Durham Public Schools Board of Education District 2: Rachel Waltz

Name: Rachel Waltz

Age: 46

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: www.rachelfordurhamschools.com

Occupation and employer: System Improvement Advisor, Community Solutions

1. What is your past or current involvement with Durham Public Schools? What makes you qualified for this job?

I love Durham and love Durham Public Schools. I’m a DPS parent and have led my son’s PTA Advocacy Committee for the past two years. I learned that many challenges we addressed are not specific to our particular school. They are indications of lack of infrastructure, oversight, and accountability district-wide.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I know the challenges families face when entrusting DPS with their children’s safety and education. I know the mental health struggles and stressors that students face as they develop ways to deal with these stressors. I also know how to build bridges and engage diverse audiences, who are often least represented in rooms where decisions are made.
With my experience running complex systems in local government, I know how to focus on the things that matter most and how to work with County Commissioners, private and non-profit organizations, and community members to design and operate a system that delivers for all people. I’ve demonstrated this by monitoring metrics of system health and success, designing processes for engaging the community and making sure we have voices representing all impacted groups at the table, and being transparent about how decisions are made.

2. For incumbents, what has been your greatest accomplishment on the board? For newcomers, what change would you bring to the board?

I would bring an improvement science approach to addressing DPS’s challenges by examining the root causes of the areas that are not working, partnering with the community to determine how we define success, developing baseline measures, and testing out improvement ideas to see what’s effective, and then expanding on ideas that show promise. 

I would use my social work background to listen to all stakeholders, not just the loudest voices in the room. To ask people to meaningfully engage, DPS needs to seriously focus on building back trust. People trust you most when they see you hear their ideas and put them into action. 

To move from a set of loosely affiliated schools to a high performing school system, we need infrastructure. Right now, there’s no manual of procedures and no infrastructure to function. I would expand on the emerging work of the Policy Committee and institute a Financial Oversight Committee. We need transparent committees with clear purpose that enable Board members to have meaningful working relationships with cabinet and school-based staff. I would also ensure the Board traces its direction from policy creation through on-the-ground implementation. If schools are not implementing policies evenly or consistently across the district, it is the Board’s job to ensure its directives are carried out. 

Another initiative I would work to implement would be to build upon community-facing civic education, like Durham City / County’s Neighborhood College, to show the public what goes into decision-making and offer clear mechanisms for involvement and feedback.

3. For the past two years, the district has uncovered budget shortfalls and had to make midyear cuts and adjustments. How can the board ensure that every DPS dollar is being put to best use?

The 2023-24 audit provided a number of recommendations that, according to CFO Teeter’s August 2025 report to the Board, are being implemented to reduce the likelihood of on-going financial mismanagement. The Board at a bare minimum should review financial reports on a more frequent basis. My non-profit board experience included reviewing financial statements, balance sheets, and statements of activities monthly, in addition to Board members who serve on the Finance Committee meeting regularly with key relevant staff. This type of oversight could have identified that DPS failed to utilize over $900,000 in CTE funding from the state.

DPS needs to get creative to ensure that public funds are used in accordance with the community’s values and priorities. Having worked in local government and drafted budgets that are considered by County commissioners and Town Councils, I can say that incremental budgeting works well when a system is on sound operational footing with little likelihood of shocks or unknowns. DPS has shown in recent years that a more intensive approach is needed to identify and reduce overruns and waste. DPS can also use an improvement science approach to learn what behaviors lead to cost overruns and implement process improvements to better contain unnecessary costs.

4. The superintendent is the board’s sole employee. The current board recently unanimously extended Anthony Lewis’s contract for another year. What letter grade do you give Lewis, and how could he do better?

I admittedly hold high expectations for myself and those in positions of public trust. I give Dr. Lewis a B- for his performance since his hire at the start of the 24-25 school year. To give credit where credit is due, Dr. Lewis and CFO Teeter quickly addressed the outstanding 2023-24 audit which produced seven major findings. Sound fiscal management practices are the cornerstone of DPS’s ability to deliver on its promise to the Durham community. They have instituted the Dollars & Decisions process for eliciting feedback from the Durham community, which is a step in the right direction. 
At the same time, I still hear from teachers that their certification or years of experience are calculated incorrectly. One teacher told me that she heard back from Central Office staff about her effort to reconcile her paycheck fourteen months after she began communicating with HR about it. 

Dr. Lewis should take a results-based accountability framework to his cabinet. His current contract is set to expire in June 2029 and there are some key indicators that he needs to make sure senior leaders keep top of mind:

Enrollment is declining faster at DPS than surrounding districts – making up 5% of the statewide decline last year despite only comprising 2% of the state’s non-charter public school enrollment. 

The recent announcement of 3 indictments of senior Central office staff and 1 building leadership staff indicate to me that Dr. Lewis needs to help his senior team develop mechanisms for monitoring conduct.

This situation also highlights the deficiency in DPS’s standard operating procedures and training. Multiple areas of the Strategic Plan update, provided to the Board in fall 2025, highlight the inconsistent adoption of Board policies. Standard and consistent adoption of policies is an equity issue and the current approach leaves students behind. 

