Framingham Candidate Profile: Jim Hansen For School Committee

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham will have several contested races in the November election, including the District 8 School Committee seat. While several candidates in the School Committee race are running unopposed in their districts, District 8 has a three way race heating up. The field will narrow after the Sept. 17 preliminary election in the city.

Framingham Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Jim Hansen, 49, is running for District 8 School Committee. His opponents are Leslie White-Harvey and Jessica Barnhill. Hansen has worked for over 20 years as a software engineer and served on the Board of Public Works, the Water and Sewer Abatement Board and Town Meeting. Hansen and his wife Cathy Lachapelle have four children.

Are you running for office in Framingham? Contact Samantha Mercado at samantha.mercado@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Framingham Patch.

Previously on Patch: Tides Are Turning In Framingham City Council: Election Season

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Equitable distribution of resources and access to opportunities.

I would continue, in an official capacity, to work through the Racial Equity Subcommittee to monitor the ongoing efforts to complete the school district's equity audit, hold the administration accountable for its findings and ensure any suggested changes are fully and promptly addressed. The audit is the best mechanism to discover and document problems related to equity; be it based on race, gender, wealth, neurological style or any other facet of a student's identity.

I would be persistent in advocating to build a school somewhere in District 8; preferably a full elementary school, but possibly a small preK-K or preK-K-1.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have spoken up over the past 18 months at more committee meetings and subcommittee meetings to advocate for the families of District 8.

I have more long term experience (20+ years) with raising children and advocating for their education through the Framingham Public Schools. I have taught at the college level, and coached youth sports. I have successfully run my own business. I have served in public office setting policy, setting rates for services, and adjudicating claims.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

The past at-large school committees have closed schools on the south side of Framingham, where most of the kids live, but fewer people vote. Long term planning has been done by people with either no kids in the schools or living north of route 135. Their decisions have disproportionately benefited people living north of 135.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

* We should bring back recess and otherwise provide physical movement breaks to help students refocus on their learning about every hour. That may mean making the school day longer.
* I support a later start time for the high school to align with current scientific understanding of childhood developmental biology.
* I recommend putting solar power on school roofs and seeking green community power aggregation.
* I support the two-way bilingual elementary school model. The long term benefits of being multi-lingual more than make up for lower 3rd grade MCAS scores for native English speakers. It also helps the English language learners with the math and science content. For both groups there is no long term deficit of English language skills.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I provided advice and oversight to the Framingham Department of Public Works during the turnaround that started with hiring Peter Sellers as the Director. I changed the water and sewer rate structure from 3 tiers to 5 tiers, allowing us to shift the majority of the rising costs onto the high usage corporations and help protect our lower usage residents, who are most commonly retired individuals.

Through more than a decade of managing custom software development projects for global clients in many industries, I have proven my ability to listen, to consider both technical and human factors in solving problems, to work within complex regulatory frameworks, and to simultaneously manage both short and long term priorities and goals.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

“The best investment for one year is to grow grains; the best investment for ten years is to grow trees; the best investment for a lifetime is to educate people. What you gain from one year’s growth will be grains; what you gain from ten years’ growth will be trees; what you gain from a hundred years’ growth will be people.” Guan Zhong (720 – 645 BCE)

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I don’t have all the answers and solutions for the problems in Framingham’s Schools. What I have is experience and perspective and a willingness to have uncomfortable conversations. If you’ve heard me speak at City Council or School Committee meetings you know I’m direct and honest. I don’t whitewash problems. I don’t sugar coat disagreements. I do listen. I do look for facts and data.