After 16 years on the Durham school board, Natalie Beyer, who did not seek reelection this March, will step down in July. In a conversation with The Ninth Street Journal, Beyer, a mother of three Durham Public Schools graduates, discussed her long tenure and future plans.
This interview has been edited for length.
You’ve served on the school board for 16 years. What made you decide that now is the right time to step down?
It’s been an incredible honor to serve. And four terms is a long time. 16 years is a long time, and it’s time for folks with new energy, new ideas, new enthusiasm and just a fresh perspective. When I started, my youngest was 10. She’s now 26, she’s in a PhD program.
How would you describe your legacy at DPS?
I’m proud that we have a focus on equity in Durham, that we continue to do right in our focus on hiring educators and staff that represent the diversity of our student body and our community. We have a Multilingual Resource Center to support families and immigrants. We are working to expand support for students with exceptional needs. We are a creative and inspiring district willing to innovate and lead.
We changed the start times for schools to make sure they’re aligned with science. We expanded nutritional access and food security, offering free breakfast and lunch for every student in our community. We have a Black and brown Student Achievement Plan that’s put in policy. We have an LGBTQIA policy that is the most progressive in the state.
I think Durham Public Schools is a leader in equity practices, and that will always be what I’m most proud of.
What were some of the most challenging moments in your time as a school board member? Do you have any regrets?
Clearly the pandemic. There was no road map. There was no clear answer for how to keep folks safe, and online learning is a very poor substitute for our in-person learning. But I was proud that Durham was able to open learning centers so that essential staff could have secure places for their children to be while folks had to return to work.
In hindsight, schools probably could have reopened earlier, but…who knew we were going to have a vaccine as quickly as we did? And I’m so glad that Durham advocated and teachers became classified by the governor as essential personnel who were able to get the vaccine first, right as schools were reopening, keeping them safe as they worked with lots of small children.
I think the classified pay debacle has been incredibly challenging as it’s just been incredibly frustrating not to have good information that people deserve…. It came about from us trying to continue to pay folks more and trusting the work the staff did. It’s incredibly hard to lead through and hard to repair trust when trust is broken.
Never mess with anyone’s paycheck. Never underpay anyone. I think I’ve learned that it’s always best to under-promise and over-deliver.
What’s it like to sit on the other end of the board room at the Fuller Building, facing challenges that seem insurmountable but need to be resolved?
It’s incredibly humbling. It’s heartbreaking to think that you would like to have the resources to meet every need that folks advocate for, and to share the concerns of folks––whether they’re advocating for students with exceptional needs, students advocating for sustainability in our buildings and our programs, or teachers advocating for better pay for themselves or their classified colleagues––and knowing that our power is very, very limited and that we don’t have taxing authority, and that the Republicans in the General Assembly have deliberately undermined public schools and public systems across the state.
What are some major challenges the new school board members will be dealing with going forward, and what do you want them to keep in mind while they’re dealing with these challenges?
There is still over a billion dollars worth of unmet maintenance needs alone in this community. I had hoped that we would have a bond for schools on the ballot this fall. I’m doubtful that that will come to be, and so those needs will continue to pile up maintenance-wise, until two years from now, when it will be the next opportunity for a bond.
So physical buildings alone and the repairs and maintenance are going to be a huge need.
Monitoring the Growing Together plan, which was this regional redistricting work that I’m proud that our board tackled — monitoring what’s working and what needs to be modified about that plan.
How do you feel about the Duke Respect Durham movement, and how do you think institutions like Duke can support Durham Public Schools and the wider Durham community?
Duke is the Ivy of the South. And in conversations with Duke leaders, I’ve commended Duke for everything that they’ve done in partnership with Durham for the first 100 years and challenged them to push their vision of how they can continue to be extraordinary partners with the Durham community.
PILOTs [payments in lieu of taxes] is a great idea…and an official way to recognize some of the inequities within university towns like Durham. I am so glad to see Duke raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. I still think there is more that Duke can do as the largest employer and driver of the Durham community, whether that is more scholarship for DPS students or using a part of Central Campus for a 24/7 childcare site for workers who take care of students and patients at Duke.
What are your plans after the school board? Would you consider running for public office again––maybe for county commissioner?
I haven’t ruled anything out, but I’m going to take some time to figure out where I’m called next. And I do a lot of volunteer work. I do a lot of work with my church, and I think it’s time for me to listen to where I’m needed next.
If you could tell everyone in the country about Durham Public Schools, what would you tell them?
Durham is on the top of a lot of lists, of great foodie towns, of great new business startup towns, right? More and more people are moving here, retiring here, and when people come here…I’d love for them to learn the history about how we merged separate and unequal systems together.
We believe that your zip code should not define your outcomes. We want the rich diversity of our community to be represented in our classrooms, because we know that children living and learning together from all backgrounds, all abilities, is the thing that builds a beautiful democracy.
That’s, to me, the vision of Durham Public Schools, as we get every child ready for whatever their future hopes and dreams are.
We’ve got work to do. So I look forward to cheering the new crowd on.
Above: Photo of Natalie Beyer by Lena Nguyen — The 9th Street Journal
Tanya Wan
