Dr. Carnelius D. Gilder

2023 Top Educator

Carnelius D. Gilder, Ed.D, is an educator, transformational leader, and an access advocate who serves as the Superintendent of Schools for West Sabine Independent School District, a thriving rural district deep in the heart of the Piney Woods of East Texas. He has led WSISD as superintendent since December 2021.

Dr. Gilder is best known as a voice and a visionary. Through his tenure as superintendent, he has strived for equity within the district and across the state. He led the repurpose of the mission and vision of the district with excellence and community development in mind and has tackled many of the challenges that plague small, rural communities and school districts and their constituents. This push for equity has led to grassroots work locally and nationally through speaking engagements, roundtable discussions, media, and philanthropic work with several foundations and community development financial institutions.

He is regionally dubbed “Mr. Pineland” by KTRE News because of the many duties, responsibilities, and organizations that Dr. Gilder volunteers for or leads. In a short time, he had to navigate through some of the roughest times of Sabine County’s history from budget downfalls, building deficiencies, transportation woes, leadership stability and most importantly, a global pandemic.

Dr. Gilder graduated from Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication and minor in English in 2006, a Master of Education in Instructional Leadership in 2012, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership in 2021. While in graduate school, Dr. Gilder was chosen to represent SHSU as a Barbara L. Jackson

Scholar with the University Council of Educational Administrators (UCEA).

He currently serves in several civic capacities and on several boards including Pineland Housing Authority, Chairman of Pineland Early Learning Center, Advisory for BOM Bank, Sabine County Shared Service Arrangement, Immediate Past President and Funds Allocation Chair for the Pineland Service Club, East Texas Early Literacy Alliance, Sabine County Economic Development Committee, and Pineland Community Outreach & Development Services.

In education, Dr. Gilder is a member of the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators (TABSE), the 2022-23 cohort of the Southern Methodist University District Leadership Fellows Program, TASA’s Future-Ready Superintendents Leadership Network (FRSLN). He serves as the Region 7 Director for the Texas Association of Rural Schools (TARS), and on the Region 7 ESC Executive Committee. The doctor and educator currently lives in Pineland, Texas. He is married to his wife Kristina sharing three children; daughters, Kaleigh and Christiane Love and their son Corey.

Dr. Carnelius D. Gilder Superintendent

West Sabine Independent School District 101 Timberland Hwy. W. Pineland, TX 75968 (409) 584-2655

Sup@westsabineisd.net www.westsabineisd.net

Dr. Walter Jackson has served in public education for 29 years, including 21 years in Alief ISD as a teacher, assistant principal, middle and high school principal, and area superintendent. He is currently superintendent of schools in La Porte ISD. He is the first African American superintendent in the 100plus year history of La Porte ISD and held the same distinction for five years as superintendent in Brenham ISD — the oldest school district in Texas.

In 2009, Dr. Jackson was named the Region 4 High School Principal of the Year. The National School Public Relations Association in 2017 named him one of 20 superintendents to watch in the nation. He was named the 2019 Region 6 Superintendent of the Year and was a State Superintendent of the Year finalist. He has taught master’s and doctoral courses for the University of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake, and has served as a field advisor and executive leadership coach for Rice University graduate students. An articulate and gifted public speaker, he has lectured and presented on key education topics at state and national conferences.

Education

Dr. Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Southern University, a Master of Education in Administration from Prairie View A&M University, and a Doctor of Education from Baylor University. He earned the esteemed Professional Leadership Certificate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and earned an Advanced Management Certificate from Rice University.

He is an American Leadership Forum alumnus and was in the 2012 class of Leadership Houston. Jackson has additionally completed the Thompson Executive Leadership Institute.

In 2022, Dr. Jackson traveled to Singapore as a Fulbright Scholar, where he spent two weeks intensely studying its public education system. His love of