Anahuac ISD to join county in elections

ANAHUAC— Last week, the school board made a decision that could significantly ease the process of voting for residents.

The Anahuac Independent School District Board of Trustees met on Monday, Dec. 15, passing a resolution to change the dates of the board member elections to be uniform with the county elections, which was due to multiple reasons.

Superintendent Cody Abshier, Ed.D., noted voting is an important right that should be done in a private way, but with how it is set up, it isn’t very private.

Business Manager Tammy Duhon added that the voters can’t get away from people talking because of the office phones, and staff has to turn off the building’s security cameras each time a person comes to vote.

Abshier added that soon the admin building will be locked, but it is against the law to lock a voting location.

Trustee Samantha Humphrey noted that having the election on the county ballot allows for more voters to voice their concerns since there is often a higher voter turnout during the regular election season than with the school board election.

Board members up for reelection are President John Redman and Carlton Carrington, with their term expiring May 2026.

The election will move to the county’s November election, giving the board members an additional six months of service.

The Mid-Chambers County Ministerial Alliance donated 150 posters displaying the 10 Commandments, which is enough for each classroom across the district.

Chair Mark Pagels, pastor of Community Christian Fellowship, spoke on behalf of the ministerial alliance, saying that Sheri Phelps informed the organization of the recently passed legislation allowing the 10 Commandments to be displayed in classrooms.

District Technology Director Justus Cook discussed technology needs for the district, noting that updates can be made over time as funding allows.

Cook said a top priority is replacing the intercom systems at the elementary, middle school and high school campuses.

Cook noted that the systems were installed in the early 2000s, and several areas at each campus can’t hear announcements, naming the middle school gym and cafeteria as examples.

Cook explained that it can be a safety concern in the case of an evacuation or lockdown situation. A lesser concern with the intercom system is that it has reached its end of life, noting some of the hardware is no longer made.

He said he began looking at quotes for the system, but it would be one of the pricier items as installation would require accessing the wiring throughout the campuses.

The second item named was staff desktops, which many are at their end of life at over 10 years old. Most are running on an outdates Windows software, and the hardware doesn’t support an update.

Cook said he would like to move teachers to a laptop system rather than a laptop and desktop system to allow teachers the freedom to work from home as needed.

Other issues include replacing servers as they are 10 years old, increasing network security, battery backups, and updating student devices as they are about 5 years old.

As for increasing network security, Cook informed the board that a free antivirus program is already being implemented, and other programs can be paid for by the state or are relatively inexpensive.

As for staff and student devices, Cook suggested replacing devices in phases, beginning with the oldest computers.

No action was made on the item as technology upgrades are in the beginning stages of discussion.