After working at his dream job for a commercial property development company in Downtown San Jose managing the renovation of historic landmark buildings such as the Bank of Italy, Paul Weir has returned to Saratoga High as the new plant and operations supervisor. His three daughters graduated from the school a decade ago. 

Prior to his job in San Jose, Weir worked as a commercial carpenter and maintenance engineer for 10 years. He also worked at NetManage and ARM Holdings as U.S. facilities manager for 16 years and as a chief engineer for Hilton for seven years. 

Weir was hired to replace former maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, who retired in June. According to Weir, he was interviewed by a panel of district and school officials, followed by a meeting with a smaller group for specific probing into his experience and work methods. 

Weir has lived in Saratoga since 1974, and outside of work, he pursues a variety of hobbies. Weir loves painting, sculpting, repairing and creating, shown by his home improvement projects, such as a radio station that can bounce signals off the moon. 

Additionally, Weir plays the trumpet and piano and enjoys making blue cheese, gardening and tending to his pool and home. 

One reason Weir applied for this job was that he prefers working in a smaller area rather than moving around San Jose. He looks forward to bringing his skill set to a school campus. So far, he said he is amazed at how well it runs.

“I'll open the door to some classroom, and I'm blown away by how beautifully it's set up,” Weir said. “The air conditioning works, the lights work, the floors are clean, and the surfaces are not all mauled up. You have new equipment and new computers. I am really impressed with what I am seeing here.” 

In his position, Weir manages the work of janitors, landscapers and maintenance crews and helps maintain infrastructure, such as the fields, pools and labs. He said he believes a school is like an  “education factory” that needs all of its components properly functioning to work. 

“This space that students go to class in, that's production space for me,” Weir said. “That's a classroom that has to work: the lights have to work, the air conditioning has to work 一 all the different systems in the classroom have to work for it to be functional. I see the teachers and students as my end users. I'm a service provider, I'm providing a facility service [for the school].”

Even so, Weir said that he is still relatively “green” and would like to manage from a “higher altitude” as time progresses; in other words, he feels that he is still very new to the job and would like to manage more than doing the actual labor. 

Weir said that the maintenance of the school is a team effort, a kind “concert” of different people working together.  He has custodial, engineering and maintenance staffs to supervise during the day as well as a night crew.

As a whole, Weir said he looks forward to working with the people here. 

“I am happy to bring my collective skills, building knowledge, and creativity on campus where I can participate in a very direct and meaningful capacity,” Weir said. “I look forward to supporting the important work of our great staff dedicated to educating Saratoga High students.”