The West Mifflin Area School Board on Thursday voted to censure a school director who is accused of leaking the West Mifflin football team’s game plan with an opponent.
School director Mark Yuhas was censured in an 8-1 vote. Mr. Yuhas voted against the motion.
The vote came days after he was accused of telling Elizabeth Forward coach John DeMarco of West Mifflin’s plan to use a new “Wildcat” offense in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal game, which took place last Friday. Elizabeth Forward won the contest, 42-21.
“Our students and families work their entire lives for an opportunity to compete in games that matter on a fair and level playing field that you intentionally jeopardized to further your agenda,” board president Matthew Blazevich said during the meeting. “Your conduct is appalling and unfathomable. As a representative of the remaining board members we hereby request your resignation from the West Mifflin Area School Board effective immediately and ask for an apology to our students, families, coaches and community.”
Mr. Yuhas responded, “No,” which was met by boos from students, parents and community members in attendance.
Calls for Mr. Yuhas to resign and his ultimate censuring came after the school director said he attended Elizabeth Forward’s practice before being asked his identity by Elizabeth Forward’s coaches.
Both Mr. Yuhas and Elizabeth Forward’s coach, Mr. DeMarco, said there was a brief conversation. Mr. Yuhas claimed he didn’t like Mr. DeMarco’s “attitude” toward him, and Mr. Yuhas got upset.
“That coach was arrogant when he found out who I was. He had an attitude,” Mr. Yuhas told the Post-Gazette Saturday. “All I said was this: ‘When they run the Wildcat up your ass, I wish I could be here to see it.’ ... There was no playbook or anything like that. I mentioned the word Wildcat.”
But West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said the school director purposely leaked the district’s game plan because of a “personal vendetta” against Mr. Steele for not retaining him as an assistant coach after last season. The accusation led to a district investigation, which “appears” to prove that Mr. Yuhas purposely gave away West Mifflin’s game plan by showing a correlation between facts gathered by the district and the accusations made.
Mr. Yuhas said the investigation was “driven by politics.”
Mr. Yuhas, during Thursday’s meeting, maintained his innocence but said he “did something very stupid” by attending Elizabeth Forward’s practice.
“I’ve been a coach a long time, and I know I shouldn’t have stopped there,” Mr. Yuhas said. “I did. And by me stopping there, someone [recognized] me and came up. We got into a little bit of a verbal disagreement, and I was wrong. … All I said to him was I hope they run Wildcat up your ass on Friday. That’s what I said.”
But he did apologize to members of the football team in attendance, saying, “You all know me, and I am the one school board member that supports every one of our athletic programs. I show up at our programs, but to these young men down here, I apologize. I truly do. You all know I’ve always had your best interest, always did things for you, rode you home, picked you up, bought you food.”
While he spoke, calls for his resignation echoed throughout the high school auditorium. But Mr. Yuhas refused to resign, leading to angry outcries from parents.
School officials explained that there are only two ways elected board members can be removed from office: violating Pennsylvania School Code by not attending meetings or having the district attorney start the process if the official is convicted of a certain type of crime. The board does not have the power to remove a school director from their position.
But for Braeden Walker, captain of the football team, Mr. Yuhas’ actions created “absolute chaos.”
“Betrayal, as painful as it is, can also be a lesson,” Braeden said during public comment. “It teaches us to be careful, to not give our trust so easily. It shows us that not everyone has our best interest at heart. It’s a harsh lesson that’s valuable.”
First Published: November 17, 2023, 8:29 p.m.
Updated: November 18, 2023, 4:28 a.m.