Superintendent Brett Schwartz may be new to his position at Yutan Public Schools, but he isn’t new to hard work and dedication.   

 “The biggest thing coming into anything was probably a lesson that my dad taught me, and I think I told our staff this, too,” Schwartz said. “No matter what opportunity or scenario I’m put in, or what work I do or people I get to work with, it was just to come in and try to, by the time I leave, leave it better than what I found it.” 

This work ethic was something Schwartz learned while growing up on a dairy farm in Miller, S.D.

“Anytime you’re a dairy farmer or have to worry about milking cows, that’s twice a day, once in the morning, typically at 4 a.m., and once in the afternoon, at 5 p.m.,” Schwartz said. ”My job when I was going to school was to clean out the barn after things were done, so if I didn’t get up early enough, I smelled like the barn when I went to school.” 

He applied that hard work ethic to many different activities throughout high school, where he felt supported and encouraged by his whole community. 

“It was just a place where you could do really about anything and people encourage you to try things,” Schwartz said. 

 After high school, Schwartz majored in business education and played basketball at South Dakota State University. When Schwartz graduated from college, he moved to Omaha, Neb., for his first teaching job at Burke High School, which led to other opportunities that would eventually apply to his current position. 

“My last three years at Burke, I had the opportunity to coach basketball down at Louisville, which I was familiar with the conference and some of the inner workings of the conference,” Schwartz said. 

 After teaching at Burke for 14 years, Schwartz went to teach and coach at Blair Middle School for three years. When he was working at Blair, he always reminded himself that if a job opportunity came up at Louisville, he would apply. Eventually, a principal position became available.

 “I was fortunate enough to get offered that position and enjoyed that I had 6-12 middle school and high school kids,” Schwartz said. “I found myself having to put on different hats when I worked with middle school kids; it was a little more about teaching and learning and growing.”

After working at Louisville, Schwartz wanted to focus on a smaller group of students and became the principal at Blair Middle School. While working there, he was offered the 6-12 assistant superintendent position.

“Just at times, doors open up and I got offered the assistant superintendent position in Blair and was responsible for 6-12 education,” Schwartz said. 

This sparked Schwartz’s interest in becoming a superintendent, and Yutan’s past superintendent, Rex Pfeil, told Schwartz about the school and that the superintendent’s position would be opening up.

 “I’ve known their family for quite a while and talked to him a little bit, and he said, ‘This is a great place,’ Schwartz said. 

As Yutan’s superintendent, Schwartz is focused on how he can serve the district in various ways.

“Primarily, my job is to serve. It’s kind of maybe two or three fold. I kind of am the liaison between the school board and our administrators, just playing that role in terms of making sure and communicating things appropriately at each of those levels,” Schwartz said. “Budgetarily, I’m responsible for preparing the annual budget, and that’s a very personal thing for people in communities because it deals with property taxes.”

 Schwartz believes in owning up to the good and bad.

“I’m the superintendent of this district. No matter what happens, mostly the bad things that should fall back on me, and I should take that responsibility,” Schwartz said. “Now, if good things happen, I want that to go where it should go, to our principals, to our students, to our coaches, to our teachers.” 

The students are a big focus for Schwartz as he makes decisions for the district.

“Whatever I can do to help enhance your (the students’) experience as you move through our school district is what I’m really focused on,” Schwartz said.

This will involve considering a wide range of student opportunities in both extracurriculars and academics.

 “I think [my goal] overall for the school district is continuing to add to the rich traditions that are here within this district. This is a great reputation for the way students have performed in journalism. You look at all the banners in there, you look at basketball, you look at softball. There’s a lot in football,” Schwartz said. “But I think also on the flip side of that, too, is to make sure that the academic side of that is following along.”

  Overall, Schwartz is excited to pursue these and other goals as Yutan Public Schools’ new superintendent and add to what the school district has as a whole.  

“I just have really enjoyed the first couple of months of being here and getting to meet people, and I’ve got great staff, got a great community and there are great kids in this building,” Schwartz said.