The lone incumbent seeking reelection to the Durham school board has been unseated.
The District 2 seat currently held by Bettina Umstead has been won by Nadeen Bir. She received more than 61% of the vote, with Umstead receiving 27%. Rachel Waltz, who also ran for the seat, received 11%.
Bir was one of four Durham school board candidates at a joint Durham for All and Durham Association of Educators election watch party at Motorco Music Hall on Tuesday night. She was endorsed by both groups as well by the People’s Alliance PAC.
“This isn’t just a win for me, it is a win for the young people of Durham and the parents of Durham and the educators of Durham. I’m just thrilled to be a part of a new era,” Bir said at the event.
“We had a gigantic team coming together to help us win this thing.”
Umstead has been in office since 2018. She served as school board vice chair from 2019 to 2020 and as chair from 2020 to 2024, and again since 2025.
In advance of the election, Umstead had acknowledged the challenges that the school system has experienced, including a bus driver shortage and the budget crisis.
She hoped that her knowledge of the school system’s policies and practices would bring her enough support to carry her to victory. Yet ultimately, Durham voters were ready for new faces in all four seats that were up for election on the seven-member board.
“I’m excited about getting classified workers better pay,” Bir said in an interview Tuesday outside an election watch at Motorco.
“I’m excited to pass a stronger policy to keep ICE away from our students and away from our schools. I’m excited about not just listening to teachers and school-workers about what they need, but about taking action for them.”
Earlier Tuesday evening, Jac Michel canvassed for Bir outside of a polling site at Club Boulevard Elementary School.
“She represents the Palestinian-American,” Michel said. “And I’m here supporting her because I want her to be on the school board, District 2A. God willing, inshallah.”
Bir is known in the Durham community for her work with Mothers* for Ceasefire, a group that advocates for the liberation of Palestine. Bir’s parents immigrated to the United States from Palestine in the 1980s, escaping poverty and war. She grew up in South Carolina, and has lived in Durham since 2003.
Along with flyers for Nadeen Bir, Michel handed out green sheets of paper carrying endorsements from the People’s Alliance.
“We all want the same thing. We all want change. We all want safety. We all want our educators to be paid, and nobody wants ICE,” Michel said. “F-U-C-K ICE.”
Bir was active in the fall during raids in Durham by federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents. She is fluent in Spanish and helped walk kids to school, drop off groceries, and support families with other resources through Public Schools Strong.
Bir currently serves as co-executive director of Press On South, a nonprofit “southern collective for movement journalism.” She ran on a platform of bringing fresh eyes to Durham Public Schools (DPS), and believes her nonprofit experience will serve her well in tackling DPS’s toughest problems.
At Motorco, Bir said that she was very excited about Durham’s future.
“I just want to say I feel good and excited about the power of the people,” she said.
Above: Nadeen Bir (left), Rachel Waltz (center) and Bettina Umstead (right), speaking at a January forum. Photo by Paige Stevens — The 9th Street Journal
fiona shuldiner
