The Barrington Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee grew a bit larger on Monday night, Sept. 9.

Barrington Town Council members voted 5-0 to add a second student representative position to the DEI Committee. Council member Braxton Cloutier, who serves as the Council liaison to the DEI Committee, said there has been interest from some students in serving on the committee. He offered full support for the change. 

Prior to the Council meeting, the DEI Committee had featured 12 members — nine full voting members, one student representative and two alternates. 

Council member Rob Humm said he supported adding a second student representative position to the DEI Committee. He also said he was impressed by the level of interest.

A member of the public, Tom Rimoshytus, asked if the DEI Committee had considered offering the second student representative position to a high school junior, complementing the high school senior sitting on the committee. Rimoshytus also asked if the school already had a DEI Committee.

Cloutier said the school does have a DEI Committee which focuses on issues or actions specific to the schools. He said the town DEI Committee focuses on town-wide ideas. Cloutier also said it was not necessary to have students representing both 11th grade and 12th grade on the committee. 

Cloutier soon-after made a motion to add a second, non-voting student representative position to the town’s DEI Committee. The motion passed unanimously.