AISD begins prep for new school year
For her time serving on the board, Kaley Smith is honored by Anahuac Independent School District Board of Trustees Michael Morehead and Melinda Trainer, Board President John Redman, Vice President Carlton Carrington and Secretary Samantha Humphrey.
Anahuac Independent School District Trustees Samantha Humphrey, incumbent, and Stacey Medders swear an oath of office to begin their new terms.
Sue Hawthorne is given a statue to honor her years of dedication to the Anahuac ISD Education Foundation. Showing support are Board Trustee Melinda Trainer, Superintendent Cody Abshier, foundation member Susan LeBlanc, member Janice Jircik, foundation Executive Director Julia Hall and Board Vice President Carlton Carrington.
ANAHUAC— As the end of the school year draws near, the school district remains steadfast in ensuring the students end off on a good note while preparing for the upcoming year.
Anahuac Independent School District Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Monday, May 19.
At the beginning of the meeting, incumbent Samantha Humphrey was sworn in to serve another term on the board of trustees and Stacey Medders was sworn in.
Medders previously served as maintenance director for the school district, but his last day was the Friday before the meeting.
Superintendent Cody Abshier, Ed.D., expressed appreciation for Medders and the hard work he put into the district’s campuses for about a decade.
“Y’all deal with a lot and y’all keep the rest of us going,” said Abshier.
With Kaley Smith stepping down from her role on the board, President John Redman shared a few words of gratitude for her dedication while serving, saying the board will greatly miss her.
“Kaley was an outstanding board member. She brought such a great perspective to things, especially from an administrative standpoint,” Redman said. “She was very selfless, always objective and very fair with her guidance.”
The board then voted on board positions during closed session. Redman remained president and Carlton Carrington remained vice president. Humphrey was named secretary, taking over Smith’s previous position.
Anahuac ISD Education Foundation honored Sue Hawthorne as she retired from the foundation after serving as a director since 2016, many of those years as secretary.
“This year was my first year with them and she has been a godsend of information, and I greatly appreciate it,” foundation Executive Director Julia Hall said before handing Hawthorne a panther statue, a tradition for the foundation.
A representative of Durotech, Inc. provided an update on the 2022 bond projects.
Anahuac Primary School should be completed at the end of this month.
Anahuac Middle School improvements should begin on Tuesday, May 27, and are expected to be completed in mid-July. Projects at AMS include accessibility, safety, security and gym improvements.
The new operations center for the transportation and maintenance departments is almost completed. The fire marshal has already approved the building, and tiling is being reinstalled this week. Furniture is expected to arrive in early June.
The board approved four new hires for the district, including a new hire for the position of APS principal.
Principal Amanda Aslin accepted an offer at Barbers Hill Independent School District. Her children are students there, and they reside in Mont Belvieu, which makes it a suitable fit for her.
Shawntel Cunningham was hired as the director of special programs, Amy Harris was hired as the educational diagnostician, Erica Criswell, doctorate, was hired as the APS principal, and Crystal Almanza was hired as the ARD facilitator.
All were hired internally except for Harris. Cunningham currently serves as AMS counselor, Criswell currently serves as Anahuac High School assistant principal and campus behavior coordinator, and Almanza currently serves as a teacher.
“We’re very pleased with the quality of candidates,” Humphrey said.
Abshier also provided an update on the district joining the Texas Strategic Leadership Initiative program facilitated by the Region 5 Educational Service Center.
“It’s going to be a lot of work but it’s going to be really good because we’re going to be holding ourselves accountable to really working on goals,” Abshier said, referencing a list of requirements for the program.
In June, Abshier, Deputy Superintendent Daniel Andrews and Business Manager Tammy Duhon will be attending a program for TSL.
Andrews also facilitated a survey for the district’s employees, gaining insight into what the board is doing right and where they can improve for the upcoming school year.