Pick Two

Four vie for HPISD board seats

After the May election, the Highland Park ISD board of trustees will have at least one new face.

With Place 5 trustee Edward Herring not seeking re-election, district volunteer Ellen Lee and insurance executive Spencer Siino are vying for the open seat.

Lee, 48, who is involved with the Highland Park Education Foundation, served on the district’s boundary rezoning committee in 2019, the district’s parent education committee in 2019-2021, and on the high school literature review committees from 2016 until 2020.

Siino, 41, is a co-founder of Park Cities Parents Unite, a 501c4 organization established last fall that has called for the district to phase out mask wearing and other COVID-19 restrictions. In spring 2021, he filed a court petition asking for pre-suit depositions from staff and school board members about the mask policy before the HPISD announced masks would be optional for the 2021-2022 school year.

In Place 4, Tyler Beeson, 44, who works in wealth management, is challenging incumbent Jae Ellis.

Beeson serves on the board of Interfaith Family Services and as chairman of the agency’s annual Charity Golf Tournament. He’s also a member of the Dallas Foundation’s Advisory Council and the Dallas Estate Planning Council.

Ellis, 50, has served on the board since 2019 and as secretary since 2021.

A legal consultant by trade, he has served the Highland Park Education Foundation as a director and board secretary and in various other roles, including on its Finance/Investment and Strategic Planning committees. He also served the Highland Park Alumni Association as vice president, treasurer, membership chairman, director, and class representative. Ellis co-chaired the Highland Park ISD Centennial Celebration in 2014.

Before becoming an HPISD trustee, Ellis served as board chairman for Project Unity.