Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

APS has a lot of equity positions. There are full time release DEI Coordinators at every middle and high school. Some elementary schools have Equity Influencers. There are multiple equity specialists at Syphax. Then, of course, you have directors, executive directors, and a chief of equity.

So yes. We are swimming in equity officers.

What exactly do they do?

Every APS elementary has an “equity influencer”!
- APS employee

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

APS has a lot of equity positions. There are full time release DEI Coordinators at every middle and high school. Some elementary schools have Equity Influencers. There are multiple equity specialists at Syphax. Then, of course, you have directors, executive directors, and a chief of equity.

So yes. We are swimming in equity officers.

What exactly do they do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Generally only one academic officer

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership

Schools serve a lot of functions, not just academics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

APS has a lot of equity positions. There are full time release DEI Coordinators at every middle and high school. Some elementary schools have Equity Influencers. There are multiple equity specialists at Syphax. Then, of course, you have directors, executive directors, and a chief of equity.

Teacherof2025 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He comes from Alexandria City High School. ACPS people, what can you tell us?

You all asked to hear from someone at ACHS / ACPS. Here you go.

Duncan has been steadily moving up the ranks from teacher to admin to top high school admin. He was a principal at Minnie Howard for two years (focusing on high school years) & executive principal over all four high schools for two years. Prior to being an administrator, he was a STEM English teacher for years.

You gotta take the good lumps with the bad. He’s passionate. He listens. He’s visible (or was before executive principal became his role). He’s fiery when he needs to be & has no tolerance for physical violence. He works closely with his APs & exudes a lot of self confidence. He made it a point not to have an office that he hid in, supposedly visiting the campuses (King Street, Minnie Howard, Chance for Change, & Satellite) on a regular basis.
That said, the bad. He does have a buddy system of folks he prefers to work with. When one of them was caught in an illicit affair with a teacher (of which he was a direct supervisor!!!), Duncan was not dismayed from attempting to keep that admin in his role. When a position opened up that would have been a vertical move for that individual in their respective career ladder, someone notified the superintendent; only then was it stopped. (That relationship is still ongoing even though the admin in question is at a different school within the district). Duncan also does not discourage cliques. When he was a STEM teacher (in the STEM hallway), he spoke as if the students belonged to two different populations: STEM kids & the other Minnie kids. This also generally translates to staff, as well. Last year, he was part of the move to fire every single dean and assistant principal, regardless of years of service or levels of belovedness. All were forced to reapply for their jobs (that had been nationally advertised) with no internal process for those who had served the community for literal decades. Teachers who protested were put on leave. The administration shake up has contributed to the difficult year that we have just completed.
Duncan had wonderful ideas of his own about how things could improve. In many ways, he was greatly limited by the bureaucracy that ACPS is notorious for. I had hoped the next year would be far more stable than this year was. Please also know that he did not tell ACHS / ACPS staff that he was leaving. The rumor mill was left to notify us, followed by an impromptu Zoom meeting with the remaining administration the next day. He allowed staff to leave for the summer thinking he would be there when we returned. I will miss him as a person, but not as an administrator.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Of course there are roles in school systems other than equity. Is this a serious question or just trying to stir the pot?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

High schools are just about equity now, having high performing students means you gave them advantages that the other students did not have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Are all roles in schools now titled Equity? Duran was Chief Equity Officer at FCPS? Is there no directors of curriculum, instruction, academic standards??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

You forgot another cabinet member from Alexandria. Julie Crawford was on the Superintendent’s Leadership Team for equity in ACPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
People from Alexandria City High School don't have good things to say about him. I think APS just made a big mistake. At this point, every hire is someone from Alexandria City. They apparently can't look further than that for candidates.

Well, APS does have two “cabinet” members, Kim Graves and Gerald Mann, who both came from Alexandria. I heard that Dr. Mann even used to coteach with Mr. Balas a long time ago. You have the school board member from Alexandria who “helps” different schools, but I am still not sure what her position is. They are also hiring assistant principals from Alexandria and I have heard mixed reviews on their performance. I feel like APS is losing what made it so successful and the culture is changing, not for the better. Some of these new administrators are absolutely terrible.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh the game of checkers (more like chess) has continued! Room is being made for ACPS APs to help out their buddy at WL!

Is that unusual? Don’t new principals sometimes bring in their admin team as well? Perhaps that was in the contract?

It's not "unusual" or "usual". It is definitely shady- and also messes with people that worked hard for a school that was falling a part.

W-L is a solid school with a good reputation. It is not falling apart.

From the outside, it's not. But talk to anyone that worked there the past two years and it has been a mess.

Again I fail to see how a school with a popular admin supported by the community was falling apart. W-L was led for 20 years by Gregg Robertson and was followed by Mr Hall who previously worked at W-L.

A school falls apart when the community abandons it.

I didn't say it fell apart, I said it was falling apart. And we obviously have different definitions. Mine is based on commentary by staff, admin and consultants. Yours...appearances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh the game of checkers (more like chess) has continued! Room is being made for ACPS APs to help out their buddy at WL!

Is that unusual? Don’t new principals sometimes bring in their admin team as well? Perhaps that was in the contract?

It's not "unusual" or "usual". It is definitely shady- and also messes with people that worked hard for a school that was falling a part.

W-L is a solid school with a good reputation. It is not falling apart.

From the outside, it's not. But talk to anyone that worked there the past two years and it has been a mess.

Again I fail to see how a school with a popular admin supported by the community was falling apart. W-L was led for 20 years by Gregg Robertson and was followed by Mr Hall who previously worked at W-L.

A school falls apart when the community abandons it.

I didn't say it fell apart, I said it was falling apart. And we obviously have different definitions. Mine is based on commentary by staff, admin and consultants. Yours...appearances.

Whether or not there were serious issues that need to be resolved, it was not a pressing issue for the PTA, and students by and large have been satisfied with the school. That’s not “just appearances.”

That said, I hope the problems you allude to are worked out. Maybe an all new admin team from Alexandria is the solution. I don’t know.