Election 2025: Comalli Running For Central Bucks School Board

Candidates running in the May 20 Primary for Central Bucks School Board have been invited to provide background about themselves and their positions on the issues in these profiles, which will appear individually for each candidate who participates.

CHALFONT, PA — Democrat David Comalli is running for a two-year seat in Region 3 as a cross-filed candidate, meaning his name will appear on both ballots. He faces Republican Brenda Bagonis, who is also running as a cross-filed candidate on both ballots.

Region 3 includes: Chalfont Borough, Warrington Township and New Britain Township (South 1 and 2 and West 1 and 2).

Biological Information

Name: David Comalli

Age: 38

Town of residence: Chalfont

Position sought: CBSD School Board Director, Region 3, Two-Year Term

What Towns Does your Position Cover: Region 3 includes: Chalfont Borough, Warrington Township, and New Britain Township (South 1 and 2 and West 1 and 2).

Party Affiliation: Democratic

Family: Wife – Christina Comalli, Daughter – Willow Comalli (9 years old), Son – Peter Comalli (3 years old)

Education: Ph.D. with a focus in Developmental Psychology from NYU; BA in Psychology from Temple University

Occupation: IRB Director at Temple University (the IRB oversees research to ensure it is safe, ethical, and compliant with laws and regulations).

Questions

Why are you running for 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, because 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.

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

While canvassing these past few weeks, 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. The situation at Jamison; 2 Keeping the focus on education, not culture wars; and 3. School safety.

I would address them as follows:

1. 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 one solution to a problem that broad. All of those involved in the abuse and neglect (including the administrators who were slow to report or reported false information) should face consequences commensurate with their actions. Additionally, there should be mandatory 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

The past few years have been turbulent in the district. How will you bring stability?

I aim to help bring about stability by focusing on curriculum, not culture wars. I am a strong believer that it’s far more important to find solutions than it is to assign blame. Additionally, when problems come up that can bring about instability, I will ensure we have strong corrective and preventative action plans. We will face difficult situations and problems. The key when doing so is to be transparent, communicative, and solution-oriented. We should focus efforts on finding root causes of our problems and then take that information to develop plans for any immediate remedies as well as making sure we prevent those same problems from happening again.

What changes should be made at the state and federal level regarding public education and what is your opinion of what is happening at the federal level with funding and educational priorities?

The current administration’s attack on public education is disgusting. We should be increasing support to those who need it most, rather than taking that support away. A direct result of this is that Head Start Programs throughout our region are in danger of being shut down, due to the Department of Education’s revocation of funds. The state may need to step in and help fill the gap that our federal government is creating. Additionally, I would be encouraged to see incentives (e.g., tax credits or rebates) at the state and federal level for special education certificates. Special education is perpetually under-staffed and overworked, so any incentives to help fix those situations will help our most vulnerable students.