Elections (Credit: MediaNews Group)
In the Pennridge School District, eight candidates are vying for four open spots on the school board.
The Pennridge Democrats have endorsed newcomers Carly Taylor, Thomas Trauger, Dan Bebernitz and Nathaniel Leffever. Pennridge Republicans have endorsed former Republican board member Jonathan Russell as well as newcomers Michael Bongiovanni, Brian McMullen and Daniel Mainieri.
The Democratic-endorsed candidates and Mainieri cross-filed, while the remaining Republican-endorsed candidates are running on the Republican ballot.
Describe your background and qualifications for the position you are seeking.
Carly Taylor, Pennridge School Board candidate (Courtesy of Carly Taylor for Pennridge School Board Director)Taylor: I am a former laboratory manager, where I primarily focused on process improvement, training, and compliance. There, I learned an understanding of balancing business needs with needs of employees, while working within a budget. I have lived in Bucks County for most of my life and now have a 5-year old daughter entering Pennridge next year. I have built a career as a horse trainer and a vet assistant for an equine dentist in Bucks County. I interact with the community daily, and I get to be a part of identifying creative solutions which positively impact lives.
Nathaniel Leffever, Pennridge School Board candidate (Courtesy of Nathaniel Leffever for Pennridge School Board)Leffever: Top of the list of qualifications is the fact that I spent most of my life working with children in one capacity or another. My family owns a school in Doylestown where I grew up, and worked as everything from a groundskeeper, to van driver, to teacher’s assistant for roughly 13 years. To say that investing in children’s education runs in my family would be an understatement. I’m also a graduate of Pennridge. As part of the 2005 graduating class, I know what the district was like when I was a student, and I’m proud of how it has grown since then. I want nothing more than to see it continue to grow.
Dan Bebernitz, Pennridge School Board candidate (Courtesy of Dan Bebernitz for Pennridge School Board Director)Bebernitz: I hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, have 15 years of school experience specializing in IEP design and implementation, am a former social studies teacher, and maintain certifications as a Licensed Behavior Specialist (LBS-PA) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). I have 15+ years of experience supporting students with autism and significant training in conflict resolution and crisis intervention. Most importantly, I’m a concerned parent, who believes schools shape students as citizens and neighbors. I will approach decisions for our district and community with a level head and a focus on data.
Thomas Trauger, Pennridge School Board candidate (Courtesy of Thomas Trauger for Pennridge School Board Director)Trauger: In addition to being a resident of the district since 2004, I have three children who attend Pennridge schools. I have a degree in Finance and work as a consultant in skilled nursing. Skilled Nursing is among the most, and perhaps the most regulated industry in the nation. This makes me no stranger to operating an organization within the funding restraints we face today as a district. The Commonwealth has placed unfunded mandates on our district and we must work together to achieve a successful budget that will promote academic achievements in Pennridge.
What would your main goals or priorities be as a school board member?
Taylor: My priority is to work with the administration to ensure Pennridge is a district families want to live in and send their children to. Transparency and collaboration is very important to me, in order to best serve the needs of the community. I will work with the administration to ensure there are regular reviews and updates to our curriculum, as well as adequate training for teachers and staff. I would also like to find ways to encourage families to use the PSD cyber school, as the program offered is the same as most cyber charters and provides better services.
Leffever: My main goals as a board member are to maintain stability within our district and prevent extremism from infiltrating our schools like it did with the previous board. There is so much uncertainty in our country right now, and fighting over political agendas has no place in our school board. Our children deserve to be treated with the respect and understanding that they are children, not pawns in political games. We should be doing everything in our power — as I will — to protect their right to a free education of the highest quality we can provide. Nothing less will suffice. I am also particularly keen on seeing an investment in our trade schools. As a trade school graduate, I know very well just how important and how immutable the trades are. We will always need skilled tradespeople to make our country run.
Berbernitz: I am troubled by the mental health concerns of some of our students, as reflected in the most recent survey data. In speaking with members of our community, many parents expressed similar concerns, highlighting issues such as vaping in high school and other signs of our children’s disconnection from their school. My priority is to set aside the polarizing extremism we see at the national level and restore our focus on the children of our community. We must engage students in their own wellness, even in an era shaped by social media, political extremism, and rapid technological change. We must also empower our passionate teachers to continue their mission to inspire creativity, community, and resilience in our students. My goal is to continue building a strong school and a strong community for the students of Pennridge.
