When Hal Reasby retired as Monroe School District superintendent in 1993, he modestly summed up a three-decade career that saw huge changes in society and education.
“I guess I’ve seen it all at one time or another,” Reasby told The Herald in 1993.
Reasby, once a social studies teacher at Seattle’s Ingraham High School, came to Snohomish County in 1980. By 1976, he had risen through Seattle Public Schools’ administrative ranks to become associate superintendent.
From 1980 to 1988, Reasby was superintendent of the Edmonds School District. Later, he was superintendent of the Monroe district.
Reasby was the first African-American superintendent in both the Edmonds and Monroe districts. He brought from Seattle a background of working to desegregate that city’s schools from the late 1960s through the 1970s.
“He wanted everyone to know that all kids count,” said Bill Prenevost, who took over as Monroe’s superintendent after Reasby retired.
Reasby, who lived in Seattle with his wife, Ruby, died Nov. 30 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 78.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Ruby Lavert Reasby; his son and daughter-in-law Garth and Heather Reasby; mother-in-law Margrett Lavert; sister-in-law Barbara Lavert; and nephew Jerod Lavert and his wife Inderjit. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth Patterson and Harold Velton Reasby Sr.
Julie Muhlstein writes for the Herald of Everett.
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