OCP photo
Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.
By Allison Scarbrough, Editor
HART – Brandon Bruce is excited to be back as Hart Public Schools high school principal.
Bruce, 53, was hired back at Hart Public Schools two years ago as the Spitler Elementary School principal after serving as superintendent of his alma mater in the Upper Peninsula, Gwinn Public Schools.
Prior to the UP superintendent job, he served as Hart High School principal from 2018-2021. Troy Moran took the reins at HHS when Bruce accepted the superintendent job. Tragically, Moran, 46, died from a heart attack while out on a run April 27, 2024.
Moran’s close friend and former colleague Ken Byard came out of retirement and left a new job to step in as principal following Moran’s death.
Bruce took over the Spitler Elementary School principal position in 2023 after Andrea Degen accepted a position as the Hart district’s early childhood director.
He officially began his duties Monday, Aug. 4, at the high school. “This is a great place and a great staff,” he said. “We have five new staff starting this fall. Being in a position to support some of those staff and help them transition into these new roles is a key and also continuing to offer what we offer and advancing the district with how we want to prepare our kids for the future is extremely vital.” Bruce said a stronger focus on trades fields is critical in this day and age, and that is one of his goals as the new principal. “We just need to dive into that.”
He plans to resurrect Career Day at the high school, which is a program he launched during his first round as Hart High School principal. “We had about 25 speakers come in, and the kids rotated to different careers.” The following year in 2020, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19 shutdowns. “I don’t think that it ever came back. Doing something like that would be awesome — getting speakers in here to talk about careers that kids don’t know about.”
Bruce said he is getting a warm “welcome back” from staff. “The staff is fantastic. “I’ve had a number of the high school staff reach out, which has been very nice. I appreciate that.”
He hopes his return will provide stability after the last few transitional years. “Ken was fantastic, and I enjoyed working with Ken. I want to pick up where he left off and see what else I can do to advance that. I am excited about it.”
He and his wife Amy moved into a home in close proximity to the school campus when he first came to Hart in 2018, and they kept the home knowing they wanted to stay here.
Bruce is certified to drive school buses and drove the bus frequently in the UP in his superintendent role and as Hart’s elementary principal. This year will be his 30th year in education.
Bruce, a Central Michigan University alumnus, played football for the Chippewas. The administrator has a strong sports background. “I spent 23 years coaching football, basketball and track.” He’s also been a registered official for many years and taught physical education for 11 years.
The Upper Peninsula native taught at Iron Mountain for a year. In Newberry, and then transitioned from teaching to administration. He served as a part-time teacher, part-time administrator and head football coach.
He began his teaching career in 1996 in Charlevoix, where he taught for four years. He spent the bulk of his administration career in Union City, where he was a middle school principal for 11 years. Both of his sons graduated from Union City High School, which is located in southwest Michigan.
Bruce obtained his bachelor’s degree in education in 1995 and then a master’s degree in administration from CMU.
Now the district is searching for an elementary school principal. Bruce said he is handling principal duties at the elementary school simultaneously until a new leader there is hired. “Right now I’m in both buildings. Today I’m here, and tomorrow I will be over there. There is a great staff over there too,” he said of the Spitler school. “They’re great people — they love kids. I enjoyed my time over there.”
The search for a new superintendent is also underway as Superintendent Mark Platt recently announced he will retire at the end of the upcoming school year.
Classes begin at Hart Public Schools for the 2025-26 school year, Sept. 2.
______________________
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)
