Experienced leader to run the ship at Hart High School

Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

HART — After the tragic death of Hart High School Principal Troy Moran last April, students, staff and community members were shocked and deeply saddened.

The school year was soon drawing to a close, and the Pirates’ charismatic and energetic leader was suddenly gone. But someone quickly stepped in and took over, providing Hart High School with 25 years of experience in education. That person is Ken Byard, who was hired as interim principal for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. Byard — a longtime friend of Moran’s — was recently hired by the Hart Board of Education as the school’s permanent principal.

“Tragically, Troy passed away, and Mark asked me if I would step in for him for the remainder of the school year,” said Byard, referring to Hart Public Schools Superintendent Mark Platt. “And here I am now.

“We were friends for about 25 years,” Byard said of Moran. “When I was at Montague, he and I got together just through playing basketball and working out — common interests. Our friendship just kind of grew from there. He was a great guy — really one of a kind.”

After graduating from Au Gres-Sims High School in 1992, Byard continued his education at Hope College where he played football and baseball. He graduated from Hope in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree, majoring in kinesiology and a minor in English.

After college, he was hired at Montague Area Public Schools where he worked as a teacher for nine years. The educator then was hired at Mona Shores Public Schools, where he worked as assistant principal, dean of students and middle school athletic director for nine more years. He then served as Orchard View Middle School principal for one year before being hired as North Muskegon High School principal. He was the North Muskegon High School principal for six years. He was then offered an opportunity to work in the private sector with BSN Sports as a business developer, which he did for two years.

During his childhood, Byard lived in many different places. “I’m originally a military brat. My dad served in the service for 25 years. So we moved around — Alabama, California, Korea, Germany — but ended up landing in Michigan.

“I really want to build on the work that Troy started with the Ride with Pride and raising the bar with academics. The athletic thing is kind of taking care of itself as we’re becoming more competitive. I want to continue his work. We’re kind of cut from the same cloth as far as our educational experiences. He was a teacher at Mona Shores when I was the assistant principal in the same building. I’m just trying to continue what he did — build a positive school culture; engage the community; emphasize the importance of a good education; being good people, all those things that schools are asked to do.”

Not only does Byard possess two and a half decades of educational experience, he is also a seasoned coach.

“All through my educational career, I’ve been a coach at some level. I am still coaching football at North Muskegon. This will be my last year coaching with them. I have a senior this year at North Muskegon, so I’m trying to do all the things and be all the things for him. Luckily, Mark understands the importance of that and is letting me flex my schedule a little bit so I can still be involved.”

Byard’s wife Jessica is a financial advisor for Raymond James in Muskegon. They have been married 10 years and have a blended family of four children: daughter Whitney Byard is a junior at Michigan State University; son Talan Thompson is a freshman at MSU; son TJ Byard is a senior at North Muskegon; and son Jace Thompson is a sophomore at North Muskegon. 

Byard’s education expertise prepares him for any upcoming challenges, such as “getting acquainted with the new systems and understanding the history. Part of his immediate focus will be “just getting a grasp of how things have worked in the past and if it’s best to continue that course or if there are other ways to do things to be more effective and more efficient.

“I am excited for the opportunity to build on Troy’s work, and hopefully he can look down on me and us and say he’s proud of what we’re doing.”

In addition to starting the new job, Byard has another lifetime milestone coming up — he turns 50 this Saturday, Aug. 17.

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