El Paso ISD approves outside legal contract amid public outcry over superintendent review and Lamar reopening

The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees on May 27 approved a legal services agreement with the firm O'Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo and then went into closed session to consult with counsel about the superintendent's duties and employment status.

The vote on the legal services agreement was moved by Trustee Dr. Leverage and seconded by Trustee Querier; the motion passed with a 4–2–1 outcome, recorded in public comments and board announcements as four votes in favor, two opposed and one abstention. Trustee Sutton is recorded in the meeting record as abstaining. Immediately after the vote the board closed the meeting under Texas Government Code sections 551.071 and 551.074 for legal consultation concerning the superintendent.

The decision prompted more than two hours of public comment before and after the vote, with dozens of speakers urging the trustees not to expend district funds on outside counsel or to remove Superintendent Diana Saavedra. Ross Moore, president of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers, called the contract “unnecessary and wasteful.” Cameron Sierra, a district speech-language…