Savage steps down after 16 years on school board years ago
Sports reporter
For 16 years he sat at the table discussing what would be the best options for students in the Marion-Florence USD 408 school district.
For 13 of them, his name plate read, "Rex Savage, President."
"He really felt like it was an important contribution to the community," his wife Carolyn said of his time on the board.
Now he decided, it's time to call it quits.
The first sign that it might be time to quit was when his youngest daughter Rebecca graduated from Marion High School in 2004, leaving the Florence family without a child in the school district.
"You lose a lot of that contact just from being at the events the kids are in," he said. "Nothing quite replaces first-hand conversation."
Still, Savage thought it was good to be on the board from both vantage points, and always welcomed different points of views from other board members because in the end everyone wants the same thing — a good education for the students.
"Balance in perspectives on your board brings a real benefit," he said.
Tough decisions
Savage is stepping down at the same time a project for the district is just getting under way.
A new gymnasium, indoor pool, and fine arts center are in the process of being constructed.
School district patrons voted in favor of the buildings in April 2006, to help update school facilities, yet not raise the city's mill levy because they were rolling over a bond issue that was ending this year.
"I think when everything is said and done we are going to have some very fine buildings," Savage said. "And that's something to be proud of."
The bond issue ending this year was the decision build a new middle school on the high school campus.
Savage said those two were the biggest aspects money-wise he dealt with on the board, but said staff layoffs about four years ago might have been the hardest thing to deal with.
He said there was no choice but to cut the positions due to funding.
"That was a very unpleasant situation," he said. "Those people tend to be your friends and neighbors."
But Savage knew hard decisions come with being in his position, and he still loved his part-time "job" on top of ranching and selling farm machinery.
He believed the positives out-weighed the negatives.
"It's always a highlight when you hear from a student who went through the system here and left and went out and succeeded in the world," he said, "be it in work or in further education and came back and said, "Maybe I didn't learn everything I need to know, but I got enough tools here to be prepared to get started'."
Time to walk away
Now that Savage is saying goodbye to the district, Duane Kirkpatrick of Marion will take his place on the board, and a new president will be elected during the July 9 regular meeting.
"Duane will come in with fresh ideas of his own and he'll do a good job," Savage said. "I'm glad he didn't have to have his arm broken to come on the board."
USD 408 superintendent Lee Leiker said the board will be losing someone who already has done a good job.
"He has tremendous wisdom, regarding business knowledge, county knowledge, and community knowledge," Leiker said of Savage. "He brings it all to the table."
Savage is slow to congratulate himself, but is happy with his time as president.
"I feel like [the district's] done a number of things that I wanted to do," he said.
One of those was adding a construction technology class that helps with building within the community, including houses.
"It's serving an element of our student body that is grossly under served," Savage said.
He would like to see a metals class be implemented as well, so students who choose a career in welding or similar fields could have a job the minute they graduate.
"They could leave here a certified welder or machinist and stay as a part of our community, and have children and raise them here," he said.
Now, however, he isn't making those decisions and has a little more time to do some other things with his own free time.
It won't include sitting on the couch.
"It will give me more time to work on my home projects," he said. "My wife told me I'm more difficult to live with when I don't have a project," he said with a laugh.
Carolyn is glad to have him at home every Monday night now, but is proud of her husband for his effort the past 16 years.
"It meant so much to him that the kids had a good education," he said.
Now when he sees the students walk across the stage after receiving 13 years of good education, he can sit next to his wife in the bleachers instead of on stage.
"[This year] was the last graduation he'll ever have to wear a suit to," Carolyn said.
