HISD’s Central Office Staff is Working Hard to Support Our Schools

I told you about the schools I visited last week, but I also want to tell you about the meetings I held with Central Office staff. We gathered to talk about the new school year and there were not as many people at this year’s Central Office staff meetings. We eliminated 277 positions due to state budget cuts this past spring. The move was a continuation of the district’s effort over the past decade to streamline Central Office operations. While there are fewer people, the work hasn’t gone away. I sometimes arrive here at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center as early as 6:30 a.m. and there are always cars in the parking lot. The same is true on nights when I sometimes leave at 8 p.m., and when I stop in to do work on the weekends. Our team works hard to support our schools, and I was proud to recognize some of our Central Office employees during the recent staff meetings.

Larry Nabors and Ernesto Palomo (pictured on my left) from our Construction and Facilities Services Department received Team HISD baseball caps as a token of appreciation for all they did to get campuses ready for the start of school. The principals had great things to say about the maintenance department and grounds crews, and I wanted to thank Larry and Ernesto for a job well done.

HISD General Manager of Transportation Nathan Graf and Senior Fleet Manager Mark Swackhamer (both pictured on my right) also received Team HISD baseball caps for their efforts to ensure that our transportation department runs efficiently and effectively. HISD operates and maintains 1,002 school buses, and covers more than 13 million miles a year. Government Fleet, a leading transportation industry magazine, recently named HISD one of the top 100 fleets for 2011, and HISD was the only school district to make the list.

During the meeting, I also gave Team HISD baseball caps to employees from two other Central Office departments. Later in the week, I will tell you more about them and will post videos highlighting the work that they are doing to support HISD students.