Veteran educator Jose Treviño says it was a "happenstance" that brought him to the Houston Independent School District in 1974.

On his way to a teaching position in Dallas from his hometown east of Laredo, he stopped to visit some friends in Houston. His car wouldn't start, so he decided to call HISD's human resources line and was hired for a teaching position via phone at Edison Middle School.

From there led to 10 years as principal at Austin High School.

Now, he has taken the helm as district superintendent for HISD's southeast district. It is rare when he goes anywhere in the community that he isn't recognized.

"Mr. Treviño has become a part of the community," said his secretary of 17 years, Rachel Guerrero, who has followed him to each of his HISD posts. "Everyone is familiar with his name."

Treviño has served as a truant officer, math teacher, assistant principal and principal within the district, at schools including Edison and Sam Houston High School. But it was the "principalship" at Austin High School where he emblazoned his name.

"My years at Austin High School have really been my senior years in administration," said Treviño, who resides in the Heights with his wife, Alva. "The other years were good, but they were prerequisite for being at Austin."

When the call came in 1992 from former Superintendent Frank Petruzielo to lead the school, he was surprised.

"At that time, Austin had all kind of issues and management problems, including school overcrowding, low performance and an aging structure," he said. "I was riddled with gangs, discipline woes and money problems. People were going in all different directions, and the place needed a bit of guidance and instruction.

"The next years were the ride of my life."

Conversely, Austin had good kids and experienced, veteran teachers, he noted, so the base there was solid. For the past several years, Austin's rating by the state has been raised to recognized, and Treviño said he will be surprised if it doesn't get exemplary status this August from last year's performance.

"All this exemplary stuff was done by the teachers by their commitments and the sacrifices they've made," he said. "My job was simply to facilitate all that."

The walls of his old office were packed with pictures of students, plaques of their athletic and academic achievements and other Mustang memorabilia. Although some of the boxes in his new office near Gulfgate Mall remain intact, there is sure to be some of the same on those four walls.

Milby and Chavez high schools are within the southeast district boundaries, along with 16 other schools.

Voters on Nov. 5 will be asked to approve an $808.6 bond issue that would finance the construction, modernization and renovation of about 60 schools.

Treviño says he supports the bond issue, which would not necessarily build new schools in the area, but rehab several schools in need of extensive renovations.

"We are blessed to have the most new schools on this side of town than any other," he said of the current building trend. He points to Chavez, Stevenson, Crespo, Vara and Ortiz as the newest additions.

"I support the bond election because sooner or later buildings get old, and the longer we wait the longer it is going to cost us," he said. "If we don't do anything about our schools and manage the growth, we will have problems like Cleveland and other cities."

Treviño said he believes that Houston must stay competitive with schools in the suburbs and other parts of the country and the world. Air conditioning, sufficient lighting and other infrastructure components are a necessity, he said.

The proposed pre-school facilities included in the bond request are important to create a level playing friend for all kids that enter kindergarten, he added.

To bring the early childhood education message home, he talked about his roots in a small town near Laredo. While his own parents labored in outside jobs, his friend Joe's parents were a teacher and an accountant.

By the first grade, Treviño was behind his friend Joe and never seemed to catch up. In high school and then at Texas A&I University, his friend was always ahead of him on the grid.

"Joe had a headstart because of his background," he said. "This is why we need these (pre-school) centers. At least in first grade kids will have a head start, because they are not getting it at home."

Our major challenges ahead, he said, are the academic achievement of students in wake of the new measurement tool, the TAKS. Drop-out rates are a constant consideration, with Milby reporting about 4 percent and Chavez with 1 percent. When Treviño left Austin, he said the rate had been decreased to less than 1 percent.

"I think I bring a lot of energy, enthusiasm and experience to this job," he said of the new position.

"I have seen many of the problems that my principals are having. In fact, I told them that in my heart, I'll always be a principal."

His secretary Guerrero says that her boss goes the extra mile and has been known to open his heart and pocketbook to kids who needed money for school sponsored trips or athletic uniforms.

"He doesn't forget where he came from," she noted of his open-door policy. "He worked his way up, and he doesn't forget the little guy."

In a few years when-and-if the new area superintendent retires to pursue hobbies of fishing and hunting, he says he wants to be remembered for one thing.

"I just want to hear them say: `Mr. Treviño was a nice guy.' I think that's a really satisfactory comment to hear."