5. Nearly every public school district in the state saw a decrease in enrollment this year. Durham’s was particularly dramatic, with over 1,000 fewer students than last year. With kids leaving for charter and private schools, what can DPS do to convince parents that public schools are the best option for their students?

While nearly every district across NC saw enrollment declines between the 24-25 and 25-26 school years, DPS’s declines were disproportionately high. They made up 5% of the state-wide decline while only having 2% of the statewide enrollment.

A community organizer I used to work with said “people vote with their feet”. DPS is simply not meeting every student’s needs and families are having to make hard choices, often in spite of their strong support of public schools. 

To reverse this vicious cycle, DPS needs to start with a targeted, data-driven approach. 
If we see lower enrollment from families who were disproportionately impacted by the Family Responsibility Zones for example, DPS needs to change its practices regarding route design and execution to ensure that more families can rely on safe, timely bus transportation to school.

If students don’t feel safe coming to school, those absences will show up in the data. DPS touts a strong Restorative Practices component, and yet a successful Restorative Practices pilot at a DPS middle school was discontinued, leaving families puzzled.
DPS can better deliver results when we have clear metrics for success, mechanisms for monitoring and reporting to a variety of stakeholders, and transparent decision-making.

6. DPS is committed to equity in education, but the “achievement gap” between white students and students of color persists. How can the district better fulfill its most basic mission of educating every child?

We know that much of the achievement gap is fueled by the opportunity gap – differences in resources to Black students and other students of color. 

This is where DPS needs to get serious about teacher, certified, and classified staff recruitment and retention. Data from DPS’s 2025-26 budget request to the BOCC indicated that DPS’ turnover rate was four to five points higher than Wake County and Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. 

Additionally, there is limited understanding from parents how resources are allocated – which school has multiple literacy specialists while a neighboring school has none for example. Right now, some PTA’s are shouldering the costs of providing required curriculum instructional materials because their schools have none, especially in subjects other than reading and math. PTA’s and schools are sharing the cost of additional reading instruction from the Hill Center because DPS is not fulfilling its primary mandate.

I would address these challenges by taking a new budgeting approach, providing financial oversight to make sure we are effective stewards of public funding, and I would support an audit to determine the gaps in curriculum, materials, and staffing. Closing these gaps, particularly where disproportionality is present, would be my highest priority. 

7. North Carolina recently received an “F” grade from the Education Law Center, which reported that the state is second to last in average funding per student. As of January 2025, the state legislature hasn’t passed a budget, leaving educators without a cost-of-living adjustment. What can the Durham school board do to help student outcomes with a state government that seems uninterested in supporting public schools?

We know that much of the achievement gap is fueled by the opportunity gap – differences in resources to Black students and other students of color. 

This is where DPS needs to get serious about teacher, certified, and classified staff recruitment and retention. Data from DPS’s 2025-26 budget request to the BOCC indicated that DPS’ turnover rate is four to five points higher than Wake and Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. The District will see the biggest impact on achievement through a combination of teacher and classroom-facing investments, coupled with greater budget and curriculum implementation oversight. 

Additionally, there is limited understanding from parents how resources are allocated – which school has multiple literacy specialists while a neighboring school has none, for example. 

I would also analyze additional DPS-related data, particularly student suspension practices, to foster and enable earlier, effective interventions and linkages to additional support such as Alliance Health’s School Based Teams. While short-term suspensions are declining, long-term suspensions are not and students can’t learn when they are not in school.

Durham County Board of Education members should also outreach their counterparts across the state to highlight the impacts of chronic underinvestment in public schools. With this General Assembly, we need to make the business case for why leading the nation in public school investment is in all North Carolinians’ best interest.

8. The majority-member staff union Durham Association of Educators (DAE) has, at times, clashed with the superintendent and the board over policy and procedure. What kind of relationship should the board have with the DAE, and how can you balance pressure from staff with pressure from administrators and taxpayers? 

I am a firm believer in the power of organized labor to address employment-based power imbalances, improve working conditions within an organization and across a sector, and cultivate an engaged and leaderful community. I have been a member of a number of public and private sector unions and currently serve on a contract negotiating committee. Workers need a clear and transparent process for providing input on policy and the budget as do all other stakeholders. The current Meet & Confer (M&C) policy provides the Superintendent wide latitude for bringing M&C recommendations to the Board. I have heard from building leadership that this process has already improved DPS Central Office’ preparation for M&C and subsequent M&C report outs. 

As a body that is ultimately accountable to the electorate, I would support reducing the amount of discretion that the Superintendent has with the current process. I would also continue to monitor the role of Employee Representative Organizations, paying particular attention to the percentage of certified, classified, and hourly staff represented by each ERO. I support policies that incorporate worker voice, are transparent about decision-making authority, and emphasize collaboration, accountability, and shared ownership. I also believe that public schools systems are the cornerstone of a healthy democracy and as a result, have a large set of stakeholders with overlapping and competing interests that need a fair hearing.

