JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A boarded-up elementary school, a history of toxic contamination, and decades of neighborhood disinvestment have left their mark on Jacksonville’s Moncrief community.
Now, research examining childhood lead exposure and firearm violence is raising new questions about the conditions children grow up in — and how the effects of historical decisions may continue to shape communities today.
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The former Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School sits on the site of Brown’s Dump, a former landfill filled with toxic incinerator ash. A sign outside the school reads, “Closed for environmental investigation. Do not enter.”
Flies buzz through the weeds surrounding the property.
For some residents, the conditions are a familiar part of life in Moncrief.
“I’ve lived here my whole life. It’s not no problem to me. I’m used to it because I grew up in that type of environment,” one resident said.
Another resident pointed to race as part of the neighborhood’s history.
“If it wasn’t brown skinned, or Black, we would have better,” the resident said.
The school was named for Mary McLeod Bethune, the educator and civil rights activist who fought for equal access to education.
It is located in ZIP code 32209, one of three Jacksonville ZIP codes identified in a August Action News Jax investigation conducted with KFF Health News and The Trace. The investigation found the three ZIP codes ranked among the 10 highest in Florida for gunshot injuries involving children younger than 18.
The analysis was based on hospital claims data from 2018 through 2024.
ZIP code 32209 recorded 79 child gunshot injuries, the highest raw total among the three Jacksonville ZIP codes highlighted in the investigation.
“They don’t care about us, from the looks of it, because look around,” one resident said.
Another described seeing boarded-up homes, abandoned-looking properties, and trash throughout the neighborhood.
“Everything you pass by is boarded up or looks abandoned. Trash everywhere. Especially where we stay. You see trash by the sides of the woods,” the resident said.
A history of redlining
A 1936 Jacksonville zoning map classified Moncrief among areas considered hazardous, part of a broader history of redlining that disadvantaged Black communities.
Korey O’Neal, senior pastor of New Beginnings Outreach Ministries, works to bring change to communities like Moncrief. He said redlining helped determine which neighborhoods received public investment.
“The government, they redlined the communities based on communities that were not profitable to your state or your community, and they redline them. And so when they redline them, they did not receive their fair share of government funds,” O’Neal said.
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He said the former Bethune school reflects the consequences of decades of neglect.
“You know you have what we see here, abandoned schools. A school that’s set on a contaminated landfill. That contamination seeks into the community, health problems for the community,” O’Neal said.
The school’s history is part of a broader conversation about environmental conditions, community investment and the risks children may face as they grow up.
Researchers examine the association between lead exposure and gun violence
Lindsay Emer, a research scientist and lead author of a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said childhood lead exposure has long been recognized as harmful to brain development.
“Lead, we’ve known for a very long time, that lead is poisonous to the brain of children and so what we see often is it when a child is exposed to lead some of the parts of the brain that it affects leads to increased aggression, lower IQ, and impulsivity and so those three factors are also meaning they predict, they can be predictors of later criminal behavior,” Emer said.
Her study examined people who later became victims or perpetrators of firearm violence and found a pattern involving elevated childhood blood lead levels.
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“When we looked at the folks who then later, either perpetrator or a victim of gun violence, 97% of perpetrators and 95% of victims had an elevated lead level at least one time before six years old,” Emer said.
The findings show an association between childhood lead exposure and later firearm violence. They do not establish that lead exposure alone causes someone to commit or experience gun violence.
Still, the research raises questions about the potential long-term effects of environmental exposure and the conditions in which children grow up.
For O’Neal, access to safe places for young people is another part of the conversation.
“There’s no safe place for them to play. The parks are overlooked. And that plays a lot when it comes to teens’ self-esteem. When they don’t have anything to do, it gives them a lot of time on their hand to get into trouble,” he said.
Councilwoman says cleanup is progress, but work remains
Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, who represents District 10, said the city and its federal partners have made progress on environmental remediation at the former Bethune property and other affected areas.
In a statement to Action News Jax, Pittman said that progress should be acknowledged but does not resolve the broader effects of decades of neighborhood disinvestment.
