JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some Baldwin Middle-Senior High School parents tell Action News Jax they’re fed up with the scandals.
The school’s new principal, Michael Smith, is now under investigation after a loaded gun was found in his car on campus Tuesday afternoon.
Smith was only recently appointed after the school’s former principal was arrested after the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said he failed to report an alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationship.
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Smith has been temporarily banned from all Duval County Public School campuses after the gun was found in his center console following an anonymous tip.
“We want to be unequivocally clear: firearms on a school campus are dangerous and illegal,” said Tatyana Wimberly, DCPS chief of communications, during a press conference on Tuesday.
Smith’s been reassigned to his home while the school district and law enforcement conduct two separate investigations. It’s unclear if he’s continuing his duties from home or has been relieved of them amidst the investigations.
He’s been cited for a misdemeanor and must appear in court.
Smith was already facing scrutiny for newly surfaced misconduct complaints involving his alleged behavior with female students.
Two out of three complaints in the past decade were found to be unsubstantiated.
“It just seems like lately, if it’s not one thing, it’s another,” said one mother of two students at Baldwin, who asked not to be identified for fear of backlash. “We send our kids to school thinking that they’re going to be in a safe place, and it seems like it’s becoming the absolute opposite — I’m going to be pulling my kids out as soon as possible.”
A couple of other parents told Action News Jax they felt differently.
“Maybe he just honestly forgot that it was in his glove compartment,” said Demetra, who has a granddaughter attending Baldwin. “Maybe someone had a vengeance against him to actually call the school and say, ‘Hey, check his car.’”
Another mother, Crystal Cox, told us she felt indifferent about the discovery.
“I kind of feel like it’s kind of smart to have employees packing in the parking lot with all the chaos and the wickedness of this world,” Cox said. “At the end of the day, they’re gonna be there quicker than anybody else.”
During yesterday’s press conference, DCPS said, “When it’s appropriate, we’ll start looking for a permanent replacement.” We asked the district if this meant Smith would no longer be principal, or if there’s still a chance he’ll remain in his position, but they did not answer our question as the investigation is active.
“One of the things we believe we need to do is have a conversation with the Baldwin community about the hiring process before we go into a full-blown search to look for replacement,” DCPS told media during a press conference on Tuesday. “I think there’s some healing that has to be done here around the entire hiring process.”
We also asked DCPS what healing looks like, how they plan on bringing stability to Baldwin parents, students, teachers, and staff, and how the hiring process will look different moving forward to avoid further strain on the district’s relationship with the community.
They did not answer our specific questions, but shared that their primary focus “remains on communicating with and continuing to build trust among our Baldwin staff, families, students, and community.”
They also said they will communicate updates directly to Baldwin stakeholders.
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