Gateway School Board appoints, swears in Robin Mungo to fill vacant seat

A longtime Monroeville resident and Gateway graduate was sworn in as the school district’s newest member on Feb. 16 after being appointed last week.

Robin Mungo, 52, will fill a spot on the nine-member board that has been vacant since Jan. 7, when Paul Caliari stepped down following a racially divisive controversy now being played out in federal court.

Mungo, an African American woman who in 2019 retired as a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, said she has always wanted to serve on the school board.

“But I’ve always been restricted because of being a state employee — I wasn’t allowed to be involved in government. We aren’t even allowed to have yard signs of candidates,” she said.

But the job has always been something she wanted to do, Mungo said.

Mungo moved to Monroeville when she was in second grade. Her family moved again when she was in seventh grade, but ended up back in Monroeville when she began her junior year in high school. She graduated a Gator in 1987.

Out of high school, she served in the Army Reserve for eight years. During that time she enrolled at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. She then transferred to the University of Pittsburgh in 1989 to study sociology.

“But I didn’t graduate,” she said. Instead, she began what ended up being a 25-year career with the state police, where she worked as a trooper, criminal investigator, recruiter, a public information officer and community services officer.

She said her time in law enforcement will serve her well as a school board member.

“I can talk to anyone. I can listen. When you have a conversation, you need to be able to listen, have empathy and mutual respect. So if you’re talking to me, I’m going to listen to you. And if I don’t understand, I’m going to ask to better understand,” she said.

Since retiring from the state police, Mungo has taken up jobs as a driving instructor with Cindy Cohen School of Driving, a safety officer with NJM Insurance Group and a presenter for DBA Training Solutions.

She said DBA offers implicit bias and procedural justice training to police officers, corporate employees, medical professionals, school staff and community members.

Mungo said she always has been someone to point out behavior that is inappropriate or offensive, but that she is open to having open dialog with others about race.

“If people have questions for me, ask me – that’s how we learn and have empathy. I hold everyone accountable, and I want people to hold me accountable,” she said.

Mungo said the controversy surrounding Caliari’s departure and lawsuit “sparked that flame” inside her and piqued her interest to want to serve. After some reflection, she realized there’s no better time than now.

“There’s no time limit on when to get involved,” she said.

The school board appointed Mungo in a 6-2 vote, with one abstention from Valerie Warning, the board’s vice president, on Feb. 9. Board members Mary Beth Cirucci and Scott Williams dissented.

Before her vote, Cirucci said she was concerned that even before the board had received a pool of applicants, a board member had said the new person should be a “minority or a woman.” She said deciding to appoint someone based on their race or gender is discriminatory.

Cirucci said that of the 16 candidates, two — John Bova and George Lapcevich — were prior board members and pointed out it is typical for boards to reach out to prior board members to gauge interest in serving again. She said she recommended that Brian Goppman, board president, do that.

She said Mungo is a “fine candidate.”

“However, I don’t think there’s any comparison to somebody who’s never been on a school board with a prior board member like Mr. Bova,” Cirucci said.

Warning and Williams did not explain their abstention and vote, respectively, but welcomed Mungo during her first meeting.

Mungo will serve on the board through November, but she still needs to run for election in the May 18 primary. She said she does plan on running for election.

The terms for three other board members — Rick McIntyre, Brian Goppman and Scott Williams — will expire this year. McIntyre said he will not run for reelection. The two other board members have not made their intentions public.

Mungo said she is excited to get started on the board — and also a little nervous.

“It’s the unknown, something new,” she said. “But I’m ready for the challenge. … I’m never one to turn in the opposite direction from a challenge.”