A life-long Excelsiorite, Tray Harkins is known as one of the most trusted individuals in the community. A 1987 graduate of Excelsior Springs High School he’s lived in Excelsior Springs for 54 years. A straight shooter with a sharp wit, Tray is a valued member of a number of organizations throughout the community. He has the ability to examine situations and cut through the bureaucracy to deal with issues, all while maintaining his sense of humor.
For nearly 14 years Tray has been a member of the Excelsior Springs Board of Education and has served as Board President for more than half of that time, working to make the education system better for the students, families, and staff of ESSD. He’s been the President of the Gregg Williams Foundation for 12 years, helping raise and donate back nearly $2 Million to the school district and community. He served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and worked to acquire the Chamber-owned office on South Thompson. He’s also proud of serving on the Community Center Steering committee that resulted in one of the most successful Community Centers in the KC metro area.
Tray said he loves the work of serving the community but added, “it’s not always as easy as everybody thinks it is.” He’s had to make a lot of tough decisions and sometimes takes the brunt of disgruntled citizens. Despite the difficulties, he said he prides himself on remaining neutral and level-headed in tough situations and enjoys seeing big projects, like the Community Center and Cornerstone Elementary, come to fruition. Tray has set his sights on a new project. “My passion from now until April is building a new Lewis elementary school. That’s my number one goal is getting that school one way or the other,” he emphasized.
Over the years he said he’s heard the community plead for a new downtown elementary school, and he says now is the best opportunity to get what the community wants. “It’s not going to cost [the community] any additional money. I’m hoping, fingers crossed, that people understand that we’re basically just moving money from savings to checking to pay that bill,” he said. He’s optimistic that the addition of a new downtown school will not only improve education for the community but also help continue the trajectory of improvements in the downtown area. Whether it’s new families moving into town or the revitalization of homes in the valley.
Tray has done his fair share of traveling but he’s always glad to get back to Excelsior Springs. “It’s just home… it’s nice that you can go to Walmart, or Price Chopper, or walk down the street and see 10 people you know.” He says he’s glad to call Excelsior Springs home, and folks who know him are glad he calls it home, too.
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Tray is such a great guy! I certainly believe him to be reliable and trustworthy in all he does. He is also a great conversationalist! Excelsior is blessed that he has chosen to make it his lifelong home and remain active and involved.
That is wonderful all the improvements he is doing to my hometown! So excited to hear of replacing Lewis Elementary building! Are they ever going to tear down the Wyman School building? It’s such an eyesore.
Hello, Debra, There was a Listening Post in 2020 that had a lot of the neighbors attend to discuss possibilities of reuse of the property. At that time, they were talking about a possible housing development. I’m not sure where they’re at on the project now but we will ask for an update.