Jeff Kolb for New Hartford School Board

05/22/2024

I want to thank everyone that came out to vote yesterday. It was a hot day but the turnout was steady all day long. I appreciate those that elected me to serve on your behalf on the school board. It’s an enormous responsibility that I do not take lightly. I look forward to working with Kim Strong for New Hartford School Board of Education and the current board members.

Thank you to Bob Roberts, Drew Ward, and Louis Shkane as well. We have had a lot of good dialogue and I appreciate your passion to improve our district.

05/20/2024

Tomorrow is the day you get to vote for the change you want and need in our district.

I have lived in the school district for 37 years since I was nine years old. As an alumnus of New Hartford, I know the academic excellence we had in the past and will work to return our district to that prestigious status. As a 28 year volunteer of our fire department, I know how to give back to our community. Having a wife who has worked in the district for the past 10 years and three children at various stages of our education system, I have the pulse on what’s working and what’s not working in our district. Having a bachelors in Engineering and my MBA, in addition to work experience of managing a $70 million dollar budget (which is larger than our school budget for the upcoming year), I have the financial experience preparing me on day one to fully dive into where our tax money is being spent. I am the only candidate that has this entire package to bring to the board when elected. I ask you for your vote tomorrow. Don’t forget this vote is at the high school gym from 7AM-8PM.

05/18/2024

Endorsed by the New Hartford Employees Union. Thank you! Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday at the high school gym. Polls are open from 7AM-8PM.

05/14/2024

We’re in the homestretch! In addition to voting for our school budget and bus proposition, we get to elect two new Board of Education members one week from today. You have a choice among five candidates and there is a lot at stake. I am asking for your support on Tuesday, May 21st.

Our Board of Education makes decisions that directly affect our students, teachers, and taxpayers. Your voice matters and your vote will echo your voice. If elected, I will give you a voice in the discussions on the school board. I will push for better communication and transparency and remind the district communication is two-way. We need to ask for feedback from the community as a whole to ensure we are delivering the message that you want and need to hear. If elected, I will work with the other board members to ensure we are holding the district accountable and delivering for our students and district employees while balancing on behalf of the taxpayers. So many people just don’t trust the district right now. We need to bring back the trust to our district. I want to help turn New Hartford back into the district where teachers and principals and other employees want to come to work instead of fleeing from it like we have seen the past few years. Having three children at various stages of our district and a wife that works in the district, I have many perspectives even in my own house of things we can improve together. On day 1, I will be ready to roll up my sleeves and go to work for you.

I have recently received the endorsement of the New Hartford Employees Union. Thank you for your support. Without your group of employees, the district simply could not run.

Polls are open from 7AM to 8PM on May 21st at the High School Gym. When you vote next Tuesday, I ask for your vote to help me be your voice. Thank you for your consideration.

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! It’s because of you we have all these kids to fight for. I hope you have a great day and weekend!

05/10/2024

Another busy week in the books. Thank you to Perry Jr. High PTA, Bradley PTA, New Hartford Teachers' Association, and Myles Elementary PTA for hosting the board candidates this week. Four meetings in the past three days to introduce myself and explain why I am running for school board. For those that were not able to make it this week at your school, please visit my page for topics that I discussed.

One thing that is a constant at all the meetings is there is a lot of distrust within the district. We met a lot of parents and teachers that are genuinely concerned with how our district is being run. I share that passion and that’s why I am asking for you to let me be your voice on the school board. I appreciate your consideration when you vote on May 21st.

05/06/2024

Accountability: One of the main responsibilities of any school board is to provide oversight to the superintendent and administrative team. It is a form of checks and balances to ensure the district is giving the best educational experience to our children. I feel New Hartford lost sight of that responsibility many years ago. Based on the feedback I have received from many parents and my own personal view, its times to say enough is enough. That is another reason why I entered the race for one of the two open board seats. While the superintendent is accountable to the board of education, the board is accountable to the residents. Besides attending PTA and school board meetings to voice opinions, your next course of action is to vote for board candidates that will have our children’s best interests at heart and be willing to stand up for them. We don’t need another rubber stamp but instead we need people that will challenge and ask why. You have a choice to make two weeks from Tuesday on May 21st. I ask for your support to let me be your children’s voice and hold our superintendent and administrators accountable. If elected, I will work to restore board oversight and engage with the community to ensure a better ran district and a positive experience for all of our students. Thank you for your consideration.

