Election 2023: Brenda Campos-Spitze running for Greeley-Evans School District 6 School Board of Education

Brenda Campos-Spitze announced she’s running for the Greeley-Evans District 6 School Board of Education. Courtesy photo.

By Kelly Ragan

Brenda Campos-Spitze is running for the Greeley-Evans School District 6 School Board of Education. 

Campos-Spitze was appointed to the board in November 2022, filling a seat left open by Pepper Mueller. Mueller resigned because she moved out of the district. 

For her day job, she works as a family physician at Sunrise Community Health. 

Campos-Spitze said she believes good, free public education is the great equalizer. 

“If it weren’t for free public education in this country, I wouldn’t be where I am,” she said. “My dad literally didn’t have underwear or toothpaste until he was 15 years old. He slept on the ground in a cardboard box. I’m a doctor who went to Johns Hopkins.” 

Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in the 1980s. Campos-Spitze said her parents – her mother in particular – always made it clear to her and Campos-Spitze’s three siblings that education was important. 

“I have such beautiful memories of being in school,” Campos-Spitze said. 

She remembers learning Mother Goose nursery rhymes in kindergarten and winning various prizes for being the first to answer a spelling or math question in first grade. Campos-Spitze admits she still has a couple of those prizes all these years later -- her most cherished prize being a small photo of her first grade teacher glued inside a little flip-up ring case. Yes, it’s ridiculous, she said, and she still gets teased about it sometimes by her siblings.

As a parent, Campos-Spitze said she has skin in the game. Her oldest is about to start school in the district. 

“I want her to have an education that is stimulating and creates an environment that helps her grow as a student and a person,” Campos-Spitze said. 

She said she also believes representation matters. As the only Latina currently on the board, she said she brings a valuable perspective that reflects the backgrounds of nearly 65% of the district’s students. 

Biggest challenges 

Funding 

Campos-Spitze said there are two main ingredients for student success: small classroom sizes and parent involvement. 

“Parent involvement we can tackle,” she said. “That’s a big part of why I’m inspired to run for school board.” 

But getting smaller classroom sizes means more teachers. That means stretching the budget to recruit and retain more teachers. 

The funding problem isn’t unique to District 6. 

Colorado ranks 43rd in spending on education adjusted for regional cost differences, according to Great Education Colorado. The state also ranks last in the nation on providing teachers a competitive wage. 

The Colorado school finance act, a bill the legislature must pass each year, could boost school spending for the 2024-2025 school year. If proposed changes are approved, per-pupil spending could reach $10,579, a 10% increase from this year, according to Chalkbeat. 

Meeting a variety of needs 

District 6 is diverse, with 78 different languages spoken, according to the district. 

“We are not a homogenous student body. We have kids from all over the world who speak different languages at home,” she said. “It is beautiful, and it also makes education more challenging. How do we meet these families where they are? How can we help kids reach their full potential?” 

Part of the solution is having people on the school board who reflect the community, she said. 

Anti-public education sentiment 

Campos-Spitze said she sees anti-public education sentiment as a threat, especially as conversations around education become increasingly polarized. 

Campos-Spitze said she believes, however, that most people share the common core value of wanting to see their kids succeed. 

“I encourage, welcome and invite families to come to schools and witness for yourselves the good happening in your community,” she said. “We are advocating for your children and for our children. We want the best for them.” 

Opportunities 

Dual language immersion 

Campos-Spitze said as part of the board, she would love to help expand the district’s dual language immersion options. 

“I have lived the benefits of being bilingual, and I would love to afford that opportunity to more students in the district,” she said. 

She sees opportunities to better reach non-English speaking families for programs such as universal pre-k. 

Diversifying medicine

She also sees opportunities to help more District 6 kids become doctors. 

One of her dreams, she said, is to help diversify the medical workforce so that more physicians look like their patients. She’s been involved with that work for more than 10 years, she said, working to mentor and support students. But there’s still work to be done. 

She said she’s excited about the possibility of helping to develop a pipeline from District 6 to the University of Northern Colorado, to medical schools such as the new UNC Osteopathic Medical College. 

Early literacy 

Campos-Spitze said she’s passionate about early literacy and improving literacy. 

“I have preschoolers at home, and at our house, reading is almost as important as eating,” she said.