EXCLUSIVE: College Station ISD Superintendent Tim Harkrider talks life, goals, and future for CSISD

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – College Station ISD Superintendent Tim Harkrider finished his first official week on the job and sat down with Brazos Valley This Morning Anchor Karla Castillo to talk about his background, what his philosophies are in education, and the future for CSISD.

“There’s quite a bit going on in the onboarding. I haven’t done that in 11 years, so getting all the paperwork for HR, insurance , and all that, so balancing that with meeting the new team,” Harkrider said about his first week on the job.

Harkrider previously served as superintendent of Willis ISD, for 10 years and was with the district for 11 years.

“I think the biggest deal for me is not to try to go too fast, to take this thing a little bit at a time, you know, we’ve got a year, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Harkrider. “And I just need to take my time and slow down and make sure that I’m meeting the people that I need to meet and evaluating and seeing all the great things that are taking place.”

Sports, specifically baseball, is a huge part of his life. Harkrider is considered one of the best shortstops to ever play at the University of Texas and in 1993 he was drafted by the California Angels.

“Athletics mirrors life. There’s ups and downs and we’re going to get knocked down in life, no matter how good we are, how hard we work, there’s going to be challenges that are going to knock us down and we’ve got to teach kids it’s okay, it’s part of life to get back up,” Harkrider said.

“I see now too, too much we give trophies for everything, you know, everybody gets the trophies, participation trophy and that’s not life,” Harkrider said.

“Life is about failure and it’s about getting back up and having success and I think that’s something that I want to make sure — I think College Station has done a great job of that with their athletic programs, but also in the classroom. You know, you may fail a test. Okay, well, let me give you a retest opportunity. Maybe we need to study a little bit, you can make a better grade the second time. It’s all about effort, preparation, and I used to tell our kids when I coach, you know, you don’t have a game switch on and off on your back. Otherwise, it’d be really easy for me. I flip it on and we’re going to win. You know, your game switch is on 24/7 and mine never turns off,”

“I think that’s important for parents to understand that and about the education piece, your body is going to break down and you’re going to get older and at some point in time you’re not going to be able to play anymore, but your mind’s not going to, you know, there’s nothing that will replace an education,” Harkrider said.

Willis ISD is roughly half the students as College Station ISD. Harkrider describes what success looked like for him while serving at a smaller district and what he was able to accomplish during his tenure.

“We were able to pass three bonds in Willis and build facilities for kids. That’s one of the funnest things that I’ve done is build opportunities for, whether it was CTE center or Performing Arts Center, new campuses, new administration building, there were opportunities for the district to grow long-term and and that’s been you know a great point and a great time for me and our team,” Harkrider said.

“Now coming here to College Station, bigger district, more employees, a lot more things to do and oversee, but a bigger challenge, which that’s what motivates me, that’s exciting. And you know the board has been going through after the work of a long-term planning committee and evaluating potentially another bond opportunity that would impact you know our entire school district and there’s nothing more exciting than that. There’s nothing more exciting than that to be able to bring opportunities to kids, opportunities for your community, and that’s really what I love about College Station. The district’s done a wonderful job of engaging the community in a variety of opportunities to help lead the direction of the school district,” Harkrider said.

When Harkrider was hired the CSISD School Board essentially said to KBTX one of the things that helped him stand out was the success he had with bond packages passing at Willis ISD. CSISD is a growing school district and Harkrider acknowledges there is some pressure on him to be able to pass more bonds as he serves at CSISD.

“You know, I don’t think I put more pressure on myself than anybody could ever put it. It was the same thing when I played baseball, you know, playing in front of 30,000 fans in the College World Series or playing in front of 200 in high school baseball, to me, it didn’t matter. The pressure was the same and I think coming in here the experience helps me,” Harkrider said.

“I think probably there was more pressure on me in 2015 when we passed the bond because the district hadn’t passed the bond in nine years. I’d been Superintendent for two years and was just trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to be doing. Then all of a sudden, you know, here’s the bond project. So I’m coming into College Station with with a lot of learning over the last 10 years, a lot of strategy. I think the team here has done a good job over the years of strategizing for bonds and I think that experience will help me get out and just to visit with the community. Our job is to present the facts and then, you know, the community’s job is to show up at the polls and vote,” Harkrider said.

“You paint that picture of why things are needed and what they’re for and really do show all the details and go out and get the word out. And then voters are informed when they show up to vote,” Harkrider said.