Advisory Committee
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee is a formal advisory committee to the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees. The DEI Advisory Committee will work to lead the process to enhance community, staff and student racial awareness and to cultivate an environment of understanding unique similarities and differences. See the committee's charge below.
Committee Members
DEI Advisory Committee Members
Staff
Barton Creek ES | Kate Ricter |
Bridge Point ES | Sawyer Severance |
Cedar Creek ES | Shannon Foley |
Eanes ES | Reshmi Johnson |
Forest Trail ES | Savannah Garcia |
Valley View ES | Caroline Varner |
Hill Country MS | Corey Green |
West Ridge MS | Jennifer Hutson |
Westlake HS | Florencio Gonzalez |
Parents
Barton Creek ES | Hugo Aguilar |
Bridge Point ES | Jonathan Pearce |
Cedar Creek ES | Darshana Kalikstein |
Eanes ES | Sang McDonnell |
Forest Trail ES | Ben De Leon |
Valley View ES | Anita Lakshman |
Hill Country MS | Rev./Dr. Carolyn Helsel |
West Ridge MS | Dr. Monique Pikus (Co-Facilitator) |
Westlake HS | Jeff Newberg |
Students
Hill Country MS | Emma Filly Sara Sanders Suman |
West Ridge MS | Liberty Johnson Kennedy Synan |
Westlake HS | Charlotte Blais Tahlia Burns Wonder Kahozi Gianna Woodson |
Community Members
Prianka Ghoshal
Beth South
Principals
Elementary | Lesley Ryan |
Secondary | Dianne Parks (Co-Facilitator) |
Central Administration
Heather Meek
The Committee Charge
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee is a formal advisory group reporting to the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees. The expectation is that committee members will serve for two years though that may be extended. Specifically, the DEI Advisory Committee will work with the district and EISD staff on providing input on the list below. The DEI Advisory Committee will provide a report to the Board at least annually.
Each of the bulleted items is intended to reference all of our students, including but not limited to those who have been marginalized due to their racial, religious, gender, cultural, ability, or economic status:
- Continuing to grow community, staff, and student engagement in building a community of trust
- Cultivating an environment of understanding our unique similarities and differences
- Improving access and increasing belongingness of all students
- Providing advice to the district leadership on staff development needs in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Assisting in facilitating conversations with the district and larger community around efforts to improve school climate through providing an environment that is welcoming to all
- Providing input on making changes to policies and practices counter to building a community of trust around awareness and access and belonging for all students
- Providing perspective in hiring practices to support goals on equity processes and outcomes
- Providing perspective on curriculum recommendations to ensure that all students have access to information that will prepare them to meet the goals in the EISD Graduate Profile, including:
- Valuing cultural and linguistic diversity
- Working collaboratively with persons of varied beliefs, interests, and backgrounds to build consensus
- Respecting self and others equally
- Understanding the interconnected nature of our global community
- Respecting differences
- Understanding world issues and current events
This charge may be expanded, condensed, or constrained from time to time at the sole discretion of the Board of Trustees. Future subsets of the committee may include but are not limited to assisting the administration’s efforts to implement and evaluate initiatives around DEI.
All committee activity will align with the Eanes ISD strategic values, priorities and goals. Committee considerations may have academic, financial, contractual, and transportation impacts on students, staff and community members; as such, objectivity, creativity and resourcefulness are essential.
Up to 31 voting members with interest or experience in the charge will serve on the committee representing stakeholder groups. When filling a position, consideration will be given to people with an interest in DEI work or those who have particular expertise in DEI, as well as to the diversity of the committee itself.
DEI Advisory Committee members must:
- Live in the Eanes community or be a parent/guardian of a transfer student or be a student or staff attending or working at one of our schools
- Attend evening and weekend meetings as necessary (Remotely)
- Base their recommendations on objective information and relevant data, and not on any singular issue
- Serve an initial two-year term unless determined otherwise
Membership of the DEI Advisory Committee
2 Community Members without students currently enrolled in EISD schools
8 Students (2 from each middle school, 6-7 and 4 from Westlake High
School, 9-11)
9 Staff (1 from each school)
2 Principals (1 from elementary and 1 from secondary)
1 Central Administration Staff
9 Parents (1 from each school)
DEI Advisory Committee Facilitator(s) with group facilitation skills and
knowledge of DEI
31 Members
Replacement of DEI Advisory Committee members
Community Members (2) and Parents (9)
The Board will review annually the list of community members and parents on the committee. The Board may appoint individuals to fill vacancies or accept new applications from the community. In selecting parent representatives, the Board will take into consideration whether the parent will have a child at the school represented for a minimum of two years.
The parent representative may stay on the committee representing a school provided the parent has a child at that school. When a parent representative for a school no longer has a child at that school, that position will be filled by the Board.
Student Members (8)
Principals will assign students to the committee when a vacancy occurs.
Staff Members (9)
Principals will assign staff members to the committee when a vacancy occurs.
Principals (2)
The Superintendent or Designee will assign a replacement should the need arise.
Central Administration (1)
The Superintendent or Designee will assign a replacement should the need arise.