Raymond Hartfield

Raymond Hartfield

Written by Kathy Lesko Thursday, 07 September 2006

When Dorothy Martin stood in front of her 11th-grade English class at Purvis High School in Purvis, Mississippi, she looked into the eyes of Raymond Hartfield and knew the farm boy would go on to do great things.

“Why she ever paid particular attention to me I’ll never know,” Hartfield says of the special mentor. He credits Martin’s influence in his life as one of the main reasons he embraces the importance of education in all children’s lives.

As a long-time member of the Round Rock Independent School District Board of Trustees, four of those as president, Hartfield leads a group responsible for making decisions that will have a lasting impact on the city and the students who depend on its educational system. It’s this incredible commitment to those students that makes Raymond Hartfield this month’s Community Icon.

Hartfield arrived in Round Rock in the early 1980s. He recalls a sleepy little town that “fit the bill for raising children.” His two children were no more than toddlers when he embarked on his volunteer career.

By 1994, he was well entrenched in various school and community-based committees, and at the urging of several school board members, ran for a seat on the Round Rock ISD board and began his tenure in May 1994.

Hartfield attributes his involvement in volunteering in education to Martin’s advice to always stay active in the school and community in which he lived and worked. And as his family’s first high school and college graduate, he took that advice quite seriously.

Hartfield understood the value of a good education. He paid for part of his first year of college by planting, harvesting and selling 22 acres of peanuts to supplement the scholarship he had received. Over the next three summers, he worked odd jobs to raise enough money to help cover his tuition for the following year.

After graduation from the University of Southern Mississippi with degrees in music, chemistry and physics, Hartfield taught seven years of high school science and two years of undergraduate physics.

He changed careers in the late 1970s, and in 1992 accepted a position at AT&T that allowed him to use his education background in ways that blend with his board responsibilities.

As AT&T Texas’ director of education, Hartfield addresses legislators in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas on education and technology issues. As a Round Rock board member, he has presented seminars statewide and regionally from how to recruit a superintendent, to cybersafe-cybersmart seminars that arm parents with the tools to safeguard their children from the Internet.

He is a regular presenter to the Texas Association of School Boards and has run summer colloquiums for teachers that enhance the educational process for children.

“I’m proud of Round Rock, its people, its children and the progress that has been made in the past 12 years I’ve served on the board,” he says, noting that he has seen Round Rock become a community that “self –sifts” its new residents. “Those who are looking for an outstanding educational opportunity for their children seek out this city.”

Business Sense

Hartfield knows he is carrying on an important mission instilled in him by his high school teacher Dorothy Martin – “Be passionate about education, because if it’s not your own child, it will be someone else’s. If you can accidentally make it better for a child, just imagine what you can do if you really try.”

Proudest Moments

One of Hartfield’s proudest moments as a school board member is Graduation Day. “It is where we see the finished product...the fruits of our labor... the reason we do all this! I have had the honor of representing the school board for 12 graduation ceremonies (approx. 23,135 seniors). Seeing the pride in the graduates and their families means a lot to me.”

Editor’s note: When I e-mailed Dan Collier at the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce asking for a suggestion for this month’s Icon, he quickly responded with the subject line: “Everybody loves Raymond.” After meeting Mr. Hartfield at a chamber luncheon last spring, I understand why it is easy to love the man’s enthusiasm and passion for education.