Bettina Umstead is Chair of the Board of Education for Durham Public Schools. This interview was conducted the morning of Tuesday, December 20, 2022.

Your service to the Durham Public Schools’ Board of Education, as well as your advocacy and community engagement work have held a strong focus on racial and educational equity. What issues or questions do you feel are of particular importance as Durham works to expand access to and availability of pre-k while keeping equity at the forefront?

I think this question is really important. When we look at Durham Public Schools’ outcomes and our data, we see that there could be places where we can improve when it comes to Black students, Latinx students, as well as students with disabilities, and students whose families qualify for free and reduced lunch. When I think about how we can make sure students are prepared for school, pre-k is a huge part of that. 

I was fortunate enough that my parents were able to afford for me to go to pre-k. I know so many other families are navigating that, but we also know that a lot of families don't have the same resources. When we think about equity, it's about, “how do I make sure that we set up pre-k options for families who might not have the same financial or family resources, might have not have the same network or transportation or a car and gas?” Thinking about how to expand [pre-k] is also thinking about how to reach the folks who need it most. Equity is all about making shifts and changes to ensure that we can reach who we need to reach versus saying everyone gets the same thing – that’s not what we need.

I think another piece, too, is that third grade is when students start taking their standardized tests, so really thinking about how kindergarten through second grade are such vital times, and pre-k is an extension of that. That's another year of students getting some of that academic support and also learning how to socialize and to play and to be with other students – what it's like to be in a school setting. All of that is setting up students to have a strong K-2 experience so when they hit third grade and we have these standardized tests, they have many years of experience learning already.

You mentioned the academics, and then you were intentional and careful to mention the social-emotional stuff. That’s an area that is not necessarily well understood. People think of pre-k and may think of academics. Is there anything else you might want to say about that?

I think really strong pre-k programs are teaching students about their feelings, teaching students about their friends, teaching students where your hands go and how to keep your hands to yourself. How do you love your friends? How do you share when you’re frustrated with your friends? All of that goes into teaching students how to interact with each other, teaching people how to interact with each other. I think preschool does a really good job of modeling that at an age-appropriate time. 

I think also in diverse classroom spaces, you can really have lots of conversation about culture and difference and what makes us different but also what we celebrate about that in a really positive way that allows students to start having this language early. I think a lot of times people want to talk about a different culture or social-emotional things when things are going wrong. But we get a proactive conversation, an asset-based conversation, if we start it really early. Feelings aren't bad. Feelings are good. Let's learn about that at 4 years old and start that practice early.

That's a really fantastic insight. So not only is having a diverse classroom a goal in itself, it’s also part of the plan for creating greater equity.

Absolutely.

You've also worked to improve access to college for students who face systemic barriers to higher education. Do you see any links between a high-quality early childhood education and a student’s later readiness to take on higher education?

Yes! I think about this for some students [who didn’t have pre-k], especially students who have disabilities, students who have had learning differences, students who are academically behind. If they had had access to more support and resources earlier, maybe they would be on a different trajectory. 

I think for a lot of students who [receive] high quality pre-k, after high school, they are just better ready to take on what it means to go to college. For some students who maybe moved a lot or didn't have the same access or maybe had a learning difference that came out in school [because] they didn't go to pre-k so that didn't get caught there, I think about, “What if we had started some interventions early with this student that could have changed the trajectory?”

So much development takes place before kindergarten that catching these things early can make a huge difference.

Absolutely. And unfortunately, a lot of times, when it’s not something acute, students might go to school and not realize until third or fourth grade, [when they may be] behind academically, because they learn differently.

And one of the pieces during the pre-k application is some developmental testing, so looking at development is built into the process.

Yes.

What do you see as the school district’s role in leading efforts to include early childhood education, and what should Durham Public Schools’ commitment be to expanding preschool classrooms in Durham?  

As the public schools, being the biggest educational entity here, we have a responsibility to champion pre-k, I believe. It's not in our charter, as a public school system, but I think we recognize how important a high-quality pre-k is to a child's academic success. When we think about wanting our community to thrive, we know that having our students in pre-k has so many rich benefits, so as the public school entity, we are working with Durham County to constantly champion expanding pre-k. Because we only hear benefits to students having pre-k.

That, for Durham, has looked a couple of different ways. One was creating the stand-alone Whitted School that is a pre-k site. We continue to think about how to expand classrooms in our current elementary schools. Our goal is to have at least two classrooms in every elementary school across Durham, so with our new school buildings, that's already being built in. Lyons Farm has that. The new Murray-Massenburg Elementary School will have it. And with the bond - thank you Durham County voters! - we'll be doing renovations to elementary schools to help get some of those classrooms in there. The community talks about how [pre-k is] vitally important, and we want to be champions of that with the county in asking them to fund those efforts, because we do not get state dollars. We want to really think about what we can do, how much we can do, to expand those efforts for students.

I'm hearing you talk about the physical structures, like new schools being built with this already in the plans and making space in existing schools, but I'm also hearing you talk about staffing and direction and intention in the program. So you’re looking holistically at how pre-k integrates into the schools.

Absolutely. Our big picture goal is, how students [can] go to pre-k maybe in your elementary school and then stay there. An entry way into your elementary school experience is getting families acclimated with that building, allowing students to get acclimated. I think about some of our most vulnerable students, students who have exceptional differences, students who may need to be on a reduced rate, having that network and starting that early is going to be so beneficial for them. The big picture dream: kids are going to pre-k and then going all the way through to fifth grade and having a really full experience.

