Election 2023: Natalie Mash running for Greeley-Evans District 6 Board of Education
By Kelly Ragan
Natalie Mash is running for re-election for the Greeley-Evans District 6 Board of Education.
She was first appointed to the board in 2018, and then ran for election Nov. 2019.
Mash said at first, voters took a chance on her. It was more of a gamble then – she was a parent who loved Greeley, but she didn’t have any experience. That’s changed over the last several years.
“I like the direction the district is going. Certainly, we’re never going to arrive – we’ll always be improving,” she said.
Historical perspective
Mash believes public education is important.
Education is a human right, Mash said, and society can’t move forward without educated people. In 20 years, she said, people will need doctors to heal them and construction workers to build houses.
Plus, she said, education deeply impacts each student.
“We can help children get out of poverty through education,” Mash said. “We can change the whole trajectory of a family if we can educate children.”
Mash said she also has the benefit of experience and historical perspective on the board.
When sitting board members Terri Pappas and Michael Mathews terms are up – Pappas’ is up this year, and Mathews’ is up in 2025 – Mash would have the most experience under her belt if re-elected.
“I know where we’ve come from and where we’re going. I know what things have worked along the way,” Mash said.
What she’s proud of
Bond projects
Back in 2018, a facility needs assessment conducted by architectural firm The Cunningham Group showed that just about every building in the district needed repairs and renovations if not total replacement. To tackle that, the district would need $1 billion.
That spurred the District 6 board to put a bond measure on the ballot, asking voters to approve a $395 million bond issue to improve facilities.
While $395 million is a far cry from $1 billion, it was the first time since 2003 the district asked for a large bond issue.
The bond stipulated that every school in the district would receive some repairs, but some of the highlights include:
Building a new Greeley West High School
Building and improving career and technical education spaces
Replacement of Madison Elementary School
Adding 50,000-square feet to McAuliffe STEM Academy K-8 school to address overcrowding
35,000-square-foot addition to Chappelow Arts Magnet K-8 to address overcrowding
Security enhancements
The bond passed with 52.6% of the vote.
“I’m so, so proud that we’ve been able to get rid of half our portable classrooms,” Mash said, though she knows the work isn’t finished. “We know that we’ll need another bond issue to address the rest of the needs in the district.”
Mill levy override
Mash said that she’s proud to have been on the school board when voters overwhelmingly voted to continue a mill levy tax override in 2022.
Money raised from mill levy tax overrides go toward district expenses such as salaries, including for teachers, bus drivers, custodians and food service workers.
That helped bump starting teacher salaries up to $48,000 in District 6 this year, Mash said, up from $42,475 for the 2022-23 school year.
“I’m super proud of the relationship that the school district has with the community, business partners, as well as the voters,” Mash said.
Challenges
Teacher shortage
Mash said there aren’t enough teachers coming out of college ready to enter the workforce. While COVID-19 made the job harder, teacher retention was a challenge even in the best of times.
“Recruitment and retention are two things we’re really focused on,” she said.
The district has made some progress with raising teacher salaries, Mash said, but there’s more to do.
She hopes to help tackle issues such as giving teachers additional planning time and respite.
Increasing mental health support
Mash said continuing to support the mental health of students and staff was important to her.
Thanks to American Rescue Plan Act dollars, the district was able to put counselors and social workers in all schools, Mash said.
Youth mental health continues to be an important topic in Colorado. Since Colorado Children’s Hospital declared a youth mental health state of emergency in 2021, health care providers continue to see record numbers of kids in crisis, according to Colorado Children’s Hospital.
According to the Colorado Health Institute, a nonpartisan, independent data and evidence-based analysis policy organization, Colorado youth ages 11 to 18 report rates of poor mental health doubling since 2017 from 8.8% to 18.5%.
School board members have a responsibility to the taxpayer at large, families, students, teachers and staff, Mash said.
As an elected official, Mash said, she has a responsibility to the taxpayer at large. She also has a responsibility to families, students, teachers and staff. She takes that responsibility seriously now, she said, and will continue to do so if re-elected.
If there was one thing she wanted voters to know about her, she said, it would be this: “I’m a good listener, and I want to understand. Reach out. Let’s have a conversation.”