OCP file photo/Hart High School Principal Ken Byard.
Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
HART — Hart High School Principal Ken Byard has resigned, and the district is seeking a new principal.
Byard was hired as interim principal for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year after principal Troy Moran died and was hired last summer as the permanent principal. He and Moran were close friends, and Byard stepped in to help the district immediately following Moran’s unexpected death.
“Ultimately, I made the decision to go to Hart, because I know if Mr. Moran was in the same situation, he would have done the same thing for me,” said Byard. “That made that decision pretty easy even considering that I had to resign from a position that I quite frankly enjoyed. But it was worth it — I knew he would do it for me and I felt I had to do it for him. I knew that it was going to be temporary. My time in education has come and gone. I’ve done the things I’ve wanted to do in that career, and so I am ready to get back into my next phase in life, which is to be outside of education right now.”
Byard was working for BSN Sports as a business development representative after he had retired from his education career. He was recently hired by TH Brands in Muskegon as a sales representative.
His last day as Hart High School principal will be Aug. 1. He officially resigned Tuesday, July 22.
“It really was an honor and a privilege to serve that school, those kids, that staff and the community. They were great to me, and hopefully my presence might have helped with the healing process. I know that my presence there helped me with my healing process. If I was able to make life a little bit more pleasant for them because I was there, then I consider it a job well done and hopefully Mr. Moran is proud of the work I did in the short time I was there.
“I’ll be around to help whoever sits in that seat next, and it’s going to be a lucky person — that’s a great district to be in. Mark (Platt) has done an amazing job there.”
Superintendent Platt recently announced he will be retiring at the end of the upcoming school year.
“That’s one thing you can always count on in education — there is always going to be change,” said Byard.
________________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
Payment can be made monthly via credit card, bank account, PayPal or Venmo through recurring email invoicing. These payments can be set up for autopay each month.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
 (1).gif)
