William Leek Jr. has always wanted to help people.
He pursued that goal on a professional level through a series of public service and safety roles. That included a stint in the Marine Corps Reserves, as a police officer with the Rehoboth Beach Police Department for two years and later as the regional manager of security for a Delaware-based healthcare system.
The journey led Leek, 38, to the New Kensington-Arnold School District, where he started this month as director of safety and security. It’s a position the district has been workshopping for almost two years, said school board President Jane Graham.
Focused on administrative policy, Leek’s role in the district is to address and improve safety vulnerabilities in all four district buildings.
“(What) I want to do is simplify things,” Leek said. “When you create policy and procedure … you have to give clear and concise guidelines, because you can’t have this great, elaborate plan. However, you have to make it work for your site, your building, your school.”
His position also includes communicating with law enforcement and emergency response services, as well as overseeing the district’s nine security guards.
He’s also tasked with ensuring faculty is trained in safety procedures and that the schools have updated equipment, such as fire extinguishers and first aid kits.
It’s important for schools to have a role like his because it aids safety innovation, Leek said.
“I look at things through a different lens,” he said. “You have new technology on an older building. You have technology that’s updated, but you have to now make it fit within the framework of an old structure or old building. … My role is seeing where it fits.”
Valley High School Superintendent Christopher Sefcheck said Leek has jumped headfirst into his new role.
“Mr. Leek is a phenomenal young man that brings a lot to the table,” Sefcheck said. “(He has) a tremendous amount of great potential in his willingness to grow.”
He said Leek has already improved the high school’s hall management and safety checks.
In the near future, Sefcheck said, the school will be working to improve its crisis response plan — outlining prevention, response, recovery and communication during instances of extreme weather or school violence.
Having a dedicated safety position allows for other district administrators to focus on improving other aspects of school life, Sefcheck said.
“Now we have one central figure that can be responsible for all the buildings,” he said. “It all has a complete impact on the students.”
Graham said the district went through a “long and thorough” process creating a role that could address the needs of each individual school.
“The number one goal is that when every single parent in this district sends their children to school … they know their child is going to school in a safe environment,” Graham said.
Last fall, Leek was on the job hunt for a position in healthcare or education security.
“Education always interests me, because I think there’s actually a lot of parallels between education and healthcare,” he said.
For him and his wife, Courtney, it felt natural to move back to the Pittsburgh area, where the pair had lived together years ago.
The couple and their three children live in Cranberry now but hope to put down roots in Gibsonia or Hampton.
“We love Pittsburgh,” Leek said.
Though born in the North Hills, Leek was a world traveler growing up.
Because of his father’s position in the Marine Corps, the family moved around, from Okinawa, Japan, to Newport, R.I.
Leek graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina.