Bettina Umstead, the lone incumbent seeking re-election on the Durham school board this March, acknowledges the problems that have plagued the district.
“I agree that we need changes in our Durham Public Schools,” she said in an interview. “We have improved, but we’re not there yet.”
Many Durham voters have called for a change in school board leadership in response to the district’s challenges. However, Umstead argues that being an incumbent has advantages.
“I have knowledge about the school system, as well as knowledge about how policies and practices work within the system,” she said. “I think I can bring that experience to another term.”
Umstead has been in office since 2018, serving as school board vice chair from 2019-2020 and as chair from 2020 – 2024, and again since 2025.
In recent years, the school system has been riddled with controversy.
During the 2023-2024 school year, strikes and demonstrations rocked the district after promised staff pay raises were revoked following the belated discovery of a $7 million budget shortfall. The transportation crisis also upset many, as a bus driver shortage left families struggling to get their students to school.
While the transportation crisis has since eased, budgetary challenges and other problems persist.
“I can talk about all the ways that we are doing good work, and I’m also clear there’s lots of improvements that need to be made to make sure the students that enter our school system graduate ready for college and career and their options.”
“My focus is always around ‘how do we make sure that student outcomes are improving, student achievement is improving in our district?’” she said.
Umstead said the district’s top goals should include fiscal responsibility, focusing on student outcomes, including disparities in those outcomes, and connecting with other school systems in the state.
She had praise for DPS’s Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Teetor, who joined the district in November 2024.
“He has done an excellent job building the systems and structure so we have checks and balances within our school system, and that is going to help prevent big fiascos in the future.” In the future term, she said the board must continue to address declining enrollment and funding decisions.
Durham should also join with other school districts in advocating for more state funding for public schools, Umstead said.
“Some of the things that we are addressing here in Durham are not just Durham-specific issues,” she added. “They’re issues that public schools across the state are navigating in a different landscape that we’re in.”
Despite acknowledging the challenges Durham schools have experienced in recent years, Umstead brought up many successes as well. She referenced the school system’s restorative discipline practices, which have reduced short-term suspensions. The district has built new school buildings and increased educator pay, she said. She noted that the district’s recovery post-pandemic was praised by The New York Times.
“We have seen student outcomes improve in my last two terms on the board,” she said.
“I think there are a lot of ways that we have really grown as a district.”
Umstead has been endorsed by the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the Friends of Durham.
“I’m really grateful for the endorsement from the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. I know that they have a rigorous process that they go through to endorse their candidates,” she said.
Yet she stressed the importance of investigating a candidate’s resume beyond these endorsements.
“You know, the voters, especially voters in Durham, are familiar with our PAC processes, and so I hope that they are looking at endorsements, but also looking at the record and the bios of the candidates to make sure that they’re choosing someone who they believe will be best for our district,” she added.
Amid her third campaign for the school board, Umstead said that “every campaign is different, and you learn something in every one.”
This election cycle, Umstead predicts higher turnout. “I believe that we’ll see increased engagement at the polls based on frustrations, anger, feelings and emotions around what’s happening in our federal context, and community members and neighbors being really engaged.”
“Running for re-election, I am reminded of my ‘why,’ Umstead said.
“What I love about public education is, it truly is the bedrock, I think, of every community.”
Above: Bettina Umstead (right), joined fellow District 2 school board candidates Nadeen Bir (left) and Rachel Waltz (center) at a January candidate forum sponsored by the NAACP. Photo by Paige Stevens — The 9th Street Journal
fiona shuldiner