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05/01/2024

Smaller class sizes are proven to produce a better educational experience. If I am elected to the school board on May 21st, this is one of the many topics I will fight for.

04/30/2024

Happy Monday. As I mentioned a week or so ago I will post topics I spoke of at the recent PTA meetings for those that were unable to attend.

One thing that caught my attention and I hope you also noticed, especially if you have children in the district is the large amount of resignations that we have seen in the past few years. We have seen departures of multiple principals, the director of special education, as well as other key faculty positions. We used to hire away from the Utica City School District and many of our leaders and faculty have taken jobs there to get out of New Hartford. Why do you think these district employees have left? For many it was the way our district is being run. How many more have to leave for our administration to realize how large this problem really is? If I am fortunate to be elected to the school board, I will work with our board to make New Hartford a district that is sought after again as an employer and stop pushing our employees out the door. Please do not forget to vote three weeks from tomorrow, on May 21st. I appreciate your consideration.

04/20/2024

It was a busy week with the school board meeting followed by back to back PTA meetings. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself and explain why I have chosen to run for the school board. Thank you to the ER Hughes PTA and the New Hartford Senior High PTSA for the invitation. For those that were not able to make it this week at your school, please visit my page for topics that I discussed.

I still believe the district is not fully transparent nor communicates enough. That is and has always been one of my top issues and I want to help change that. The problem with the lack of communication is that the community hears rumors and gossip on Facebook and other social media platforms and can only assume it’s the truth since the district doesn’t respond. Examples that I shared at the PTA meetings were last years bus garage proposal and this past weeks classroom restructuring. Both resulted in the court of public opinion dictating the narrative because the school didn’t proactively address these items properly. While I was given some answers by school leaders on the teacher situation, there is more to the story they are not sharing. If I am elected to one of the board seats, I will work to improve the trust and be more transparent to all stakeholders.

04/03/2024

There’s an analogy we use at my employer called the three legged stool. I am a Customer Service Manager and have to balance between many priorities. For work, the legs of the stool represent the customer, the employee, and our financials. That same analogy translates well to our school district. Replace the legs with our children, our district employees, and the taxpayers. In order to be successful and not have the stool topple over, we need to balance our priorities. Give too much to the children or employees and the taxpayers suffer. Set priorities too much for the taxpayer, and the students and staff will suffer. I will bring a common sense approach to the school board where we can have thought provoked discussions to ensure we are delivering the best quality education for our children, while keeping our employees and the taxpayers at balance.

Please come out to vote on May 21st and thank you for your consideration.

03/31/2024

Hello and thanks for dropping by. My name is Jeff Kolb and I am running for one of the open seats for the New Hartford Board of Education. I graduated from New Hartford in 1995 along with my wife, Melissa. We have three children. Our oldest daughter graduated last year and is a freshman at Utica University, we have a son in 9th grade at Perry Jr High, and our youngest daughter is in 3rd grade at Myles Elementary School. After graduating from New Hartford, I received my BS in Electrical Engineering Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology. I went on to get my MBA from SUNY Polytechnic Institute. I currently work for Diebold Nixdorf managing technician teams who repair bank equipment like ATM’s, vaults, and pneumatic tube systems. At Diebold Nixdorf, I have managed budgets up to $70M which is just a bit more what we spend in our district annually.

Over the next few months leading up to the election on May 21st, I will share what I will bring to the board and why it is important. I appreciate your consideration.

Please leave comments or questions here and I will respond. You can also email me at [email protected]