JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local coach is looking into legal options after flyers with accusatory and false information have been handed out to parents at the school where he works.
Action News Jax obtained flyers with a photo of Coach Dominic McKnight, who works for Enterprise Learning Academy, which detail a violent criminal history, which Action News Jax discovered was false.
Parents said an unidentified woman handed out the flyers Monday afternoon.
Public records show McKnight was arrested for aggravated battery in 2010 but plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of giving false information to police.
The flyer claims he is a convicted battery offender and had other felony charges in his past, which were untrue, according to Action News Jax's findings.
McKnight has consulted with Duval Teachers United, which released this statement:
"Unfortunately, the climate we live in now is different, and hardworking education professionals, who were respected pillars of the community, are now often subjected to false, malicious and, potentially, slanderous accusations. This only causes additional stress for the educator, the school and the community.
"In this situation, the lie promulgated in a flyer caused unnecessary fear for parents of students of Enterprise Learning Academy and disrupted the learning environment. Mr. McKnight wants to get back to doing the job that he loves, working with the students every day. Mr. McKnight is exploring all his legal options to address this issue.”
Parents said they were alarmed when first receiveing the flyers and wanted to know why the school did not provide answers.
“We called up here yesterday to get answers, and we were hung up on,” Jason Bludsworth said.
Jason and Mindy Blusdworth’s 5-year-old son is in McKnight’s gym class and said they are angry the school did not provide an explanation to ease the concerns of parents after learning about the flyers.
“We haven’t heard anything since, no letters, no nothing home,” Mindy Bludsworth said.
Action News Jax reached out to the Duval County School District for comment but haven’t heard back yet.
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