Former Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School principal Brian Greseth, who is currently the director of administrative services at Glades County School District, has been named deputy superintendent.

As deputy, he will take over only if the current superintendent, Beth Barfield, is unable to do the job or leaves the position.

“They need someone in place in case something happens, which happened once before,” Greseth said. “Now they have someone who can take over if they need it. I’m getting on the job training and work closely with the superintendent every day. It keeps me in the loop.”

Greseth’s main job as director of administrative services includes oversight of facilities, maintenance crews, transportation and food service.

He served as PECS principal from 2011-2019 and is proud of how the school grew under his watch, including starting the pre-K program and adding the gym and cafeteria.

“I do miss my time at Pemayetv,” Greseth said. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with the parents, students and staff. It’s an incredible school.”

Greseth believes his biggest achievement was building a strong academic program, hiring excellent teachers and staff and working with the parents and students. While he was at PECS, the middle school was the top secondary school out of the 11 in the area and the elementary school was No. 2 out of 29.

PECS is part of the Heartland Educational Consortium, which includes schools in Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee counties.

When he left PECS, Greseth worked for a Coral Springs charter school company and worked with the principals of its schools. He left there after a year to become the guidance counselor at South Elementary School in Okeechobee. He was there for about a year when Barfield called to offer him the position as director of administrative services. He realized then how much he missed being an administrator and took the job in December 2020.

“Working here gives me an opportunity to check in on our former students and say hello to them to make them feel more comfortable at school,” Greseth said. “Once they leave Pemayetv it’s a whole different world; they realize now how good they had it. It’s a safe and caring environment.”