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Duncan may be leaving team but still cheering for NMC R-1
NEW MADRID, Mo. —After 36 years in education, retirement was something Dr. Sam Duncan had considered. However, the New Madrid County R-1 superintendent wasn’t sure the time was right.
Then one day while talking with his 92-year-old father, Duncan said he realized there were more reasons to retire than not to retire. The two men decided to pray.
“We pray about all things,” he said. “And it just became clear to me that it was time for me to pass the torch and move on to something else.”
He said retirement will give him more time to work on cars, from his classic Mustangs to cars belonging to others. Also he will continue working in education, now teaching classes for Southeast Missouri State University.
Duncan said the new schedule will also enable him and his wife, Melanie, to travel.
“I think it will be those three things primarily plus the big one I can’t fail to mention is family,” he said. “I will be able to spend time with our grandkids and more time with my parents, who are now in assisted living.”
Shortly after signing on as the next R-1 superintendent, Duncan and the District faced a major challenge. Noranda Aluminum, New Madrid County’s largest employer, announced its closing.
“We were thrown into something that was kind of sink or swim,” Duncan recalled. “But this was a complete team effort from the moment it happened.”
Duncan credited his predecessor, Dr. Cindy Amick, with helping him to quickly understand the components of the issue. Heather Schuerenberg, the District’s director of business and finance, and the Board of Education worked with him as they navigated the problems posed by budget cuts due to the loss in property taxes.
According to Duncan, that teamwork is hallmark of his tenure as superintendent.
It wasn’t just the administration and School Board who were part of the team, he continued. He credits the District’s patrons, who passed a bond issue to upgrade school security and facilities, for working with them to continue to improve schools throughout the District.
Duncan takes pride in the many accomplishments the teamwork brought about. This includes higher salaries and better benefits for teachers and staff, improvements to facilities and the addition of the FEMA building which provides space for physical education classes at the Middle School as well as shelter for students and the public during storms.
“I am really proud of where tech-ed has gone. Again it was a team effort where people got together and took a vocational school and turned it into what we have now which is a fully-functional career tech center that yearly turns out students who are headed into gainful employment some immediately and others with additional training,” he said.
Navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic was a team effort as well. Duncan said he is proud of the way the District’s leadership teams, administrators and the School Board worked together to enable students to continue their studies.
While many of the accolades earned by the District received local, state and even national attention, there is one particular quiet time, that Duncan also takes pride in -- the prayer prior to the start of each R-1 School Board meeting.
“I am very proud of that and I told the Board that I hope it is a practice that continues,” he said. “I mentioned how the team aspect has been the best component for me, but the prayer aspect is what I think is the key to the good things that have happened.”
Duncan foresees even greater success.
At the June meeting of the New Madrid County R-1 School Board, Bridget Masterson, director of special services, was appointed interim superintendent for the District.
“The system is set up with the trajectory and the people who have the heart and the ability to take it to the next level. That is why I feel like the District is headed to a remarkable place,” Duncan said. “Because of the team effort my stepping aside doesn’t slow progress at all. That is what I hoped would happen when I retired.”
As for regrets, Duncan said he can’t think of any task he has left uncompleted from big projects such as new textbooks for all core curriculum to small details like the handicap buttons on front doors.
Duncan said he will miss walking the hallways in the District’s schools and the high-fives and hugs from the students.
“If there is any source of melancholy at all it is really that I won’t be there as they are going through the learning process and growing,” he said.
New Madrid County R-1 School Board President Kay Rebstock has known Duncan as a parent of one his students when he taught math, as a co-worker and as a member of the School Board. She praised his many accomplishments for the District during his tenure
“Working with Dr. Sam Duncan has been a pleasure over the past eight plus years,” Rebstock said. “We are sorry to see him go but wish him the best in his new position at Southeast Missouri State University.”
As he prepared to leave his office on his official last day as superintendent, Duncan added a few more parting thoughts.
In the past eight years, he said he has come to realize what exceptional faculty and staff make up the R-1 School District. He urged the public to show their support for them.
“A community that supports its schools, its school leaders, its school teachers and its staff will reap the benefits. Try to let them know that. If you are somebody who supports the schools and the kids, don’t let social media go unchecked when people are being unfair,” he urged.
Also he offered his thanks to his wife, Melanie, and her support since they began their teaching careers together at New Madrid County R-1 in 1988.
“I have said it before and I will say it again, it has been the joy of my career to be the superintendent here at the place that gave us our start when we didn’t have two nickels to rub together fresh out of college,” Duncan said. “To be able to retire from this place is pretty extraordinary. At the end of the day, this place is a special place.”