Centennial Schools Superintendent Says Goodbye

WARMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — It's 16 days before Dana T. Bedden wraps up his five years as the superintendent of the Centennial School District, and his office is empty.

The desk where Bedden sits has only a few items on it. There are a few boxes littered along the room in the Centennial School District Administrative Building off Jacksonville Road on this Wednesday afternoon. A bookshelf right behind him is completely cleared.

Bedden sat down with Patch in an exclusive interview before his tenure ended on Monday.

The Centennial School Board presented Bedden with a plaque as a token of its appreciation for his years of service, and many members offered comments at the board's meeting last week.

Bedden is making way for former Central Bucks Schools Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh, who starts his tenure on Tuesday leading the school district that covers Warminster and Upper Southampton townships.

"I've been here five years," he said. "I look at the national trend where superintendents last between 2.7 and 3 years. I'm happy to have fulfilled my contract to the community. The school district is better than it was when I got here."

Bedden announced late last year that he wouldn't seek a new contract.

In his decision, Bedden stated that he was "deeply proud of what we have achieved together."

He noted implementing new academic programs which have resulted in the district meeting or exceeding for the first time in over a decade 100 percent of the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System performance targets, achieving Moody's Aa2 General Obligation Bond Rating, surpassing the national and the median rating for Pennsylvania K-12 districts.

See the presentation here

Bedden said that the accomplishment resulted in over $4 million in refinancing savings.

"I look at the achievements, growing school programs, and leading the district through the COVID pandemic," Bedden said. He mentions a Virtual Learning Academy created during the pandemic that continues today.

Bedden also touts spending $1.5 million to bolster safety and security at district schools, including security upgrades, having trained security guards, and an armed supervisor. He expanded the number of security cameras and added a single-entry system that conducts automatic criminal background checks.

He has mixed emotions about his departure.

"There are things about the job I welcome leaving behind," Bedden said. "The kids and the community members create sadness and disappointment for me. We didn't get here without the people and systems to be successful. You bring a team together. You want to share dinner with them. You can't eat a turkey dinner with a spoon. We gave them the knives and the forks."

He added that for a school district to be successful, everything must work hand-in-hand.

"Teachers need warm, safe environments," Bedden said. "If the buses don't work, there's nobody to teach. Same with the food service.

School board members clashed with Bedden at meetings throughout his tenure. At one meeting, some residents called for Bedden's ouster when security was breached at William Tennant High School.

"The naysayers are part of the job," he said. "I think the work and outcome speak for themselves. I was asked to make things better. In almost every area, we are trending in the right direction."

Bedden was asked by Patch how he wanted to be remembered for his time in the Centennial School District.

"I was a superintendent who kept the main thing the main thing. The kids came first. They got a fair shot. I tried to make sure people knew what to expect. That was consistency. Respect is all you can ask for."

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