Bradford County School Superintendent Will Hartley is seeking re-election this year. He defeated one challenger in the Republican primary in August. While there are no Democrats in the race this year, there is a candidate running without party affiliation, Alan Bhajan. Hartley and Bhajan will appear on the November general election ballot.
News4Jax sent a questionnaire to each candidate asking about their background and their views on several issues. Scroll down to read the responses of those seeking your vote -- in their own words.
Recommended Videos
Note: Responses are sorted alphabetically by party and are presented exactly as submitted, with no editing by News4Jax staff.
Will Hartley
Occupation: I am the Superintendent of Schools in Bradford County.
Age: 43
Family: My wife Amber is a 2nd grade teacher at Bradford Elementary. I have 4 children that attend Bradford County Schools.
Education: I graduated from Bradford High School in 1999 and have a Bachelors degree in Physical Education from the University of North Florida.
Political experience: I have been the Superintendent of Schools in Bradford County for the last 4 years.
What do you see as the top three issues in this race, and how do you plan to address them?
I think in education one of the top priorities always has to be improving academic achievement regardless of where your district stands. We have made great strides in recent years. This year we ranked 2nd in the state in both Math and ELA proficiency growth. We need to continue to consistent implement the best practices that have led to this success so that we can continue to improve as a district.
A second priority that I believe has to be just as important as academic achievement is making sure are students are always in a safe learning environment. This year, with the assistance of Meridian, we will be implementing a new bullying curriculum in grades K-12 to help our students learn skills like knowing how to better advocate for themselves at the first signs of bullying so the adults can help them.
Third, we need to continue to improve and consolidate district facilities. This is important not only so we ensure our students are learning in safe, state of the art facilities but also to continue being good stewards of tax payer money. We have recently begun the process to build a new Junior/Senior high school to move our students out of aging facilities that are costing the district an extreme amount of money in maintenance.
How can you help voters in a way that others running for this office cannot?
Living in this community my whole life I have built amazing relationships not only with our constituents but also the other community agencies and elected officials that our schools often collaborate with. During my first term as Superintendent I have also built relationships with our elected officials at the state and national level as well as the department of education. For our constituents that means there is no learning curve allowing for real time solutions to issues or needs that arise. I’m the only candidate that knows first hand the challenges our district faces, how we have staffed employees and created processes and procedures to face those challenges. I am the only candidate that has proven to they can put a team together that can produce district wide results and student success. Last year our district earned the highest percentage of possible points on our district grade in a decade.
What would you hope to be remembered for accomplishing after serving in this office?
Our district has not re-elected a superintendent in 36 years. This trend has left us constantly starting something new that never gets finished and only hurts our students and teachers. I hope to be remembered for unifying a district and creating a culture of consistency that results in increased student outcomes and stability into the future.
Campaign website: (None listed)
Campaign social media: Facebook
| NO PARTY AFFILIATION CANDIDATE |
Alan Bhajan
This candidate has not yet responded to email and phone invitations to complete the News4JAX candidate questionnaire. If any responses are received, they will be promptly added to this space.
Campaign website: alanbhajanvote.com
Campaign social media: None found