SBOE Member District 11

Patricia Hardy (R) 1109 Roaring Springs Road Fort Worth, TX 76114 (817) 732-1786 pat.hardy.1109@gmail.com

Board Term: Jan. 1, 2023 - Jan. 1, 2025 

Patricia "Pat" Hardy, a lifelong educator, was elected to serve District 11 of the State Board of Education in November 2002 and re-elected in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2022.

During her tenure on the board, Hardy, a Republican, has served on all three of the board's committees. She was recently elected as secretary of the board and currently serves on the Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund, which oversees the Permanent School Fund, the nation's largest education endowment. Hardy at various times has served as vice chair and chair of this committee. 

Hardy retired in 2017 as an instructional specialist in the Weatherford Independent School District. For five years she served the district as the Social Studies coordinator. Previously, she taught high school world history and world geography for 30 years at Castleberry High School in Fort Worth.

Hardy has received numerous education-related honors including the Secondary Teacher of the Year, Castleberry Independent School District, 1997; Alumnus of the Year, Howard Payne University, 1996; Teacher of the Year, River Oaks Chamber of Commerce, 1995; Texas Alliance for Geographic Education Distinguished Service Award, 2000; National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Award, 2001; and the 1998 Texas Excellence in Education Award from The University of Texas Ex-Students' Association. In 2005 she was named Texas Social Studies Supervisor of the Year by the Texas Social Studies Supervisors Association.

Hardy was selected three times to participate in the Fulbright Seminar Abroad program, traveling to Egypt in 1988, Turkey in 1990, and China in 1994.

Hardy has served on many state and national education boards and committees. As a teacher, she served on both state textbook committee and state assessment review teams. She is a teacher consultant with the National Geographic Society Education Division. She has served the Society from 1989 until 2013 as the Texas Coordinator for the National Geographic Bee. Currently, she is serving on a national panel on teacher alliances for the National Geographic Society. She also serves on the Texas Council for the Social Studies, as well as the executive board for  the Texas Social Studies Supervisors Association. She is co-director for Kids Hope mentor program for her church, mentoring weekly a fourth grader at George C. Clarke Elementary School in the Fort Worth Independent School District.

Hardy began her statewide involvement in education reform after being appointed by the Texas Speaker of the House to both the Texas Education Economic Policy Center in 1989 and to the state's Committee on Student Learning in 1992. These boards laid the foundation for the Texas public education system reform movement.

Hardy holds a master's degree in Secondary Education and History from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from Howard Payne University.

As a member of the State Board of Education, Hardy represents the counties of Hood, Johnson, Parker, Somerville, and parts of Dallas county and Tarrant county.