Ex-Tri-Cities principal, school board member who served Tri-Cities for 4 decades has died
A former Tri-Cities principal and school board member has died.
William “Bill” Leggett, 86, died Friday in Pasco. He helped shape both teachers and students in his 40 years as an educational leader and advocate in the Tri-Cities.
Leggett moved to the Tri-Cities in 1975 and went on to serve as principal of McLoughlin Middle School for 11 years and New Horizons High School for six years.
He served briefly as principal at Markham and Robert Frost elementary schools and was headed for retirement when turmoil on the school board convinced him to run for election.
He served on the Pasco School Board from 1997 until 2013.
He was born in Gordon, Neb., and grew up in Idaho. He dropped out of high school in 1952 to join the Air Force, serving as a clerk and going to night school while stationed in England.
He went on to get a degree in education before moving to Kansas City, Mo., to teach. At the time, he taught at a segregated school for Black students.
He told the Herald in a 2013 interview that the experience taught him much about the civil unrest caused by prejudice and racial inequality.
Leggett said he learned that despite the difficulty of teaching during that era, his students were like any other family and deserved the same education and opportunities.
“I guess I related to those kids because they were like I was when I was a kid,” he told the Herald at the time.
He eventually moved back to the Northwest, taking his first principal job at an elementary school in Newport, Ore., for a few years before taking a similar job in Mabton.
Leggett would move to the Tri-Cities to serve as principal at McLoughlin Middle School after turning the job down several times. He eventually agreed to take on the role, saying he knew the opportunity wouldn’t be there forever.
That decision brought him to Pasco where he remained throughout his teaching career and into retirement.
He also served the community as a member of many local organizations, including as president and secretary of the Pasco Kiwanis Club and as a past president of the Tri-Cities Retired Educators Association.
Leggett was honored several times by the Benton and Franklin United Way.
He also was an adjunct professor at Eastern Washington University supervising student teachers.
“His positive attitude and unwavering focus on what is best for the students are things he will be remembered by,” said his former fellow board member Ryan Brault during Leggett’s final board meeting. “He has been an encouragement to me and to countless others in our district.”
Hillcrest Funerals and Cremation in Pasco is handling his arrangements.
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