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“The City and its federal partners have undertaken significant environmental remediation, and that progress should be recognized and acknowledged. We have made progress, but the work is not finished. Unfortunately, remediation of contaminated soil does not, by itself, repair generations of neighborhood disinvestment,” Pittman said.
Pittman said residents need updates on the environmental status of the former school property, including what cleanup has been completed, what remains and what options may exist for safe future use or redevelopment.
She also called for continued investment in public health, education, housing, workforce opportunities, parks, behavioral-health services and programs for young people.
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Across Jacksonville, other historically underserved communities are facing their own fights over proposed developments and neighborhood conditions.
In Brentwood, residents are fighting a proposed morgue near an elementary school. City Council members also have not ruled out a new jail in historically Black or redlined neighborhoods.
For Moncrief residents, the question is not only how the city addresses the environmental legacy of Brown’s Dump, but whether the community will see lasting change.
Full statement from Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman
Statement from Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, District 10 – October 5, 2026
1. What is your response to the findings that connect Jacksonville’s history of redlining and environmental contamination to the high rates of childhood gun violence we’re seeing today?
Jacksonville’s history of redlining, neighborhood disinvestment, and environmental contamination deserves serious examination. The documented history of Brown’s Dump is especially troubling. A community should never have to carry an unequal environmental burden simply because of where they live, their race, or their economic circumstances.
The research you shared and are reporting raises important questions about the cumulative effects that decades of environmental exposure, concentrated poverty, limited economic opportunity, and neighborhood disinvestment can have on children, families, and entire communities. At the same time, I believe we should be careful about attributing today’s youth gun violence to any single cause. Gun violence is a complex public-health and public-safety issue involving multiple factors. If research demonstrates an association between historical redlining, environmental exposure, and childhood firearm injuries, we should take those findings seriously, examine the underlying data, and use that information to help shape effective policy. The history matters, but our responsibility today is to determine what we are going to do about the conditions that continue to affect our youth and families.
2. Do you believe the City has done enough to address the long-term health and economic impacts of decisions made decades ago in this community? Why or why not?
The City and its federal partners have undertaken significant environmental remediation, and that progress should be recognized and acknowledged. We have made progress, but the work is not finished. Unfortunately, remediation of contaminated soil does not, by itself, repair generations of neighborhood disinvestment. The larger question is whether we have made sustained investments in the people, neighborhoods, housing, public health, infrastructure, education, economic development, workforce opportunities, parks and recreation, behavioral-health services and safe places for children and families.
As an elected representative, I believe government has a responsibility not only to address environmental hazards but also to ensure that historically underserved neighborhoods receive the investments where promises has been broken and opportunities where they deserve to thrive. Environmental justice is about what happens after the contamination is addressed and what comes next.
3. What specific actions do you believe the City should take now to address the conditions in this neighborhood and reduce youth gun violence?
I believe the City should provide access to residents with an update regarding the environmental status of the former Bethune property including what remediation has been completed, what remains, and what opportunities exist for the safe future use or redevelopment of the property.
When it comes to youth gun violence, we cannot wait until a child picks up a gun to begin intervening. Prevention has to start much earlier. At the same time, reducing youth gun violence requires us to invest upstream, before a young person ever picks up a firearm. That means expanding innovated programing, mentoring, after-school and summer programs (year-round), employment and job-training opportunities, behavioral-health and trauma services, safe recreational spaces, family support and neighborhood-based violence intervention. Together as a community, we must continue addressing blight, vacant properties, housing conditions, infrastructure and economic opportunity while working with law enforcement and community partners to reduce access to illegal firearms and hold accountable those who put guns into the hands of children.
My commitment is to continue advocating for communities that have historically been underserved and to make certain that every youth and family in Jacksonville, with my City Council colleagues, regardless of ZIP code, race, or neighborhood, has the opportunity to grow up in a healthy environment. History can help explain how we got here, but our actions will determine history for our next generation. This should not only be a conversation about the history of Brown’s Dump. It should be a conversation about how we prepare.
Thank you!
Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, District 10, Jacksonville City Council
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