Denham Springs, LA – Denham Springs School Board Member Cecil Harris has announced he will seek re-election to the District 5 Seat of the Livingston Parish School Board.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, with Early Voting from Oct. 20-27.
Harris has served on the board for the past six years, including two years as the elected board president. During his term, he has supported transparent third-party reviews of the district’s spending, invested in greater security on campuses, and expanded academic and sports-related facilities to grow opportunities for student learning and engagement.
Those accomplishments include:
- Adding new classrooms to support growing student enrollment;
- Expanding the STEM & Robotics Center to offer greater learning opportunities for students;
- Improving campus administrative offices for greater efficiency;
- Supporting a transparent, third-party analysis of the district’s budget and spending priorities;
- Improving and expanding all athletic facilities on the Denham Springs High School campus;
- Adding School Resource Officers (LPSO Deputies) to all campuses in the Denham Springs area for greater safety;
- Adding vape detectors to all campuses in the Denham Springs area for greater protection; and
- Adding cameras to all campuses in the Denham Springs area for safety and transparency.
“I have dedicated my career to promoting smart, professional policies in our public school system. If re-elected, I will continue to make decisions that put our students first,” Harris said. “I am respectfully asking voters to allow me continue serving this community that I so deeply love.”
Harris has more than 30 years of business experience in public education. He began his career as a high school teacher and coach and advanced to a supervisor position with the Louisiana Department of Education before transitioning to the private sector. He worked as a top sales representative for McGraw Hill Publishing Company and a Regional Vice President for Harcourt Publishing before founding and co-owning the Pinnacle Education Group, which represented 12 publishing companies providing educational materials to public schools in a five-state region.
Harris also owned and managed a local successful dry-cleaning business for 20 years.
“I bring a lifetime of combined business and educational experience to this position. It has allowed me to clearly analyze the issues facing our school system today, and make decisions that benefit our students and teachers,” he said.
Harris holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, which he attended straight out of high school on a basketball scholarship. He graduated from Denham Springs High School and is a much-respected Hall of Fame Member for the school.
He is married to Margaret Harris, a retired teacher from Livingston Parish who holds a master’s degree in education. They are life-long residents of Livingston Parish. They have three sons, who enjoy successful careers as a medical physician, a commercial airline pilot, and a nursing director for a retirement facility. All three sons graduated from Denham Springs High School.