After a dozen years Harry Kramer is no longer a member of the Bensalem Board of Education.
But don't be surprised if you still see him around.
“I really will miss the students and the faculty and the administrators. It's a great organization. People have no idea how dedicated our unions are to the success of the . I think we have the best teaching staff in Bucks County,” he says.
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“Maybe they will have a volunteer position and I'll volunteer.”
Kramer did not seek re-election this year, and last week he was lauded by district officials along with other outgoing members Chester Marshall and Kathleen Lesnevec.
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“I thought 12 years was a long time” says the married father of two.
He did apply this past summer for a vacancy on the township council when Joe Szafran stepped down to become county recorder of deeds, but he was not chosen. Regardless, he might just wind up on that dais in the future.
“If a position would become available I would throw my hat in the ring and would offer to run,” he says.
“I always had an interest in serving the public. Prior to the school board I was on the Planning Commission and before that the Impact Fee Advisory Board,” says the Philadelphia University graduate. “I was just talking with (Republican) party leaders and they said why don't you run for the school board. The rest is history. I was re-elected twice. I just enjoyed it.”
For about seven of those 12 years, Kramer was the board president. He helped hire four superintendents along with a “couple individuals who turned out not to be as qualified as they said they were.”
The latter, along with several years of some district schools not reaching Adequate Yearly Progress and still not having a Blue Ribbon elementary school are the disappointments of his tenure. This year, the district found out that all nine schools made AYP, which is something Kramer is proud of.
“There were so many high points. Recently, the building and (imminent) opening of the new physical education facility, which is something the district and township sorely needed. The raising of the PSSA scores and meeting AYP are certainly in the top five,” he says.
The 64 year old credit manager for F&T Apparel says the biggest issue facing his former colleagues continues to be diminishing state and federal funding.
“You don't want to raise taxes on your residents, so you're falling into the old Catch 22. Education should be the priority of any government because the students are the future,” he says.