By Kyle Roberts
This is the second part of a brief series introducing the newest members of the Lincoln Parish School Board in the upcoming term. All three of the members highlighted qualified for the election and will run unopposed.
Each was given the following interview four questions to answer in their own words:
- Why did you choose to run for the school board?
- What does the Lincoln Parish School system do well?
- What are some areas where you would like to see improvement?
- Once you have concluded your time on the board, what do you hope to see accomplished?
By Kyle Roberts
Choudrant resident Hunter Antley will be the next member of the Lincoln Parish School Board for District 5 once Danny Hancock’s term limit expires at the end of this year..
Antley, who graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2017 and moved back to Choudrant in 2020, said he had been thinking about running for local office for several years before the school board came into view.
“Around that time, I had been interested in politics. I thought I might get involved in kind of Choudrant local politics, like alderman or something like that,” Antley said. “But then we ended up finding some family property out of the city limits, and so that kind of went by the wayside, and I started looking at other options. I looked at school board, and realized that Mr. Hancock was going to retire out this year.”
A family history in education and a 3-year-old who is expected to start preschool at Choudrant next year gave him what he called “a little bit of skin in the game.”
“I wanted to get involved and do what I could to give back to my community, represent my community a little bit, and just do my best to keep schools good for not only my kid, but all the rest of the kiddos,” Antley said.
Asked what the district already does well, Antley pointed to the board’s handling of money. Lincoln Parish has posted a surplus in recent years while neighboring districts have struggled, he said.
“They’ve done a very good job managing funds. You can look around at some of the other parishes around and see some of the money problems that they’re having, some cutbacks and layoffs and hiring freezes and things like that,” Antley said. “I think our parish has done very well with managing that and putting us in a good position for the future, where we’re able to withstand some changes on policy and finances.”
Where the board can improve, he said, is in how it talks to the public — a theme he raised when he announced his campaign.
“I want to be accessible and transparent about what I’m doing on the school board and why I’m voting the way I’m voting, and be able to hear back from community members and hear their thoughts on things and put those into action,” Antley said.
He credited Superintendent John Young, hired in May, with already improving communication.
Looking ahead to the end of his term, Antley said he hopes to see the district build on its work in early education. Lincoln Parish has spent recent years pushing K-3 reading and math scores, which he estimated rank somewhere around 10th to 15th in the state.
“They’ve got some new goals set there. I’d like to see those goals exceeded and keep working to be one of the best parishes in the state,” Antley said.
Closer to home, he said he wants District 5 schools to keep pace with a growing Choudrant.
“More neighborhoods are being built, and I would like to see the schools be able to be built out to hold that growing population,” Antley said, adding that the growth should show up in extracurriculars and course options as well as in square footage.
