Although he has worked as a teacher, vice-principal and principal, Pautler said there were still a few nerves as classes started and his new role as director of education and secretary of the board of the HCDSB shifted into high gear.

"All teachers are nervous the day before school begins and, in some way, I would relate my feelings to that," he said.

"There's also an excitement and the conviction that if we put our minds to it, we can do tremendous things together. I'm excited to be a part of this school board community and look forward to getting to know members of the community and working with them."

Pautler officially started the job August 11, taking over for retiring Lou Piovesan. The formal start date isn't completely accurate, he said, as he has been preparing for the passing of the baton for several months.

"The transition actually began a couple of months ago and most of my time these days has been in perpetual meetings," he said.

"There's also been opportunities to meet as many people as possible in a variety of roles within the organization, so that I can begin to get a sense of the culture and the operating procedures within the board and begin to establish a working relationship with everybody."

Pautler said he has always had a passion for education. He enjoyed school as a youth and followed up this interest with bachelor of arts, bachelor of education and master of education degrees.

"Like many educators, I was able to look back and understand the significant impact the teachers had on me," he said. "That kind of opportunity to work with students and have that kind of influence was probably what drew me to education. Over the years, I've always found it very satisfying work."

His first job was in Catholic education -- a system he has stayed in for the past 29 years. He spent 24 of those years with the Toronto Catholic District School Board and four as the supervisory officer at the Durham Catholic District School Board.

HCDSB has recently appeared frequently in the media for the achievement of its students. The results for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test Results for 2008, for example, were released in June, with 92 per cent of students in the HCDSB passing the test. This was well above the provincial average of 84 per cent.

Pautler said he's thrilled to come into a system that's successful, but that he won't allow staff to rest on its laurels.

"We always celebrate the successes, so we are pleased and proud that we have a strong record of student achievement," he said. "But we are also mindful of the fact that it provides us with a point of departure for a focus on ongoing improvements. We think we can be even better with each passing year."

A major focus of HCDSB lately has been new schools and facility renovations. Rapid student enrolment growth in Milton has resulted in the construction of the currently unnamed Milton #4 Catholic Elementary School and a relocated St. Peter Catholic Elementary School, both slated to open in 2009.

Pautler said that Milton's increasing population means that more new schools are likely in its future.

"It will be an ongoing challenge because of the amount of growth the town is experiencing," he said. "It is tremendous and it is going to place significant pressures on both the Halton public board and ourselves to keep pace with it. We are already in the planning process for the schools that will follow in subsequent years (after 2009) because that will be an area that will continue to expand.

"The enrolment at our secondary school in Milton is continuing to grow, but surely as you expand the number of elementary schools, inevitably there comes a time when they need an associated secondary school."

Burlington's new school, Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School, opened this week. Pautler said that he expects things to run smoothly at the new facility.

"We're excited to be able to provide that facility for our students," he said. "I had the opportunity to tour through it with the school principal and the facility is ready to go. The staff are doing a superb job."

Oakville is also seeing school development. The board is set to begin the community consultation process for an addition and alterations to St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School.

It hasn't been smooth sailing, however, during preliminary consultation and planning for rebuilding St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School. A group of local residents has been busy protesting plans, citing environmental, traffic and light pollution concerns, among others.

"We're looking forward to being able to redevelop St. Thomas Aquinas and provide a replacement building and we expect that we will work through the approval process with the Town of Oakville," Pautler said.

"Typically, that approval process provides the kind of opportunity for community concerns to be addressed in a way that also ensures the board is in a position to fully meet the needs of our students. We clearly know that we need to provide a new school building to meet the needs of that school community and we're anxious to move forward with it."

As for personal goals he'd like to achieve in his first year as director of education, Pautler said an important one is visiting every school during the 2008-09 school year.

"I've had an opportunity to meet with all our principals and vice-principals and walk through a couple of our schools, but over the summer they are empty, so it is my intention in my first year to get an opportunity to visit each of the school communities ... so I get a thorough understanding of our schools," said Pautler.

He said his priority is ultimately working to provide the best possible education for students.

"School boards are complex organizations, but at its heart is the interaction that happens in our classrooms between our staff and our students," he said. "That is where we get the opportunity to teach them and that is the opportunity we have to form them in their faith and their values. The rest of what we do has been structured to support that relationship in the classroom."

Pautler and his wife, Joanne, will be relocating to the Halton region from Ajax, which they have called home for the past 25 years. The couple has three children who are grown up and living on their own.

"It has meant a significant change in our personal life, but it has been an exciting transition and people have been extraordinarily welcoming to us," Pautler said. "We're very quickly being made to feel at home here."