I know that for parents, sometimes the placement for pre-k being different from their community school can be difficult, so it's interesting to hear that the district is thinking about that, too.

I know that's especially been a focus for our EC students, the Exceptional Children’s program. My dream would be for all [students]. I know for parents it's like, “Oh, I have a pre-k placement in one place, and then I have a kindergarten placement that's in another place, and if my child's IEP changes too much, I might end up in another place.” So how do we keep continuity and closeness to where people live? Unfortunately, some of our placements, depending on what your child needs, are kind of around the county. So how do we shrink that a little bit and get it closer to where you live?

School system plans that are taking shape to include pre-k seem to have the family in mind and maybe as somewhat of a central focus. What is the importance of parent engagement in early childhood education in Durham, and how is the school district helping to create opportunities for parents to be involved?

Parent involvement is a huge driver around children’s success. We know that from 16 years old to 3 years old, so we want to make sure that when students are coming to DPS, even as our little pre-k babies, that we are involving their parents. That looks a lot of different ways. There’s one level of parent engagement where we're providing you updates like preschools often do. But I think another level is also giving parents resources to practice some things at home with their students. 

One thing we saw over the pandemic when we were doing virtual pre-k was that a lot of parents were able to also have access to some of the information. Parents were watching and were able to practice with their students and use that later - the fun games or whatever they were doing. So I think parent engagement is bringing parents in the building, but it’s also giving them the resources to support their kids at home. I think that's been a goal of the district to really help support parents in that way.

It's easy to look out and see the difficult circumstances the pandemic has caused, but there are also some silver linings, and you're describing one of them, which is parents being able to see in real time what their child's pre-k experience looked like and to be able to participate in that in a different way.

Absolutely. I feel like parents who are educators often feel like they know what they need to do with their kid, but parents who are not educators often feel like they don't know what’s supposed to happen at 4 or 3. So [pre-k] provides a lot of that, like “here’s what I should be working with my child on” and I think that's helpful for all different types of families, especially for families who may be newly immigrated here or families who didn't have pre-k themselves. How do we make sure that they have access to that information?

You're a strong advocate for investments in both kids and teachers. If both receive the attention and investment needed to fulfill your vision, how might our education system in Durham look different in another decade? What do you hope to look back on with the Pride in 10 years’ time. 

I love these types of questions. I used to ask people, “if you had unlimited power, money, and resources, what would you do to improve education?” It's a huge question. When I think about Durham, I want to see continued investment in our students, creating this pipeline for the public school system from pre-k through graduation from high school and almost into your next step; I’ll call it 12-plus. How do we make sure we support you through that transition? I think about that feeling seamless and there being options and families knowing what their options are and students having some agency in their options. [Students] are able to go to really great schools and have experiences and opportunities that are connected with things they're passionate about and that lead them to either college or career. Some students are going to college, and some students are going to make [a living] doing plumbing or electrical or coding. How do we connect them with those programs? 

For teachers, I really want see us create more opportunities for our current Durham students and community members to be engaged in education and in classes. And in 10 years, I hope we have more and more Durham Public Schools alumni who are teaching some of these classes and that they are feeling empowered as a teacher, they feel paid well as a teacher, they feel celebrated for the hard work that they do in our community. And that’s pre-k all the way through twelth. Pre-k teachers do not get paid enough. 

I see diverse groups of students. I see students with disabilities having what they need and having educators and teachers that are there to support them. I see our Black and Latinx students finding their connection in school and their points where they feel like, “okay, I know why I'm here. I'm excited to come here. I have found my family here. I’m thinking about what happens next here.” I think that creates a Durham where we all feel like we have access to Durham. Sometimes it feels like there are multiple Durhams, right? There's a Downtown Durham, and there might be an East Durham, there might be a far out this way Durham. But I think creating this kind of community creates a place where we all feel like we can live here; we can work here; we can thrive here because the children can go to school and get a great education. 

A Durham that belongs to all of us.

Yes, exactly.

I really appreciate how you see public schools as not just one piece of the community, but as a creator of community, as well.

I think when you have 500, 1000, almost 2000 students in one school building, that is an opportunity to create a culture and a community. My dream is that people are leaving with friendships for life. They know, “these are my teachers or my friends or my mentors that really supported me that I connected with in this school building.” And we know that those adults make a difference, those friend groups make a difference in people's lives. It's a huge opportunity to create community in our schools. 

It's always easy to talk about all the reasons why we can't get there. But remembering what our goal is and figuring out how to get there – we’ve got to stay on that side of things.

What didn't I ask that I should have, or what more would you like to add?

Great question. I will continue to say, if we want to reach the outcomes that we desire as a community, as a school system, when it comes to graduation rates, when it comes to making sure students are connected with college or career, that really does start at age 4. Connecting students with high-quality pre-k options I think about as a community issue, because it allows parents to have an opportunity to work, allows students to be in a safe learning environment, allows them to start getting connected and plugged in with resources that they need. These are early interventions in order to support students and families. We as a community need to be invested in this. When people are connected to jobs and opportunities and housing, we have a safer community, we have a happier and healthier community, and that's what I dream for Durham.

I think there's something special about a community that's open and honest about their issues. We haven't fixed them all, but we'll at least talk about them really explicitly, and I appreciate that about Durham. 

You brought a lot of joy and positivity to this interview, and I want to convey that.

Yeah, I love our pre-k babies. It starts young. How do we love and nurture kids and keep their curiosity and love for learning? We, public schools, have some work to do to make sure we keep that fire burning. That starts in pre-k.