BUTLER TWP — After almost 38 years in the Butler School District, high school principal Jeff Schnur will close out his long career at the end of June.

Schnur, 61, of Butler, has been an alternative education teacher, a guidance counselor, an assistant principal and a principal, a title he has held the past 11 years. After graduating from Butler High in 1972, he went to Slippery Rock University to receive his bachelor’s degree in social studies. By 1979, he also received his master’s degree in guidance and counseling from SRU.

After working as an alternative education teacher, Schnur found giving advice took up a huge part of his day since that was what many at-risk students needed in order to be successful.

“When I was with at-risk kids, I was doing more counseling than anything else.” he said. “I really want(ed) to get back and do that.”

So he spent another five years working as a guidance counselor at the junior high school. Schnur then received his principal certification from Westminster College in 1983,

For Schnur, some aspects of being a principal have been unexpected.

“There are so many things you don’t learn about in any kind of education course in school,” he said.

“There are so many things that go on ... They don’t talk to you that you’re going to be a guidance (counselor) or cleaning the floor every now and then ... ’cause the janitor is being pulled in five different directions — little things that you don’t think about when you go into the business.

“When they talk to you about education in school, it’s always about education and curriculum and dealing with development.”

And occasionally, the job of a principal is not an emotionally easy one, especially when young people die, he said. He has had to handle the rare student deaths, including that of a senior Ethan Linnon in October.

Helping students grieve and still encouraging them to focus on education is a tough task, Schnur said. “That’s a terrible job,” he said. “That’s an absolutely horrendous job, to help kids grieve. That’s hard. You got to acknowledge (the grief) and still help them get through, still try to carry on and have their day at school.”

Despite the difficulty of dealing with death, Schnur is, at the least, pleased that students knew they could come to him for help.

But being a principal has plenty of rewards as well. “The good things are still here too,” he said. “You have outstanding teachers, outstanding kids here. And by and large, I think when people come here to visit this school, they see kids who are very respectful to people, very caring and they want to take care of one another when something happens.”

All of that caring does not come at the expense of student humor, though.

For instance, one of Schnur’s favorite memories is from a Twin Day theme during a school spirit week.

“(On Twin Day), I’m walking into the cafeteria, and there were three boys in there all dressed like me, including their haircut,” he said. “Two of them had the actual skull cap on with glasses, and one had actually shaved his head. It was so great.”

Schnur was a track and cross-country runner for Butler, previously holding the school record for the 1-mile run, which he completed in “4:20-something,” he said.

His record was beaten after about 10 years, but he does remain in the track top 10.

“They do a top 10 in track, and I ran the 1600-(meter), and my name is still up there as one of the people in the top 10,” he said. “It’s always fun to have kids come up to me and say, ‘I’m shooting to knock you down a notch.’ and I say, ‘Go for it, guys.’”

After more than 37 years with the district, Schnur has decided it’s time to let somebody else take over.

“It’s time for someone else to step up. I’ve put a lot of years in here,” he said. “I really wanted to stay for the consolidation and help everybody through that ... I’m not going to say I’m not emotional about it.”

That somebody is John Wyllie, who will follow Schnur as principal. He has been the principal of Butler Intermediate School.

After his retirement, Schnur’s first plan is to make two trips, one to Hawaii to see his son and one to Colorado to see his daughter. Then he plans to become more involved in his passion: coaching. Schnur helped start the Butler County Soccer Association.

“Now, I coach the little guys for fun, which I really love, and I have been an assistant coach for the high school team for probably the last three years or so,” he said. “I’m going to continue to (coach), as long as my wife lets me, as long as I’m not too long away from home.”

“I hope to do a lot of other things in the community. I’m not done.”