Meet Jonathan Hemenway: Parsippany School Board Candidate

Parsippany Patch has reached out to local candidates to find out more about them. Check out Parsippany Patch's Election Hub for information on all candidates. Here is information from Jonathan Hemenway.

• Hemenway has lived in the Intervale section of town for seven years
• Age: 35
• Family: Married to my wife Kelly for 7 years and we have identical twin boys that are 5yrs old.
• What is your education background? I went to college at Montclair State University and obtained my BS in Health and Physical Education.  I have been teaching in the Clifton public school district for 13 years.  I am currently teaching health in the high school.  I am also in the process of going back to college at New Jersey City University for my master in Health Sciences.
• Why do you think you are qualified for this position? I feel that it is my educational background that our current board is lacking.  We need to have people on our board that have a background in teaching or education so our board can have an inside perspective on how certain changes will affect classroom and school, behavior and performance.
• Why are you running for this elected office? I want a board that will work for our students first.  We need to run our schools like schools not like a corporate workplace.  The negativity that surrounds our current board needs to changes so people can once again start to believe in their board and trust that they are doing the right things for their children and the people of the town.
• What are the three issues that most concern you?  The hiring of a new superintendent, the condition of our schools fields, and the updating and condition of our schools.
  
• Explain your proposed approach to managing these issues. 

• I have like what our current board is trying to do and let the people have a voice in what qualities our next superintendent should have.  I think as soon as the new board is elected we need to attack this issue right away.  We need to find the right individual that will be the best for this town and our students.  
• The current state of our athletic fields is another hot topic that has seemed to die off lately.  We call it the Field of Dreams, but we need to stop dreaming about it and make this a reality.  There are other ways to fund fields.  Major corporations such as Coke and Nike are always willing to help fund fields.  I researched this years ago in Clifton where I teach when we were trying to get turf there.  These kids deserve better than what they are getting.  We don’t have to do it all at once.  Do the fields one year, the track the next, or the bathrooms we just need to start developing another course of action with this topic.
• I have heard many people write and speak about the current condition of our schools.  Some say they are not clean.  This is just unacceptable.  I think we need to look at the number of custodians we have available at each school.  How many maintenance workers we have for the district?  I believe at this current we don’t have enough of these workers to maintain our buildings.  

Have you held elected office before? No I have not held an office before.

What organizations do you belong to? NJEA

Campaign Website: www.facebook.com/JHemenwayforBOE

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Editor's Note: Patch will be posting these candidate questionnaires in the order that they are received back. For candidates who have not heard from Patch, please contact Kim@patch.com.