Trauger: Throughout my professional career I have always found it beneficial to be as transparent as possible with the various stakeholders within my organization. I will be an active board member; I will trust and listen to input from the district’s Superintendent and his cabinet. As a board we need to ensure the district has the tools available for each student to achieve academic success, whether it be preparing a student for college, a student entering into a trade, or entering into the armed forces. We will need to review routine audits and comments from our curriculum supervisors to ensure we are meeting the needs of our students.
Cuts to state and federal funding could impact school district budgets. How do you see and approach discussions about the local tax burden?
Taylor: Responsible financial planning is paramount in the face of economic uncertainty in order to manage the tax burden. We need to work together to make fiscally sound decisions which invest in our schools and foster community pride. Funding programs like full-day Kindergarten, attracting high quality teachers and staff, and Extra Duty Responsibility compensation to support our extracurricular activities are just some of the things I see great value in investing in. Unfortunately, poor budget management by the previous board majority has left our district falling behind in areas such as teacher pay/retention and infrastructure maintenance.
Leffever: My main goals as a board member are to maintain stability within our district and prevent extremism from infiltrating our schools like it did with the previous board. There is so much uncertainty in our country right now, and fighting over political agendas has no place in our school board. Our children deserve to be treated with the respect and understanding that they are children, not pawns in political games. We should be doing everything in our power — as I will — to protect their right to a free education of the highest quality we can provide. Nothing less will suffice. I am also particularly keen on seeing an investment in our trade schools. As a trade school graduate, I know very well just how important and how immutable the trades are. We will always need skilled tradespeople to make our country run.
Berbernitz: While I hope that national changes will not cut the $2+ million we receive yearly from the federal government for special education, our district needs to be prepared for potential disruptions. I attended the April 14th finance committee meeting, where I witnessed a comprehensive explanation of taxes and expenditures by our brilliant COO, Sean Daubert. His team has worked tirelessly to trim any excess spending, reduce interest rates on our loan payments through wise management, and put our district on stable financial footing.
Trauger: These are uncertain times and we cannot be sure if our district will see funding cuts from the federal or state level. As a Board member, I would take an active role in communicating the need for additional funding to our congressional representatives and senators. Professionally for the last year and half, I have spent time with our local state senators and state representatives advocating for additional funding for the aging population of Pennsylvania. I have personally witnessed success with these meetings and would take this very same approach advocating for Pennridge public education.
What do you see as the biggest issues the board must address in the next four years?
Taylor: Ensuring the district can have continued growth and success, regardless of federal and state funding will be an important task for the upcoming board and administration. The board needs to make responsible financial planning a top priority. Working with the administration to continually evaluate staffing and resources will be a primary focus.
Leffever: I am concerned with the return of those who want to create fear and division. It can already be seen and felt in this race for school board. We hear the same lines and attacks from our opponents who not only echo, but presided over the disastrous Vermillion debacle that left our district struggling. Today we’re still recovering from that fiasco, and the idea that it could return in any capacity is one that terrifies me. Our children, our teachers, our administration, and our district staff deserve to be respected and honored for the work they do on a daily basis, not treated as enemies. This country literally could not run if it weren’t for people who take up the roles they’ve chosen, and it is my intention to fight for each and every one of them for as long as I serve on the board.
Bebernitz: The biggest issue I see for Pennridge is maintaining financial stability. My concerns stem from stagnant financial support from state funding, the local housing market tapering off lowering new revenue, the looming uncertainty of the Federal Government’s $2 million yearly funding, unethical practices by outside cyber charter schools syphoning revenue, and financial mismanagement by previous school boards.
Trauger: These are uncertain times, and we cannot be sure if Pennridge will continue to have the same level of state and federal funding that the district currently relies on. I am not an educator, nor am I, in my professional life, a clinician, but I know how to listen and communicate with a cabinet of individuals to create a clinical product and how to improve a product. I will be able to listen to the challenges faced by our administration and staff to help make decisions in order to continue driving academic success in Pennridge.
The remaining candidates did not respond to a request for comment.
This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit https://www.thereporteronline.com.
