The Highland Park Independent School District (HPISD) Board of Trustees approved a recommendation on Sept. 10 to name the district’s fifth elementary school after Haynes and Boone, LLP co-founder and civic leader Mike Boone.
Boone’s name was chosen from more than 300 nominations from the public as the namesake for the district’s new elementary school, which opens August 2020.
A 1959 graduate of HPISD, Boone has served in various leadership positions within the district and the community. He was elected to the HPISD School Board in 1989, serving as a member for seven years, including three as president. He has also served as chair of the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Board of Trustees and president of the Dallas Citizens Council. For more than three decades, he has helped navigate the complexities of Texas school finance.
In an earlier announcement about the honor, School Board President and member of the school naming committee Jim Hitzelberger said the following: "Put simply, Mike Boone is a giant who is deeply respected in our community and beyond. Mike's committed service to the Park Cities and Dallas community, his high level of involvement, his ethical leadership and his extraordinary vision are unsurpassed."
Tim Powers, managing partner of Haynes and Boone, added: “As long as I have known Mike, he has had a deep-seated passion for public education, realizing the critical role it plays in helping students and communities reach their fullest potential. HPISD could not have picked a better standard bearer for their new school.”
Boone has more than 40 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities transactions, and board of director representations. In 2010, Texas Lawyer Magazine recognized Boone as one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter-century and the “Go-To-Lawyer” in Texas in the field of corporate/business law. He also has been featured in D CEO Magazine's Dallas 500, as one of the "most influential leaders in North Texas" from 2016-2019.