Lee, the maintenance director for HCISD, has been with the district for two years and oversees a vast majority of the landscaping and repair requests for the district. His department ensures that the campuses remain presentable for the community.
“When the public comes by our campuses we want it to look good,” said Lee. “We want it to have curb side appeal and make sure our district looks well kept even in the summer.”
Over the years the variety of the tasks they take on has grown so tremendously they have developed the reoccurring joke in the department to just call maintenance whenever something needs to be done in the district.
“No matter what is going on they call us,” Lee said. “Maintenance by definition is to fix things that are broken but our department does so much more.”
Ken Lee and his department are habitually looking for ways to progress the district’s efficiency. After school and district hours, the department implemented its own security team. The security team works very closely with the Harlingen Police Department, and the percentages of district break-ins and vandalism as decreased significantly.
After hours security also monitors the energy usage of district facilities and if all of the maintenance systems are working correctly. These additional efforts help the district cut back on energy usage and maintenance costs, which ultimately benefit the district.
“Everything we do to keep our campuses and facilities looking presentable, safe and ready for use.” Lee said.
Lee gives much of the credit to the department’s success to the teams and supervisors in the maintenance department.
“We are like a family,” Lee said. “We are a well oiled machine with individuals with years and years of experience, and it’s because of the efforts of everyone that we are able to do so much quality work for the district.”
The department is currently preparing for the start of school and football season and has no plan to relax after the start of school. They have already begun making plans for a digital update for the district’s security systems in 2013.
