De Garavilla Elected to Statewide Association Board

For Immediate Release: October 15, 2009
Contact: Barbara Williams, 800.580.8272, ext. 6418 

(Austin) – The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has elected James R. de Garavilla of Silsbee ISD to a three-year term on the TASB Board of Directors, representing TASB Region 5. 

He currently serves as secretary for the Silsbee ISD Board and chairs its Budget and Finance Committee. Since joining his local board in May 2006, he has served on the Insurance Committee and chaired its Ad Hoc Committee on Board Operating Procedures. De Garavilla has worked for the DuPont Company since 1984, and holds the position of R&D Technology Associate for polymer research and development.  He is a past member of the Society of Plastic Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Polymers, Laminations, and Coatings Division of TAPPI. 

A recent graduate of both Leadership TASB and Leadership Southeast Texas, de Garavilla is also a regional representative to the TASB Legislative Advisory Council, serves his board as a representative to the TASB Delegate Assembly, and is a charter member of the newly formed Southeast Texas P-16 Council. 

A strong advocate for both college and career readiness, de Garavilla was recognized in 2008 by the Career and Technology Association of Texas as a Region 5 recipient of its Outstanding Service to CTE Award.   A native of Massachusetts, he graduated from the Wakefield Public School System and gained a bachelor of science in chemical engineering degree from Northeastern University, Boston, while earning membership into both Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi honor societies.

TASB is a nonprofit organization established in 1949 to serve local Texas school
districts. School board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the
state. The districts they represent serve more than 4.7 million public school students.