Winona Lake Town Councilman Denny Duncan filed paperwork at the Kosciusko County Clerk’s Office Thursday to run for the Warsaw School Board.
He is running for District 5, Precincts Wayne 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and 12. The position is currently filled by Jeremy Mullins.
Duncan originally is from the Indianapolis area and came to Grace College in 1976. After he graduated, he got a job at Washington Elementary School and “I’ve been here ever since.”
Duncan married Glenda in 1978, who he said is his high school sweetheart. He has five daughters and nine grandchildren, with four of them being in the Warsaw Community Schools system.
On why he is running, Duncan said, “I’ve spent my whole life in education. I’ve got four grandkids in the school system. You know, I just feel a personal investment in the district in general, and I think it’ll be a unique opportunity to contribute.”
He thinks he brings a perspective of someone who understands instruction and the education process in Indiana. He is also someone who is very focused on children and understands the challenges of being in the classroom.
Duncan recently retired from Grace College as the alumni director. He taught adjunct classes at the college for at least 25 years. He spent 34 years at Warsaw Community Schools as a teacher, coach and administrator. The last 18 years he was with WCS, he was principal at Jefferson Elementary School.
He thinks already knowing how the school system works will be an advantage. He thinks there are many moving parts in school systems and someone who spent many years in it knows how things work, how to get things done and why things have to be a certain way. He thinks it’ll be an advantage for him since he’s lived that for most of his life.
He is looking forward to having an opportunity to contribute.
If Duncan wins the position, he will join School Board Vice President Randy Polston as former WCS employees on the Board.
“I think we both have an insight that someone else wouldn’t have. I have been away close to 10 years. I can recognize a concern if someone were just in the system one day and on the Board the next. But I think I’ve been away from it a long time and I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,” Duncan said.
If Duncan wins the position on the Board, he will have to give up his position on the Winona Lake Town Council.
“That’s kind of a disappointing thing because there’s apparently a rule in Indiana that one cannot hold two elected offices, even if they’re small. So if I win this election, I will have to resign from (the Council position),” Duncan said.
A caucus will have to be called to fill Duncan’s seat if he resigns from the Council position.
