As some Livingston Parish residents get in line for early voting or gear up to go to the polls on Election Day, two District 2 candidates are vying for a seat on the school board.
Taylor Hubert and Robert Seals are running for the seat, which covers all Live Oak schools in Watson. The position was left open after Kellee Hennessy Dickerson resigned earlier this year after winning the Louisiana House District 64 race last fall. Stacy Robinson has been holding the District 2 seat in interim; she is not running.
Whoever wins this race will serve the remainder of the four-year term that began two years ago.
The Livingston Parish Public Schools district is one of the largest by population in the state and could continue to grow. Due to this, managing growth and affording teachers are two of the biggest issues facing the system.
This year, the parish approved a teacher pay raise of $283 more per year. This comes after parish voters in 2023 rejected a 1-cent sales tax on the ballot that would have provided school district employees a 10% pay raise. But the parish still falls behind several neighboring parishes when it comes to starting teacher pay.
Neither candidate works in the education field, but both have plans to navigate these issues within the school system.
Taylor Hubert
Hubert works in management at Satsuma Valve and Controls, a valve repair and manufacturing company, and graduated from Live Oak High School. His wife is a teacher, and he has other family members who work in schools.
Hubert decided to run because he wanted the opportunity to be an advocate for the schools. His campaign focuses on raising teacher salaries, growing technology access and improving building infrastructure.
Hubert said the parish can’t just rely on the state for money, and it should review its own spending to see if budgets can be changed. He also suggested looking into collecting money from developers that could go to the school district, which would use the growth of the parish to benefit the schools.
“Teachers are single parents. They're single moms or single dads. They've got two kids,” he said. “Our people are struggling, and we have to figure something out. We are losing teachers at an alarming rate to other parishes.”
He thinks schools would benefit from upgraded facilities like the addition of a multi-purpose building, which could manage growing school populations and hold more school events like awards ceremonies. He also would want to use grant money to upgrade student technology at Live Oak schools.
He said he would apply the leadership and people skills learned at his management job to bring firm guidance to the school board.
“I believe we have to help protect and preserve our public school system, but I believe it starts with our young kids. We have to, we have to give them the best opportunity to receive the best public education possible," Hubert said.
Robert Seals
Seals is a retired banker whose children and grandchildren graduated from Live Oak High School. His wife formerly taught at the high school, and his daughter teaches at South Live Oak Elementary.
Seals threw his hat in the race because he felt he could contribute from watching his family in the school district and his financial background. His campaign focuses on creating creative funding solutions and prioritizing teachers and students when discussing budgets.
“We need to feature the classroom whenever we're doing our budgets,” he said.
The main priority should be fixing teacher pay, and that will require creative funding approaches, he said. Seals also wants to increase transparency to the entire parish during conversations about budgets and pay.
“Treat your taxpayers like investors. They are crucial to your success. You want them to be big fans,” he said. “Communicate with them on an ongoing basis.”
Seals has served on the advisory council to the Livingston Parish president, which taught him that the parish has different resources the schools could utilize to update the budget, he said.
Seals said that because he is retired, he will be able to devote time and energy into the school board. But added that just because he is retired doesn't mean he is tired of working hard.
“I figured the best thing I can do for them, if I get the job, is be prepared on day one,” he said.
Early voting for Louisiana residents is open and ends Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 5, and polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Livingston Parish residents can find their polling places at the parish Clerk of Court website.