Mr. Marlin Smart is an administrator that every district would love to have. He has been an educator for the past 37 years, 34 years spent at the Milbank School District. Throughout the years, Mr. Smart was a Middle School Math teacher, Middle School Principal, High School Assistant Principal, and Superintendent.
Mr. Smart is always ready and willing to help students, staff, parents, and the community. His door is always open. He is very supportive of our secretarial trainings, SDAEOP, and inservices.
Mr. Smart’s greatest strength as an administrator is his compassion for people -- students, parents, staff, and community members. As a principal he showed his compassion for students by listening to “their side of the story”; for parents by involving them in team meetings when their child was not performing as expected; for staff by trusting their professional judgement as it pertains to their work area; and for community members by keeping them informed of school happenings. Mr. Smart is an advocate not only for student achievement, but also promotes continued educational achievement for teachers and recently initiated that system for support staff. The system enables support staff to increase their base pay after spending a prescribed number of hours at training in their field.
Mr. Smart works hard to be precise with his reports and a financially responsible superintendent. In addition, he has led the Milbank School District toward being one of the most highly-respected in South Dakota. Beyond this community, Mr. Smart contributed to the formation of the South Dakota Association of Middle Level Educators and has served on special needs committees. During his tenure the school always received the top rating in its audit, to the point of receiving an award for fiscal responsibility. He is fully involved in the legislative process working with our representatives at the state level monitoring the actions and bills that would or could affect the eduction process, but always treating their office with dignity. In tough times of budgeting his financial management stood the test, always guarding the taxpayers dollars, and making wise use of the funds available.
Last but not least, I believe Mr. Smart’s equitable respect for all district employees entitles him to receive the Educational Administrator of the Year award.
