HPISD Board of Trustees

	Jeffrey A. Barnes President Place 4 Jeff Barnes was elected to the HPISD Board of Trustees in 2001. This is his fourth year as board president. He has served on HPISD’s Strategic Planning Committee and also served as chairman of the Facilities Committee, on the Board Finance Committee, and the Curriculum & Instruction Committee. Born and raised in the Park Cities, Jeff graduated from Highland Park High School in 1978. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Trinity University in 1982. Since then, he has been in the real estate brokerage and development business. He is a principal with the firm Alpha-Barnes Real Estate Services. Involved in the community through numerous civic, school-related and charitable organizations, Barnes is a member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, a deacon at the Park Cities Baptist Church, and he serves as coach for many of his children’s youth sports programs. He is a past member of the Executive Board of the HPISD Education Foundation, past president of the University Park Elementary School Dad’s Club, past president of the Park Cities Central Dad’s Club and past member of the Girls’ Sports Committee for the Park Cities YMCA. He and his wife, Gayle, have four children: Rachel, a sophomore at Texas A&M; Art, a senior at Highland Park High School; Meredith, a sophomore, at Highland Park High School; and Andrew, a eighth-grader at Highland Park Middle School.
	Douglas C. Smellage Vice President Place 3 Douglas Smellage joined the board in 2004. He currently serves as Board Vice President and as the Texas Association of School Boards alternate delegate. He has served as chairman of the Curriculum & Instruction Committee as liaison to La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas. His previous board duties have included chairing the Calendar and Facilities Committees. Smellage is the owner of Lawns of Dallas, a landscaping, irrigation, and maintenance company that has served the Dallas area for over 25 years. He is a member of numerous national and state landscape organizations. Locally, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Park Cities YMCA and is a past chairman of the Girls Sports Committee. He is a past board president of the Way Back House and a past board member of the Gladney Adoption Center and SPCA of Dallas. He holds memberships in the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, and the Texas Tech and SMU Alumni Associations. He is a past Dad’s Club president, and a member of the Highland Park Band Booster Club, C.A.R.E., Park Cities TAG, and Mad for Plaid. Smellage earned bachelor’s degrees from Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech University and received a graduate degree from Texas Tech. He and his wife, Ann, have three children: Cal, a junior at SMU; Polly, a senior at Highland Park High School; and Lindy, an eighth-grader at Highland Park Middle School. The Smellage family has belonged to University Park United Methodist Church for 21 years, where Smellage has taught the sixth-grade Sunday school class for 18 years. He also serves as their chairman of the Board of Trustees.
	Walker H. Bateman, IV Secretary Place 6 Walker Bateman was elected to the Board in 2002. He has served on the Finance, Curriculum & Instruction and Calendar committees. He has also served as a board liaison to the HPISD Education Foundation. This is his second year as board secretary. Bateman was born and raised in Amarillo. In 1974 he began a career in Dallas, via the University of Texas at Austin, in the insurance business. In 1995 he retired from the independent agency of Dodson-Bateman & Company. Bateman has been very active in the community, serving six years on the HPISD Education Foundation Board of Directors, as a past president of the Hyer Dad’s Club and the Central Dad’s Club. He is a member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and is active in several other charitable and civic organizations. Bateman and his wife, Jeanie, have three children and are members of the Park Cities Presbyterian Church. The couple’s oldest child, Jessica Bateman Pulliam, is a 1995 graduate of Highland Park High School, a 1999 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a 2002 graduate of the University of Texas Law School. She is an associate with Baker Botts law firm in Dallas. She is the mother of twin girls and lives with her family in the Armstrong Elementary attendance area. Their daughter, Jacquelyn, graduated from Highland Park High School in 2000 and is a 2004 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She is an elementary school teacher in the Eanes ISD in Austin. Their son, Walker H. Bateman V, graduated from Highland Park High School in 2006 and is currently a sophomore at Texas Tech University.
