School officials selected Peter Augenblick as his replacement
By: Cynthia Williamson
New Hope-Solebury school board President Hardy Bush stepped down from his post Aug. 6 but will continue to serve as a member of the board until early December when his term expires.
Mr. Bush announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election to a third term but said he decided to resign as president now to ease the transition.
"It’s something I’d thought about a great deal, and the timing seemed right," Mr. Bush remarked.
The board adopted a 2001-2002 school year budget in June and recently negotiated a new five-year contract with Superintendent Barbara Burke-Stevenson.
"So, with that in place, I thought the timing was right," Mr. Bush said. "I’ve done this for so many years I wanted to make sure there was some sort of transition."
The board voted 6-3 at its regular meeting Aug. 6, the same day Mr. Bush resigned, to elect Peter Augenblick to succeed Mr. Bush as president.
"He’s really going to be a great president; there’s no doubt in my mind," said Mr. Bush, a longtime acquaintance of Mr. Augenblick. "I’ll still be on the board for four months to be any type of help he wants me to be."
Mr. Augenblick was appointed to the board earlier this year to replace Jerry Ruddle, who resigned, but his association with the board dates back to the late 1980s through the mid-90s when he served on the board.
He and Mr. Bush were "running mates" in 1993, Mr. Bush noted.
Mr. Augenblick is an accountant and operates Augenblick & Co. in New Hope. His wife, Janet, is an English teacher at the elementary school in Solebury Township.
Mr. Bush was appointed to the board in 1992 to replace retiring member Robert Croft. He was elected to a full term and as vice president in 1993 and re-elected to the board in 1997 when he also became president.
Since 1993, he has been representing the district on the Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit 22, which oversees a $66 million budget and 900 employees. He became vice president of the county board in 1997 and president in 2000. He resigned from the county position July 1 though he will continue to serve on the board until December.
Mr. Bush’s tenure on the New Hope-Solebury board includes guiding the district through a $26 million high school renovation and new middle school building project for grades five through eight at its 180 W. Bridge St. facility in New Hope. The project won a design award last year from the Philadelphia Architectural Society.
"I believe the quality of our education has steadily improved," Mr. Bush said. "We judge that by test scores and, ultimately, the type of colleges our kids are getting into."
Mr. Bush and his wife, Karen, reside in the township and have two children in the district: Lauren, who is a senior this year, and Carter, who will be entering the eighth grade next month.
"We’ve had trouble keeping our superintendents but we now have a superintendent with four successful years and a contract for five more years," he said. "We’re also really working very hard on updating our curriculum."
The board adopted Pennsylvania Act 153 that allows property owners with large land holdings to preserve their parcels for open space in exchange for a freeze on school taxes.
The benefit to the school district is there will be fewer houses, more open space and lower taxes because there won’t be a "need to build as many schools," Mr. Bush said.
"We’re really proud of this," Mr. Bush said. "The growth and development we’ve experienced in the past seven or eight years is what really forces tax increases."
When Mr. Bush was elected to the board eight years ago, there were 780 students in the K-12 district but the number has nearly doubled to 1,250. The district projects enrollment will increase by 250 students when houses under construction in Solebury Township are completed.
Despite measures the board has taken to curb development, the district is gearing up for another expansion project. The elementary and middle schools are filled to capacity, and the high school is close to capacity. A committee appointed by the board in June is studying the issue and will make recommendations.
Mr. Bush expressed "relief" at stepping down as president, but at the same time he said it’s something he’s "really enjoyed doing."
"Just stepping down, I very clearly had mixed emotions," he said.
The hours he spent a week on board business "came in streaks," but the position required him to do "a lot of reading not to mention phone calls and letters." Outside of regular board meetings that typically last between four and five hours, there are other meetings board members are required to attend.
"I’ll still be an active board member, but my role will be different," Mr. Bush said.