to speak to me," said Hanshew.

Board members declined to comment to reporters after making their decision, one both Foreman and Liano plan to appeal.

"This district doesn't need any more flippant decisions without a factual basis," said Hanshew.

One big, expensive question is whether these personnel matters are tied to the now $800,000 Weaver external audit the Texas Education Administration orders the district perform to further look into the standardized test cheating scandal that continues to plague the district.

That cheating scandal moved limited-proficient English speaking students out of the district to raise scores and earned bonuses for former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia.

Also on the agenda was the effect of the sequestration on the district and another closed-door item on the district's attempt to appeal a ruling for the TEA to remove the current board of trustees.