BEVERLY — The new high school will come with a complicated computer infrastructure for everything from utilities to security — and now someone to manage the high-tech system.
Ryal Side resident Robert Fortado started last week as the new school facility engineer for the Beverly Public School District. His job will focus on the high school, but he'll also go around to the middle and elementary schools to make sure everything is running as efficiently as possible.
"You have to be able to monitor it and troubleshoot the technology," said Fortado, who managed a similar system as the maintenance supervisor at Boston Architectural College before accepting the $66,000-a-year position in Beverly.
"We didn't increase the budget to bring him on board," said Mike Collins, Beverly commissioner of public services and a member of the search committee for the job.
Instead, his salary will be paid for through energy savings.
"That's the ultimate goal," Collins said. "I'm pretty confident we'll have a positive impact on the budget."
Hiring a facility engineer to manage high-tech systems is also becoming the standard.
"There's no private building of this size that would ever dream of operating without this person," Collins said.
The city received 22 applications and interviewed eight candidates before choosing Fortado. He had a good combination of hands-on experience and an extensive mechanical background, Collins said.
"You need someone who's not afraid to tinker with something," he said. "You have to be a complete crossover between those two fields of getting dirty and working in front of a computer all day with a white shirt on."
With high school construction under way, Fortado said it's helpful to come on board now, "before they put in the Sheetrock," so he can see the electrical and plumbing infrastructures and understand how everything is put together.
Born and raised in Beverly, he said he's also happy to work so close to his family. He has a daughter at Beverly High School, a son at Briscoe and another daughter at Ayers.
"It's nice to work in my hometown," Fortado said, "and work in the school my daughter goes to, and my other children will be going to."
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salem news.com.
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