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Madison Creek principal Duncan stresses respect, CTE and fiscal trade-offs in director interview
Summary
Principal Duncan told the Wilson County Board he would prioritize academic momentum and expanding career and technical education, said respect must guide governance during divisive times, and raised the district's health-insurance sustainability as an urgent fiscal issue.
Principal Duncan, a finalist for the Wilson County Schools director post, told the board in opening remarks that "there's a lot to celebrate" in the district's academics and praised recent growth in CTE offerings. He said his top priorities would protect the district's academic momentum while planning for growth in housing that could require new schools or renovations.
Duncan flagged the district's employee health-insurance situation as a pressing challenge, saying "there's more coming out than there is going in" and urging candid consideration of options to ensure sustainability. He also pushed back on a rumor that the county is insolvent, saying after a visit with the current director that "the reserves is beyond healthy." The candidate described a first-year focus on listening to staff and community and on making tough but fiscally responsible decisions.
On school culture and divisiveness, Duncan said the remedy is simple but substantive: respect. "If we can get people around a table, we can usually resolve 99% of our differences," he told board members. He criticized social-media-driven dispute and emphasized in-person problem-solving and relationship repair as leadership responsibilities.
Duncan described instructional trade-offs he has made as a principal when faced with tight budgets, noting specific subscription costs as examples: he said a Study Island subscription billed his elementary school about "$6,000" for grades 3'5 and defended keeping resources that benefit the greatest number of students. When asked about compensation expectations for the director job, Duncan said a salary of about "$200,000" reflected his research and the district's size.
Board members asked follow-up questions on discipline, school safety and testing cadence. Duncan described stepped, "graduated consequences imposed with love," the campus practice of a monthly "No Tech Tuesday," and his preference for formative benchmarks that inform instruction rather than testing for its own sake. He closed by saying his "why" is protecting and supporting children and that while his faith shapes his ethics he would respect the separation of church and state.
Provenance: This article draws on the candidate's remarks beginning with his opening statements and running through his closing comments in the first interview session (topicintro: SEG 019; topfinish: SEG 1240).
