Council Rock School Board Primary Election: Jonathan Seamans, Region 2

Candidates running in contested races in the May 16 primary election have been invited to provide background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Jonathan Seamans is running on the Republican ballot seeking the party's nomination for an open four-year-seat on the Council Rock School Board in Region 2. He is facing incumbent Edward Tate, who is running as a cross-filed candidate on both ballots.

Biographical Information

Name: Jonathan D. Seamans

Age: 54

Town of residence: Newtown

Position sought: Council Rock School Board Director, Region 2

Are you an incumbent? No

What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Newtown

Party affiliation: Republican

Family: Susan and I have been married for 20 years, and we have two children – Grace, 16 and Tucker, 13. Both Grace and Tucker will be in Council Rock North next school year.

Education: BS in Economics from Clarkson University and a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University

Occupation: I am currently the Director, Finance and Budget at the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs.

Questions

1. Why are you running?

For me, it is all about putting students and their families first. Like many parents, I saw first-hand the impact school board decisions had on all of us during the pandemic. We need candidates and ultimately elected officials who have the ability to look at the entire picture, and not just narrow portions of it. For a host of reasons – our children’s future, our home values, and our property taxes among them – no other elected body has a bigger impact on our families and community than the school board. I want to represent all the families in Council Rock.

2. What are your top issues and how do you plan to address them?

First and foremost, I want to ensure our schools will always remain open for learning. For me, the main lesson of the pandemic was that we did not put the children’s needs first when the decision was made to close the schools for in-person learning, and to keep them closed for almost a year. We are now dealing with the learning loss caused by those closures, and we need to develop strategies for dealing with that right away. Second, I think we need to always have our most vulnerable students at the top of our minds when we make decisions, and for the school board that means our special needs students. There were so many heart-breaking stories during the pandemic of parents dealing with almost impossible decisions for their children with special needs and trying to succeed in spite of school board decisions. That should never happen again. Finally, I will make decisions that protect the financial stake we all have in our schools, even those without children in school, because we are all impacted by tax rates and property values.

3. What in your experience or background prepares you for election to office?

There are two things that immediately come to mind. One is the concept our Founding Fathers had of the citizen-legislator, people who were “ordinary citizens” bringing their collective experiences together for the common good. I think we need more of that, and less of career politicians holding office for years at a time. Additionally, I believe we are all products of our knowledge, experiences, skills, families, and where we have lived and it is very difficult to separate out one or two specific things to say, “That’s why I am qualified.” I am a father, husband, brother, friend, and neighbor and those obviously play a big role in who I am and how I would perform as a school board director, but I also have almost 30 years of experience in higher education and state government, and those are important things, too. Until about 6 years ago, I had an uncle with Downs Syndrome, and I saw first-hand what main streaming did to improve his quality of life, and I want to help to ensure we continue to provide an array of opportunities for all our children now. To that end, I cannot separate one or two reasons why I am qualified to serve on the school board – so many things have prepared me for this role.