Jonathan Russell
Republican | Pennsylvania
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Jonathan Russell
Party
Republican
Election Year
2025
Election
PA General School Boards, Judicial & Municipal Races
Race
Pennridge School District School Director (4-year team) (vote for 4)
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, PA, JD, 1992
Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA, BA, 1989
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Immanuel Church of the Nazarene, Board Member, 2009- present
Christ's Home for Children, Board Member, 1995-2003
Eastern Nazarene College, Board Member, 1996-2010
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Pennridge School Board Director, 2021-2023
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Pennridge School Board Director, 2025-2029
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (1)
Pennridge Area GOP
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (2)
Pennridge Republican Committee
2025
OTHER INFORMATION
Please note: This information was received by iVoterGuide after panel evaluations occurred and is for educational purposes only.
Candidate's bio on Pennridge Area Republican Club's website.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
What role should the school serve in helping a student with an unwanted or crisis pregnancy?
I don't see the school as having a role in the medical care of students, except on an emergency basis. Students should be directed to their parents for non-emergency matters. Legally, if there is reasonable cause to suspect child abuse associated with the pregnancy, then school personnel have a responsibility to report to their supervisor and to Childline.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Teachers should be required to instruct students on mandated curriculum even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Disagree
In some ways, it depends on the context. As a Christian, I may disagree with the tenets of Islam or Hinduism, but I think teachers can still teach about other religions. If, however, this question is meant to ask whether teachers must instruct students on what they must believe instead of simply learning about different beliefs, then I would strongly disagree.
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
I think our society can only be as good as our ability to teach and train the next generation. Taxpayer-funded public education K -12 is essential to this desired societal goal. As to pre-k and college, I see a role for subsidized loans and grants, but I don't believe that pre-K and college must be taxpayer-funded.
EDUCATION
Abortion and gender-affirming providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Disagree
Consistent discipline creates a safe and orderly environment, which is essential for student learning.
Strongly Agree
Educators should give students a thorough education in America's founding documents and cultivate American patriotism.
Strongly Agree
I support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Disagree
I don't support programs that emphasize and elevate one person's differences over another in the name of inclusivity. We need programs that focus on what we have in common as opposed to how others view our differences. We need to focus on equal opportunities not equal outcomes. To the extent that certain terms seem to have been "hijacked" by a particular ideology, I am in favor of diversity of thought and perspectives as well as greater parental inclusion.
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Agree
There is a role for federal taxpayer dollars being sent to the local school districts. I am not in favor of the Federal or State Government, imposing unfunded mandates upon local school districts.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): American History, Art & Music, Civics, Critical Race Theory, Foreign Language, Gender Identity, Information Technology, Language Arts, Mathematics, Personal Finances, Physical Fitness, Political Activism, Science, Sexuality, Social Emotional Learning, Vocational Learning
Language Arts (reading/writing), Mathematics, Civics, Science, American History, Information Technology, Vocational Learning, Personal Finance, Physical Fitness, Foreign Language, Art and Music
The state should fund education by allowing dollars to follow the child instead of the bureaucracy, through a program which allows parents the freedom to choose their child's school – public, private, or homeschool.
Agree
I agree with the concept, however, private schools must not be allowed to avoid the financial implications of selectively choosing to educate children without special needs, while leaving the "difficult" high cost children to the public schools. Similar to how doctors have formed surgical centers to peel away all the financially viable procedures from hospitals, leaving community hospitals to carry the burden of the uninsured, private schools who receive public dollars can't pick the easiest ch
Which should students have: equity of outcomes or equality of opportunities?
Equality of opportunities. The challenge today is economic disparity. The children who happen to be born into families with resources will have a dramatically different experience than those who are born into a family without financial margin. Thirty-percent of families in Pennridge receive subsidized lunches. If families cannot afford lunch, they certainly cannot afford, private tutors or trainers, fees for electives, class trips or summers abroad. This creates a disparity of opportunity.
Which type of written parental consent should be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE)? (A) Opt-In. (B) Opt-Out. (C) None.
Opt-in
2ND AMENDMENT
Faculty who are licensed to carry and have had ongoing training should be allowed to carry guns at school in order to respond to an active shooter situation.
Agree
Only if Act 235 certified.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
In the event of a pandemic, school districts can mandate whatever health precautions they deem necessary (including masks and vaccines) to protect students and staff.
Disagree
While I understand the need for vaccination (MMR, Polio) for students in close contact with each other. The COVID shots were not vaccines. They did not prevent children from passing the virus or from contracting it. In fact, the evidence is that the COVID shot did more harm than good to healthy children. Additionally, evidence of the efficacy of masking our children remains nonexistent. As a result, the authorities should not in the future "mandate whatever they deem necessary."
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
no
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
no
I voted in these primaries and general elections:
2014 Republican Primary 2014 General Election 2016 Republican Primary 2016 General Election 2018 Republican Primary 2018 General Election 2020 Republican Primary 2020 General Election 2022 Republican Primary 2022 General Election
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and that Jesus Christ is his only son. I believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. On the third day he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the Father. I believe in the Holy Spirit that lives within each Christian. I believe that God created us for his purposes, here on earth, until he calls us home to heaven. I believe that salvation is a gift, not something to be earned, but that it comes with a responsibility on our part, not to cheapen his grace but to glorify him through our choices, actions and words. As we carry out his purposes, others should see evidence of God.
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Parents are primarily responsible. While some children mature at earlier ages than others, this generally should happen at 12-13 years old or in the 7th and 8th grade.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- abortion methods and side effects; abstinence; consent; contraceptive methods; human anatomy/the reproductive system; physical and emotional health outcomes; sex acts and pleasures of sex; sexual orientation and gender identity; stages of pregnancy and fetal development
human anatomy/the reproductive system, stages of pregnancy and fetal development, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, parental responsibility and child development
Children have a right to reach maturity without chemical or surgical castration, which would damage their healthy bodies through surgeries and may cause a life-long dependence on cross-sex hormones.
Strongly Agree
Children have the right to be protected from sexual grooming (including drag shows and explicit materials) in schools and libraries.
Strongly Agree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman essential to the formation and sustaining of a civil and prosperous society.
Strongly Agree
Parents have the fundamental right to raise their child in accordance with their beliefs and values, including the right to make decisions about the child's education and healthcare.
Strongly Agree
Parents should have full and timely access to any and all records, including school and medical records, associated with their minor children.
Strongly Agree
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
In Pennsylvania, the first time you vote at a new location, a photo ID is required. Each time you vote thereafter at that same location, only a signature comparison is required. This seems like a reasonable approach for voter integrity.
EQUALITY
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Strongly Agree
