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There is an iconic photo in our files — one that didn’t get in print — of Wyoming Valley West School Board Member David Usavage. Iconic not simply because it showed the best of his approach to being on a school board, but because it showed what the best should look like for everyone who represents voters in public office.
It came after a contentious meeting in 2018, when parents passionately urged the board to reverse a decision ending transportation to and from day care centers. Usavage decided to engage the parents further, kneeling near the edge of the Middle School stage and talking to the parents on the audience floor.
We would not be so bold as to hold up Usavage as the ideal School Board roll model. For one thing, he had a long career in office, first on the Dallas School Board and then, after moving, on the WVW board. Odds are he made his share of mistakes. For another, the demands can vary so radically from district to district and year to year that the ideal in one place might be the antithesis of such in another.
But that image exemplified what most politicians should aspire to be: Servant-leaders, people who fulfill their positions of authority by looking foremost to improve things for their constituents. And perhaps more importantly, it exemplified the impression Usavage routinely made over the decades this newspaper worked with him:
The man made himself accessible, both in his long career as WVW teacher and his stints on two school boards.
Usavage clearly enjoyed his work as an educator. For a story about the dominance of women in elementary teaching positions, he showed insight into and compassion for his charges as a first-grade teacher at the now-closed Schuyler Elementary.
“The boy in the black baseball cap didn’t want to play anymore, so he’s no longer friends,” he observed of a spat between two young lads during recess games. “But now just watch. In four minutes they’ll be playing again.” It didn’t even take that long. Almost as soon as Usavage finished his predictions, the two were bouncing the ball back and forth anew.
“I have the best job in the world,” he smiled, and he wasn’t just talking about watching youngsters at play. He recounted how children enter his class with little or no reading skills and leave with a love of the written language. First grade, he said, is “probably the level you see the most growth at.”
As a School Board member, Usavage proved accessible, during and between meetings, usually willing to share an opinion, a recollection or a public document. He generally addressed audience members with respect even when they were not so kind in their own words, and he seemed to try to cut through the heightened emotions in quest of the solution. He did not shirk from criticizing administrators, including superintendents and fellow board members, but his criticism was softened with civility and patience.
WVW Superintendent David Tosh confirmed Tuesday that Usavage passed away New Year’s Eve. Local public education has lost a valued advocate. And we hope those who serve now and in the future keep the picture of him, on his knees talking to constituents, in mind.
– Times Leader