I would also bring a clear mechanism for communicating these decisions to the public by describing in plain language the options in front of the Board, how they were arrived at, and the rationale for whatever action I take, or decline to take, as a Board member.

9. With Durham School of the Arts and Northern High School moving to new buildings, the district still owns the defunct former sites of those and other schools. What should the district do with those sites? If it is beyond the jurisdiction of the school board, how can the board work with the county to make those sites useful for the Durham community?

With Durham School of the Arts and Northern High School’s relocations to new sites, there are important lessons to take from what was, for many, a difficult and fraught process. It is clear that DPS needs to think more holistically about how we plan, design, and site our schools—especially when bond funds are limited and existing buildings face serious repair needs, totaling $1 billion.

Like the adage “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is to plant today”, we need to consider land banking existing properties for future school sites. This is an option consistently raised by the community and recognizes the positive impact that schools can have in a community. Schools are generally welcomed in or near neighborhoods because they increase bike and pedestrian traffic, support home values, and help foster a sense of community. While it is too early to commit to next steps for the former DSA site, it is worth acknowledging that there is now no comprehensive high school or middle school within a four- to five-mile radius of downtown. That absence matters—particularly for families who value the ability for students to walk or bike to school. Proactively considering land banking now preserves future options and helps ensure that access, proximity, and community connection remain central to our long-term planning.

If it is beyond the jurisdiction of the Board to determine the next use of the site, the Board can ensure that the Board of County Commissioners’ community engagement process incorporates feedback from DPS stakeholders – teachers, staff, students, families, and the broader community. I also think it is important to note that DPS should consider its role and capacity in these conversations, particularly if DPS is not going to be involved in the operation of the future use. Student instruction and preparation for the future needs to be DPS’ primary objective. 

10. Thousands of students have stayed home from school during federal immigration enforcement sweeps. On one November day when agents were in the Triangle, over 20% of DPS students stayed home from school. What can the board realistically do to make DPS a welcoming and safe environment for all students, regardless of immigration status?

I was part of a small group of parents who organized as School Parents for Immigrant Defense and evolved into the Durham Public Schools Strong chapter. I stood in the cold and rain to be a friendly, familiar presence at bus stops so adults didn’t have to set foot outside their front doors during the ICE / CBP incursion into our community this past Fall. 

I heard directly from parents what they wanted and needed from the Board. Families wanted assurances of what ICE/CBP could and could not do. We wanted clear communication about what concrete steps schools were taking. We were essentially told by the current Board and DPS Central Office “we’ve communicated with principals. Check with them”. 

In my role as school captain, I talked with building staff and heard that, despite a wonderful, supportive, and committed principal, leaving all responsibility for implementation to the principal was insufficient. What about bus drivers and monitors? What about aftercare staff?

This experience became another example of the ways that DPS’ words ring hollow when faced with real demand for concrete action. This became a primary motivation in my decision to run for the Board of Education.

The Board ‘s “Resolution to Affirm the District’s Commitment to Student Safety and Privacy Regardless” was nice but insufficient. Building staff and DPS families want to see the plan detailing how staff are instructed to respond and what supports are in place if families are separated while students are in school.

11. Give an example of an opinion, policy, vote, or action you changed based on constituent feedback. If you have not yet held elected office, describe a time when you changed your position on an issue after listening to those affected by it.

I currently serve on the board of a local organization addressing root causes of poverty and am co-leading a Safe Outdoor Living committee with a person with lived experience of homelessness. As he and I began to develop our scope and recruit community members, I pictured that I would provide policy analysis and use that lens to inform the committee’s goals and priorities, such as educating Carrboro to remove their anti-camping ordnance from the books and changing the Carrboro Police Department’s enforcement of this ordinance.

Most of the committee is composed of community members with current or recent experiences of homelessness and they wanted to demand that the four local governments within Orange County purchase tiny homes, donate land, and offer expanded non-congregate shelter. I initially thought “that’s a big ask”. We talked as a group about the need for the elected officials needing to own the problem and work to figure out the solutions; figuring out funding was not for us to solve. This perspective shift led us to develop and circulate a petition, co-created by people with experiences of homelessness. We are in the process of pushing the culture change that is needed to get the elected officials to listen through member and downtown business community engagement and education.

I re-learned the lesson that there are multiple approaches to addressing a problem and depending on a group’s composition, role, positionality, and guiding values, we can take a variety of tactics to meet our goal.

12. If there is anything else you would like to address, please do so here.  

DPS needs a change. DPS needs someone who can build bridges and find areas of commonality. When working to end homelessness, I’ve met with business leaders who had very different “whys” than I had, but our end goal was still getting folks off the street and into permanent housing. 

For too long, Durham has looked to a small number of political action committees to do our candidate vetting for us. Many times, candidates seem similar on paper. They may have worked in education and described the same progressive values we pride ourselves on. We’ve voted these candidates into positions of public trust only to find that they are not accountable when another crisis occurs. We have to ask “is this system working for us?”.

I commit to actively reaching out to people who have historically been left out of the room where decisions are made. I commit to having transparent processes about how decisions are made. I commit to proactively talking to the community about those decisions, even when they may not be popular.