PHOTO: Jason Bhardwaj is running for the Ward 3 seat on Newton’s School Committee. Courtesy Photo
Newton’s 2025 local election season has already begun, and there’s a new candidate for School Committee.
Jason Bhardwaj, a CEO, health care tech executive and father of two, is running to fill the Ward 3 seat on the School Committee, with current seat occupant Anping Shen unable to run due to term limits.
“I think first and foremost, it’s about kids and community,” Bhardwaj said.
Bhardwaj grew up in Missouri, Georgia and Massachusetts, in a family of educators. His grandmother was a public school teacher, his grandfather taught music and owned a musical instrument store, his mother teaches English as a Second Language, and his brother runs pre-K learning centers.
Childhood spent in different parts of the country helped give him a diversified understanding of education at a young age.
“And I’ve been in very different school settings in those places as well,” Bhardwaj said. “I went to the small local elementary school behind myself, not unlike Peirce Elementary here. And I also had an experimental parent who sent me into the inner city in a 30-minute cab ride every day, to a public magnet school that was 70 percent African American.”
Bhardwaj and his wife, Shweta, moved to West Newton in 2017 to raise their family. Their two children attend Peirce Elementary school in Newton, one in the first and one in fourth grade. He’s coached youth soccer for the past 10 years.
“Experiencing NPS as a parent coming out of the pandemic, it was hard for everyone—educators and parents and kids especially—and I feel the value in being part of the effort to make sure the educational experience continues a positive upward trajectory,” Bhardwaj said. “And that’s exciting and motivating to me.”
Bhardwaj is the CEO of the start-up biotech company Nova Anchora, and he previously held leadership roles at Follica and Tal Medical.
Running a start-up has its own rewards and its own hurdles, Bhardwaj noted.
“You have milestones you have to meet over a certain timeframe, the budget’s got to carry that far, and people are relying on your leadership and some financial discipline to get you there,” he said.
Bhardwaj said the teachers’ strike last winter gave him new insight into the dynamics of education. He was between jobs at the time, so he was able to stay home and “teach” the kids.
“We did ‘Daddy School’ for six hours a day, and I don’t need that experience to give me respect for the profession, but teaching two kids at different levels in a classroom of two was pretty hard,” he laughed.
Bhardwaj said that he’d like the district to avoid disputes in the future by balancing ideals with reality and listening to everyone involved.
“Teachers want to be heard. They want to be respected. I’m a big believer in that, so I’m hopeful that attention to that is a part of the solution,” he said.
Bhardwaj asks anyone who has questions to email him at jason4newton@gmail.com.