To Board President Mary Alice Brancato, Mr. Mark Gindhart, Mr. Flemming Godiksen, Mr. Michael Hartline, and Dr. Kathleen Maguire:
In May 2025, you went against the Centennial community’s wishes in a big way. After a total of three hours of community comments begging you not to hire Dr. Abram Lucabaugh as our next superintendent, you went ahead and confirmed him anyways.
We tried to warn you. Some residents spoke on how divisive the Central Bucks community became under Dr. Lucabaugh’s leadership when he was superintendent there. Some reminded you that the voters of Central Bucks School District Board flipped their school board after Dr. Lucabaugh worked in parellelwith the previous Moms for Liberty-aligned school board majority. We told you that we did not like this decision, and there were comments that spanned everything from reasoned and factual, to impassioned and pleading.
We gave media interviews. We talked to our neighbors. You did not listen.
In the end we, the voters of Centennial School District, soundly declared this week that the direction you chose for our school district is not the vision of the majority of district parents.
This week, we chose hope. We chose inclusion. We chose passion guided by a current district parent and longtime district volunteer, a seasoned school board veteran who has proven time and again that the students come first – not politics, and a wonderful new face who campaigned like our students’ future depended on it – because it does.
We voted in the best interest of our students, and not in the best interest of the right-wing 1776 PAC that endorsed all four Republican candidates. Two of you were not up for election this year, but after spending the last two years in the majority, you will now be in the minority. One of you narrowly won re-election in a district that a Democratic candidate historically never has a chance to win. And two of you are now off the school board entirely.
READ: Bucks County Democrats Prove ‘All Politics Is Local’ With Sweeping Election Wins
In May, I was embarrassed to say that I lived in Centennial. Now, I am proud of the work we in the Centennial community all did, from the candidates who tirelessly campaigned and spoke with voters, to the grassroots volunteers who continued to talk to their neighbors about important issues and did not let the disappointment of May fade into memory.
I hope this is a lesson for all of the school board directors. When the community speaks, I hope you listen. Because we, the voters, have the final say. That’s how democracy works, and that’s how we protect the next generation. Here’s to a brighter, more compassionate future for the Centennial School District!
