Mark Gindhart — Centennial School District
This installment of our series of interviews with school director candidates across Pennsylvania brings us to the Centennial School District.
Mark Gindhart is running for school director in Centennial School District, Region 2, located in Bucks County. He is a registered Republican and a retired fire fighter, paramedic, and police officer.
Why are you running for school board?
I am running for reelection. I initially ran during Covid because I have four young grandchildren in the district, and I was disgusted by the way the board pushed masks and truly draconian polices while completely minimizing and ignoring parents who fought very hard to protect their children and begged for sanity and reason. I am seeking reelection because we are finally heading in the right direction with a new superintendent who will do great things for the children, their families, our employees, and our entire school community. If the board-control changes, he will be facing a hostile board and we will not achieve the great things I know we can.
What are the most important issues facing your district?
Our financial situation. We are facing a large budget deficit, even with going to the full Act 1 tax increase. The new Superintendent has ideas to help in this area, and I want to be a part of it.
What is your professional background/experience? What skills would you bring to the board?
Having served as a firefighter, paramedic, and police officer, I think that having learned the ability to work with many different kinds of people in many different and stressful situations is definitely a benefit. These positions have also helped me to be able to get to the core of an issue and make decisions based on all available information, leaving personal feelings out.
Have you run for political office previously? Have you been politically active?
Only my first election to the board four years ago. I am very politically aware, but this is my first and only foray into actual politics. I have absolutely no desire to seek any other office or position. I got into this for a very specific purpose as described above.
Are you running with other candidates?
No.
What is the most important role of the school board in your opinion?
Setting the tone, direction, and culture of the district and holding people accountable for straying from the important mission of educating children to be productive, civic minded, and responsible adult members of society because the future of the country depends on them.
Please list any campaign websites and social media sites.
We contacted the Democratic and Republican committees in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, and Montgomery counties and asked them to share the questions with their school director candidates. Broad + Liberty will post the responses throughout the summer to assist voters in learning about the candidates running in their district. The series is open to any school director on the ballot in November. Please contact barosica@broadandliberty.com for more information.
I enjoy reading these responses currently and also when B&L did them in the previous school board election cycle. As I recall, only one Democrat responded then. I am looking to see how many will this time. As a suggestion, would B&L consider sending a similar questionnaire to the members of the only unelected school board in Pennsylvania, the Board of the School District of Philadelphia?
That’s a good idea.