James Bolton, Stratham Memorial School Board

James Bolton

Age (as of Election Day)

38

Position sought (including ward or district number if applicable)

Stratham Memorial School, 2 year school board term

Party Affiliation

Party affiliation declaration is not required for school board positions

Family

My family has lived in Stratham for a little over two years now and we absolutely love the town and school. Currently, my wife and I have three kids at SMS in grades 4, 1 and K, and we have a fourth child who will attend in 5 years.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

BS in Computer Science

Occupation

Solutions Architect

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Neighborhood HOA in Texas 2012-2019

Campaign website

https://bolton4sms.com/

Why are you seeking elective office?

I will have kids consistently be a part of SMS for the next 11 years. I have a personal stake in the school system, but I want the best for the staff and students of SMS now and in the future. We moved to Stratham for the highly ranked school system, and I want to be a part of maintaining and improving a system of excellence.

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

The SMS school board has not defined defined short and long term measurable / quantifiable educational goals for the school, per the board's policy, which should be reviewed on a regular basis to determine if their implementation by the administration and school has been effective. The current and recent past goals of the SMS board have not met the standard of being quantitative and measurable nor has their effectiveness been measured on a periodic basis.

I want to work with board, community, staff, and students to define short term goals, before each school year starts, centered around how the school will increase academic proficiencies for each grade to be reviewed at least every other month; and define several staggered (so they aren't all due at the same time) long-term goals to be reviewed on a periodic basis. This will provide clear expectations to the admin, teachers, and support staff for what they should be striving for in our education system.

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

The other candidate is running on many of the same points as myself - which says a lot about the current state of affairs. While we agree on issues how we get there may differ. I want to have a focus on setting expectations for the school through achievable goals focused on academics.

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

There is no incumbent for this position.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

A lack of transparency and communication between the school board, school staff, administration, parents, students, and the community at large. The board should require the school to get back to pre-covid normalcy which includes, among other activities, holding parent nights at the school to share information. The board should be doing more to inform of what they are doing: use the SAU email system to send emails specifically for announcing board meetings with the expected agenda and follow up with the meeting minutes (draft and approved) with any presentations presented and any content that could be made public from the packets presented to board members by the SAU admin. All Right To Know requests should be published to the school's website with any responses provided to the requestor. There are additional ways the board can increase communication and transparency with the public to gain trust and reduce friction.

The current SMS building is 34 years old and in 2019 a facility needs and condition assessment was completed. There is no current process for managing the items highlighted in the assessment in a timely schedule and instead will require the taxpayers to cover a $13 million "modernization" project which will start after the assessment is over 3 years old! I want the school board to be more active to ensuring this work is done timely, within budget, and there is a plan in place to tend to items in the future on a schedule instead of building up a large maintenance debt.

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

Prior to moving to Stratham, I served my community in Texas on the board of an HOA of 755 families for a little over seven years and I served on the board of a non-profit, Texas Husky Rescue, for eleven years saving well over a thousand huskies in that time. Both positions required setting measurable goals, managing/reviewing budgets regularly, and working with a diverse community to be highly successful.

Professionally, I am a solutions architect which means I oversee the overall technical vision for a particular solution for a business' "problem" by bridging communication between technology and business operations to ensure everyone is aligned in developing and implementing technical solutions for business problems.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Don't always jump to solutions. There are times when urgency is called for, but there are also times when the best course is to keep listening.

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

I am passionate for kids to be successful. I support the staff at SMS in their mission to make our kids successful and prepared for the world beyond their school. I believe this mission can be supported through greater transparency with the public by doing more to engage and listen to the tax payers, parents, teachers, support staff, and admin of SMS. Turning a deaf ear to anyone wanting to hold a dialog is a recipe for avoidable mistakes.