Election 2025: David Comalli For Central Bucks School Board

Candidates running in the Nov. 4 general election are providing background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Two candidates are running for one open, two-year seat on the Central Bucks School Board in the new Region 3.

Voters will choose between Democrat David Comalli and Republican Sharon Beck.

REGION 3: Chalfont Borough; New Britain Township South 1 & 2; New Britain Township West 1 & 2; Warrington 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Biological Information

Name: David Comalli
Age: 39
Town of residence: Chalfont
Position sought: CBSD Director, 2-year term
What Towns Does Your Position Cover: CBSD Region 3 includes Chalfont, Warrington, and New Britain Township (South 1 and 2 and West 1 and 2)
Party Affiliation: Democratic
Family: Wife – Christina; Children – Willow (9) and Peter (3)
Education: PhD with a focus in Developmental Psychology from NYU; BA in Psychology from Temple University
Occupation: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Director at Temple University (the IRB oversees research to ensure it’s safe, ethical, and compliant with laws and regulations)

Questions

1. Why are you running for the school board? If elected, what will your priorities be?

I'm running because I firmly believe that public education is the foundation of the American Dream. It offers everyone a chance to better their station by learning and taking what they learned into their careers. Education isn't just about learning facts. It's about learning how to learn, learning how to think critically, learning how to navigate social situations, and experiencing diversity in race, ethnicity, and ideas.

My number one priority will be ensuring that we have a safe, accepting, and enriching environment for all of our students. I will also be sure that we are fiscally responsible, while recognizing the school district impacts our finances in more ways than just taxes. A strong school district raises the values of our homes as well as the quality of our local workforce.

2. What do you see as the major issues facing the district and how would you address them?

While canvassing these past months, I've had the opportunity to ask members of our community what their most important issues related to the district are. There have been three major themes: 1. Keeping the focus on education, not culture wars; 2. School safety; and 3. The scandal at Jamison and its aftermath.

I would address them as follows:

1. I won't tell teachers that I know more about their curriculum than they do or scour their lesson plans to ensure they align with my political beliefs. I will do everything I can to advocate for our teachers and support staff by championing evidence- and research-based curriculum and ensuring that they have the tools that they'll need to teach our children.

2. School safety can and should be addressed on a multitude of fronts. We should ensure that we have adequate mental health resources for our students and not discourage seeking help. We should instill a culture that abhors bullying, in-person or on the internet. Teachers should have appropriate classroom management training, and trained support staff for instances where a student is being unsafe to others or themselves. Our buildings should have the appropriate safety measures and implements. This includes appropriate checks and locks at the doors, as well working alarms. Lastly, helping foster a strong relationship between the staff, student body, and school resource officers (SRO) is critical as well.

3. I was saddened and disturbed to hear and then read about the DRP Report that detailed what happened in that classroom. The children, their parents, and our community were failed at multiple points and there is no single solution to a problem that broad. The current board has acted to terminate those most directly responsible, and are working towards changing policies to help ensure something like this does not happen again. In line with—and addition to those policies—I believe there should be required trainings for all district personnel on mandatory reporting, training for special education teachers on proper restraint usage and incident reporting, and an increase in special education positions to support these classrooms. Lastly, we should work to foster a culture where this simply cannot happen again. People should not fear consequences for reporting issues of concern, and those reports should be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.

3. What would you like to see in a new superintendent? Where would you like to see him/her focus their energies?

Something that our district needs is stability in leadership. So, a key quality that I would like to see in a new superintendent is an ability and desire to stick with the district. While it is difficult to assess a desire to be long-term, there are traits that can help point to an ability to lead for the long haul. Given the size and recent history of our district, we need a superintendent with experience in the role. Ours is not an entry-level district.

The two primary areas that I expect our next superintendent to focus on are re-establishing the trust of our parents and students and building for the future. Over the past two years, we have begun the journey to recover from leadership that showed active contempt for a portion of our student body. However, the wounds that resulted from the scandal at Jamison have only just started to heal. So, compassion and clear communication will be critical to continue on the path to closure. Lastly, experience with large-scale building upgrades would be a definite plus. The school board put plans to renovate the eight on hold, due to the uncertainty caused by the tariffs, but those improvements will need to be implemented in the not-too-distant future. Our children, and all of those supporting and teaching them, deserve air conditioning.