Peggy Duncan knows what it’s like to be the new kid. As a military child, she moved in the middle of the school year from a small school in the Midwest to a public middle school in Southern California.
“It was not an easy transition,” she said. “Middle school can be a particularly difficult time for kids, and today they are navigating challenges that did not exist when I was their age.”
Mental health is just one of the things she aims to tackle if she wins a seat as trustee for the Coronado Unified School District. That’s in addition to championing good governance, navigating artificial intelligence and retaining excellent teachers.
According to Duncan, one in five adolescents has a diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition. She said that for some students, those struggles can be compounded by bullying, social isolation, family challenges, or simply the difficulty of finding where they belong.
“I think CUSD has already taken some positive steps, including eliminating cell phones in the middle school,” she said. “Supporting student mental health requires creating a school culture where kids feel connected, where adults notice when a student is struggling, and where students and families know where to turn for help.”
Duncan learned first-hand the need for strong mental health supports — along with the importance of early intervention, consistent discipline and accountability — in her role working as a judge in Juvenile Court.
“After seeing many young people come through the courtroom, certain patterns emerged,” she said. “The kids who repeatedly got into trouble often faced some combination of limited family support or structure, disengagement from school, negative peer influences, and behavioral or mental health challenges.”
That experience taught her that when a child is struggling in one area, it’s crucial to strengthen the supports around them.
“My experience in juvenile court reinforced something I strongly believe: helping children succeed requires both support and accountability,” said Duncan. “Our schools should provide both.”
Helping children is central to her role as president of FOCUS, a Coronado-based, all-volunteer nonprofit that partners with agencies throughout San Diego County to provide immediate, tangible support to children in need. The organization has about 225 active members whose fundraising provides very practical things: food, bedding, computers, school supplies and other essentials.
“By helping meet those fundamental needs, we give children a stronger foundation for success in the classroom and beyond,” said Duncan.
While Duncan and her husband, John — who currently serves as Mayor of Coronado — raised their four children on the island, their kids attended Francis Parker, a private school in San Diego.
The choice to send their kids to private school was a family decision. They decided that their oldest son, who Duncan describes as “an intellectual kid with a few quirks,” would be a better fit for private school instead of CMS, having previously attended Christ Church Day School. Duncan’s triplets — who she describes as very advanced readers with different learning and developmental needs — also went on to attend Parker after Christ Church.
But Duncan doesn’t see this as a negative.
“I think this experience gives me a useful perspective as a trustee,” said Duncan. “I understand some of the reasons families consider alternatives, and I would like CUSD to be a place where more Coronado families feel confident that their children’s individual needs can be met right here in our community.”
Duncan eventually took on a leadership role at Parker, and just finished serving a three-year term as school trustee.
“For three years, I gained hands-on experience in good governance — carefully evaluating policies, budgets, and competing priorities and making thoughtful, data-driven decisions,” said Duncan.
She says she’s particularly proud of Parker’s work to support and retain great teachers, and says the school was able to provide salary increases and expanded investments in teacher coaching, mentoring, professional development, and training.
She’s also proud of the private school’s approach to technology.
“Parker implemented a bell-to-bell cell phone ban across all grades three years before CUSD adopted its new policy,” said Duncan. “I served on a CUSD committee studying cell phone use last year, and I was able to share Parker’s experience — including what worked and what we learned from implementation.”
She says Parker addressed AI early and created a task force that brought together teachers, administrators, parents, and students to continually evaluate its impact.
“Artificial intelligence is evolving incredibly quickly, and it is already being used by students, teachers, and administrators,” she said. “It can be an extraordinary educational tool, but, as evidenced by the dire predictions in the news recently, it also presents real risks.”
Duncan has enrolled in the AI in Education certificate program at the University of San Diego, which she will complete before the end of this year.
When it comes to AI, she says CUSD needs to focus on a couple of areas: protecting learning and academic integrity, and student privacy and safety. And the effort should be ongoing.
“I don’t think CUSD should simply adopt a policy and consider the issue finished,” said Duncan. “AI will continue to change. We need knowledgeable governance, ongoing teacher training, student and parent education, and policies that protect fundamental learning while preparing our students to use a technology that will undoubtedly be part of their futures.”
In addition to AI, one of the district’s biggest challenges — and also one of the biggest opportunities — is the transition to Basic Aid funding. Duncan says CUSD needs to invest strategically in the things that have the greatest impact on students, such as getting and keeping the best teachers, and also installing air conditioning.
“We have people living in a space station,” Duncan sad. “We can do air conditioning.”
And yes, Duncan is the mayor’s wife. While it’s not illegal for the spouse of a current mayor to run for school board in the same city in California, some have raised concerns.
A complaint sent to the city’s attorney cited mentions of Duncan in her husband’s weekly column, “the Mayor’s Corner” in the Coronado Eagle & Journal. In each of the two columns cited in the complaint, Mayor Duncan referenced his wife in the context of events they attended or sponsored, but did not mention her campaign. No action has been taken since the complaint was sent in June.
“This complaint was bizarre, and frankly, difficult to take seriously,” said Duncan. “As a factual matter, John has never once mentioned my candidacy in any of his Mayor’s Corner columns, nor has he used the column to endorse me. That said, he is my husband, and of course he fully supports my candidacy.”
There are various collaborative partnerships between the district and the city, including joint-use facilities; recreation and youth programs; police, school safety and emergency preparedness; traffic, parking and student transportation; land use and development around schools; capital projects and infrastructure; and community use and rental of school property.
Woodrow Johnston, a political expert speaking on behalf of the American Association of Political Consultants, a multi-partisan organization, said he doesn’t see an ethical problem or conflict of interest when it comes to a married couple holding elected positions in the same city.
And Duncan says there is no conflict of interest. She says she and her husband fully understand that the City and the School District are separate public entities with separate responsibilities.
“As a trustee, my decisions will be based on what I believe is best for CUSD’s students, families, teachers, and taxpayers,” she said.
