Brian Brands’ job description is, well, so wide-ranging that it would be impossible to describe in one short sentence.
Brands, 58, who has been student services director for the Sweet Home School District since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, is responsible for the district’s response to pretty much every need that students and their families might have to ensure students are successful in school.
That runs the gamut from talented and gifted (TAG) students to those who require constant assistance from aides to function in the classroom. It includes overseeing response to needs of students on individualized education plans and others who struggle with conditions like ADHD but may not qualify for IEPs.
Brands handles school safety – threat assessment and the SafeOregon program, a tip line and website that allow students, staff or other members of the public to anonymously report concerns about threats or potential threats to student safety.
He oversees the school nurse, mental health needs, suicide prevention, school counselors, and various behavior issues, including investigations and expulsions. He handles Title IX compliance.
“The biggest piece of that is kind of overseeing the special ed program,” said Brands, who has spent 36 years as an educator, 24 of those in administration.
He said one of his biggest goals is hiring and retaining “great staff,” especially special education staff.
“We’re in kind of a unique place, as far as staffing teachers,” he said, noting that “we’re kind of competing with the I-5 Corridor.”
Young teachers who’ve graduated from the University of Oregon or Oregon State University, especially if they are single, may be tempted to move on after a year or two.
“If you’re single, you’re probably gonna want to live in Corvallis or Eugene or Albany. There’s more people, there’s more… So we get that kind of people, how do we keep them?”
He said other ongoing goals are improving the graduation rate, especially for students with challenges, improving test scores.
“Our goal for us, in our world, is helping students with disabilities be as prepared as they possibly can by the time they leave Sweet Home High School – to be able to live independently and get a paid job.”
A related goal is simply “preparing our kids for life after high school,” he added.
Brands came to Sweet Home from Elmira High School, where he was an assistant principal and athletic director for six years, and director of special education for four.
Brands grew up in Rock Valley, Iowa. He graduated from Northwestern College, a small school in Orange City, Iowa, where he played tennis and basketball.
He taught and coached for 12 years in Iowa before moving to Oregon in 2001.
“I’ve been a head coach of pretty much everything: boys basketball, girls basketball, football, baseball, track – I’ve kind of done it all,” he said.
He earned a master’s degree in special education from Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa, a master’s of educational administration from the University of Sioux Falls, S.D., and an Oregon master’s of administration from UO.
In 2001 he took a job as a special education administrator for the Lane Education Service District in Eugene, where stayed for 12 years before moving to the Fern Ridge District and Elmira.
Nine years ago, he and local teacher Kathleen Hawken were married and Brands spent the next seven making the 2½-hour drive to Elmira and back every day.
“Luckily, I had a couple of sports talk radio stations, because that made it bearable,” he laughed.
Brands said he loves the “one town, one school” mentality in Sweet Home, the way the community steps up for and supports those who need it.
“I’ll never forget this last year, I think it was the last football game of the season and they were, like, 0-9 and it was cold and rainy.
“Kathleen and I went to the game and the stands were packed. That’s Sweet Home. That’s what I love about Sweet Home.”