Chris Harrell (Colorado)

Chris Harrell

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Nonpartisan

Candidate, School District 49 school board, District 4

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

High school

The Classical Academy

Bachelor's

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, 2016

Personal

Birthplace

Redwood City, Calif.

Profession

Mechanical engineer

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Chris Harrell is running for election to the Falcon School District 49 school board to represent District 4 in Colorado. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.^[source]

Harrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Chris Harrell was born in Redwood City, California. He earned a high school diploma from The Classical Academy. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2016. His career experience includes working as a mechanical engineer.

Elections

2025

See also: School District 49, Colorado, elections (2025)

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

General election for School District 49 school board, District 4

Incumbent Lori Thompson and Chris Harrell are running in the general election for School District 49 school board, District 4 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Lori Thompson (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Chris Harrell (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chris Harrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Harrell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a parent, engineer, and lifelong resident of Colorado Springs. I grew up in this community, attended local schools, built a successful career, and I'm proud to be raising my family here. With three young kids in D49 schools, I am personally invested in making sure every student receives the strong, well-rounded education they deserve.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I want to balance fiscal responsibility with a competitive staffing environment that ensures D49 has the best teachers in El Paso County
• Policy and curriculum decisions should be based on the best available data. It will be my goal to seek out solutions that produce the best student outcomes, wherever they may come from. We will find efficiency in replicating what we already know works, rather than starting from scratch.
• District 49 should prepare students not just for tests, but for life. Aligned with D49's Cultural Compass, my interest is in launching successful students. I believe we accomplish this goal by equipping them with practical skills through diverse opportunities and multiple pathways to success after they leave us.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Students come first. Education policy should be focused on proven solutions, not political distractions. I'm committed to creating safe, supportive, and academically strong schools where every child in D49 can find success.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, a focus on serving the people, and a willingness to do the hard work and research that makes our District successful are the most important characteristics of a school board director

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Improving the education of our students, serving our parents, and supporting our teachers

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was in second grade during 9/11, which had a big impact on me and really drove my love for my country.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked a Woodmoor Country Club for one summer as a cart boy.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Sea Wolf by Jack London. I love the combination of an adventure on the high seas and practical philosophy.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Anyone who can fly! Iron Man would be great.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

To ensure that the students of the district are prepared for life after their primary and secondary education

Who are your constituents?

My constituents are the people of Director District 4. My focus is on the parents and the military families within my district.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

By facilitating communication with our stakeholders, and earning their trust by acting on that communication.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

By encouraging my community to engage with the board, and by reciprocating that communication. By attending events throughout the district and seeking out the voices of our community and taking the time to just listen. The parents and teachers are my primary stakeholders, but I believe that everyone should be invested in their local school district.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching is that which best prepares our students for life after education by providing them the skills and tools to succeed in life. This is not limited to those subjects which are the focus of education! Our students must also learn to navigate working as a team, working on their physical and mental health, and navigating social and emotional challenges.

Standardized test scores are an important tool for measuring student success, but the data we gain from them must be interpreted intelligently. Graduation rates are also an important metric for evaluating our schools. But these easily measurable data cannot be the end-all be-all of evaluation. Student and parent feedback should be gathered to understand the experiences of our community, and that feedback should carry weight.

I am not an expert on the best teaching approaches, and will listen to our teachers who have far more experience than I in how to effectively teach.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

The District 49 board has waded into a polarizing political lawsuit and policies that encourage further lawsuits; these open our district to sever financial risk. The first thing we need to do to protect our budget is exiting this lawsuit and ending policies that are in violation of state and federal law.

After we eliminate that risk the biggest thing the board can do is to prioritize our endeavors and make policies that balance the budget.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Colorado Springs Education Association
Indivisible

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

The ideal learning environment starts with providing a situation that is physically and emotionally safe for our students. After that the students need an administration that is focused on maximizing student outcomes and teachers who are passionate about education.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

By providing an employment culture that is the best El Paso County. That starts by providing competitive salaries, but also includes room for career growth and training and by fostering a community of respect for all of our staff.

Are there any areas of school curriculum you would like to see changed?

I am not running to change all of our curricula. When evaluating curricula I will work with our teachers as they are the experts and I will make decisions based on the best available data. The only change I would like the district to look at is making our curricula more "vertically" oriented, so that a student going from elementary school to middle school and finally to high school can learn a subject using consistent vocabulary throughout their education.

What role should artificial intelligence have in your school district?

Artificial Intelligence, like every other technology, comes with the potential for benefit and harm. We need to stay informed on the research of this emerging technology so that we can effectively maximize the benefit while reducing the harm. AI cannot go back in the box; we cannot afford to set policies that attempt to eliminate it's affects on our schools and hope to just stay out of it. Instead, we must be proactive in identifying the best methods for handling it.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

School District 49 school board, District 4

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