	Houston Hunt Finance Officer Place 1 Houston Hunt began his service on the Highland Park ISD Board in May, 2000. He is Board Finance Officer and has served as chairman of the Facilities Committee and as a member of the Curriculum & Instruction Committee. He is a former chairman of the Construction Oversight (Facilities) Committee, and he has served as the Board Liaison to the HPISD Education Foundation. Prior to his election to the board, he served on the Short-Term Facilities Committee, which studied overcrowding at the elementary schools. Hunt is a life-long Park Cities resident. He earned his bachelor’s degree in geology in 1980 from the University of Tulsa. Since then, he has been involved in the oil and gas business. A member of the Highland Park High School Dad’s Club and Highland Park Sports Club, he has coached Park Cities YMCA sports teams for several seasons. He and his wife, Betsy, have three children – Nelson, a 2002 Highland Park High School graduate, a 2005 graduate of the University of Virginia and a first year law student at Georgetown University; Robert, a 2004 Highland Park High School graduate and a senior at Texas A&M University, and Elizabeth, 2007 Highland Park High School graduate and a freshman at the University of Arkansas. The family holds membership in the Park Cities Presbyterian Church, where he has served as Sunday school teacher for elementary-aged children for more than 10 years.
	Cynthia Beecherl Trustee Place 5 Cynthia Beecherl was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2007. Beecherl is a graduate of Highland Park High School. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in petroleum land management from the University of Texas. She is a licensed real estate broker, petroleum landman and members of the Greater Dallas Association of Realtors and the American Association of Petroleum Landmen. Beecherl has served on the Highland Park Education Foundation Board of Directors since 1999 and is a member of the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council executive committee. She is a past president of HP Arts and a former board member of Las Fiesta de las Seis Banderas. She has held numerous volunteer positions on HPISD campus PTA boards and other parent groups. She and her husband Louis, have four children – Arthur, a 2002 Highland Park High School graduate and 2006 graduate of the University of Texas; Rebecca, a 2004 Highland Park High School graduate and a senior at the University of Texas; Ben, a 2006 Highland Park High School graduate and a sophomore at the University of Texas; and Edward, a junior at Highland Park High School. The Beecherls are active members of the Highland Park Presbyterian Church.
	John R. Bunten, Jr. Trustee Place 7 John Bunten joined the Highland Park Independent School District Board of Trustees in May 2002. He has served as Finance Officer to the board and served on the Facilities Committee, the Finance Committee, and as Chairman of the Curriculum & Instruction Committee. A 1976 Highland Park High School graduate, Bunten earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1980 from the University of Mississippi. He has been involved in the real estate development business for nearly 25 years and owns Miramar Development. A Board Member of the Park Cities YMCA and Practice Ministries, Bunten also has served as past chairman of the Park Cities YMCA Girls’ Sports Committee. He has coached his children’s Park Cities YMCA sports teams for the last 15 years. He is a past chairman of the Hyer Dads’ Club, a past chairman of the Park Cities Dads’ Club Classic Golf Tournament and a former board member of the Dallas Children’s Museum. He is a member of the Hyer Dads’ Club, the Park Cities Dads’ Club and the Highland Park Sports Club. Bunten and his wife, Dana Lou, have four children. Laura, a 2004 graduate of Highland Park High School, is a senior at Vanderbilt. Elizabeth, a 2007 graduate, is a freshman at the University of Mississippi. Kelly is a freshman at Highland Park High School and John is a fifth-grader at McCulloch Intermediate School. The Buntens are members of the Highland Park United Methodist Church.
	Leslie Melson Trustee Place 2 Leslie Melson joined the HPISD Board of Trustees in 2006. She will serve as the Texas Association of School Boards delegate and has served as liaison to the Park Cities YMCA Chemical Awareness Resources and Education program, the HPISD Education Foundation, and HP Arts. Melson is a graduate of Richardson High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from SMU. She has served the community as a member of the board of the HPISD Education Foundation, as co-chair of Mad for Plaid, and as a member of the HPISD Finance Committee. Melson is a past president of the C.A.R.E. Board, the HP Arts Board, the Las Fiesta de las Seis Banderas Board, and the Highland Belles Booster Club Board. She and her husband, Jim, have four children: Jed, a 2000 HPHS graduate and a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M; Ann, a 2002 HPHS graduate and a 2006 graduate of A&M, Ellen, a 2006 HPHS graduate and sophomore at A&M; and John, a junior at HPHS. The Melsons are members of the Highland Park Presbyterian Church, where Leslie serves as a deacon.