Candidates for the Greeley-Evans School District 6 Board of Education agreed funding is the biggest issue before the district at a League of Women Voters forum on Thursday.
The League of Women Voters of Greeley-Weld County, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights, hosted the forum in partnership with the city of Greeley and the school district. Kyle Bentley, Weston Edmunds, Deana Lemos-Garcia and Robyn Roggy answered questions and shared their qualifications and vision for the board.
Jeremy Waters, who is also running for a seat on the board, was unable to attend the forum.
Four out of the seven school board seats are available in November’s election, with each term on the board lasting four years. Members of the school board set the district’s vision and policies, hire and evaluate the superintendent and oversee the budget and curriculum for all schools within Greeley, Evans and Garden City.
The candidates on Thursday agreed the district is in dire need of funding and that this lack of funding could lead to larger issues with retaining quality teachers, class sizes and even students’ safety.
“The reality is we have half a billion dollars worth of work that still needs to be done in our schools, which includes removing portable classrooms,” Edmunds said. “When you have school buildings where there’s one way to get into the building, it’s a much more secure building. But when you have individual units outside, it makes it a much larger safety risk for our students.”
The candidates on Thursday also agreed the district must prioritize improving buildings, discussing the inherent safety risk of older buildings. Edmunds and Roggy also touched on the rising issue of mental health among students and students’ struggles with loneliness.
“I heard on the radio that the No. 1 mental health problem in our country today is loneliness,” Roggy said. “That stems from people spending their time on screens and relating to screens instead of relating to people. I think you have an upset culture that leads to safety issues within our schools.”
Bentley disagreed on this point, instead saying the most critical safety issues before district schools are guns and fentanyl.
“To the best of my knowledge, we didn’t take a gun from a student last year, but with our dealings with the GPD (Greeley Police Department), they said that illegal gun carrying is on the rise and a lot of younger kids are being caught with guns,” Bentley said. “I just want to do what I can to make sure kids aren’t bringing guns to school and make sure we’re doing enough to be proactive in that department.”
The candidates returned to the issue of funding when e asked about what efforts they would make on the board to attract new teachers and retain existing ones. Bentley and Lemos-Garcia, however, said this issue isn’t just about salaries but also the community and culture at the schools and in the district.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention compensation. However, other factors such as culture, environment and support are also crucial,” Lemos-Garcia said. “I recognize the importance of improving the student-to-educator ratio as well and ensuring that our facilities are safe.”
The election is only a few weeks away. Ballots have already been mailed to residents and must be returned by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.
The forum will be posted on the League of Women Voters YouTube channel at a later date to ensure every resident has the opportunity to learn about the candidates. To watch the recording, go to youtube.com/@LWVGreeley-WeldCounty.
To learn more about the candidates and issues on this year’s ballot, go to weldvotes.gov.
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