JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The national nonprofit, One in Five Foundation for Kids, says it plans to mobilize into Duval County school neighborhoods after some reported gang activity.
According to a news release sent to News4JAX, the foundation formerly known as the Uvalde Foundation for Kids plans to deploy what it calls “STOP NOW citizen school patrol teams.”
Recommended Videos
The group said it initially plans to focus its patrols on Mandarin and Ed White High Schools. It said the patrol teams will operate in a regular rotation within the campus communities, but will not go on district properties unless expressly invited as part of a campus collaboration.
This plan comes after Duval County Public Schools confirmed that two students were arrested following a fight on the Mandarin High School campus last week. The arrest report said one student was enrolled at Mandarin High School, the other was a student at Ed White High School.
The report went on to say the fight was part of an ongoing dispute and was gang-related. According to the students' arrest reports from the Duval County School police, surveillance showed them “waiting to ambush the unidentified student outside classroom G113 before the bell rang.” The reports go on to say the students “jumped him, knocking him on the ground, and punched, kicked, and stomped him.”
The nonprofit said in its release: “Patrol members are trained to recognize and deescalate potential crisis situations, alert law enforcement of potential threats/incidents and are part of a nationwide effort to engage school community members in reducing student-related violence.”
News4JAX reached out to the nonprofit several times and requested more details about how it plans to deploy its teams and what that would look like for schools and students. Its only response was an automated reply saying operations were scaled back for the holidays and responses would be delayed until after the New Year.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said some elements of this could be a good thing.
“Any extra set of eyes around the school, I can’t characterize that as a bad thing,” Hackney said.
He continued, “When you see things like this happen, you have to wonder if this is more of a help or more of a hindrance. Some of the statements talked about notifying law enforcement and that’s a great thing. That’s what law enforcement would certainly want to have happen if they saw something suspicious. The fear would come in if it’s [about] becoming involved in something.”
Duval County School Board Member Melody Bolduc, who is also a Mandarin High School parent, weighed in on the matter.
“I haven’t heard of the organization, I’d be interested to see what they do,” Bolduc said. “What their plans are, and if it’s something that will help our students, I’d love more information.”
The Duval County school district released a statement to News4JAX, which said: “To our knowledge, this organization has not contacted the district. We work collaboratively with JSO on the issue of gangs in our community. Gang-related or not, violence on our campuses is not tolerated.”
Bolduc said the district’s first priority is always student safety, adding that the board will work together to help all students.
“To beef up security, to make sure that we are cognizant of and looking for ways to repair any holes in our security,” Bolduc said. “Hopefully, find a way to support our students who need it so badly.”
Following the incident at Mandarin, its principal released the following message to students and parents.
This is Principal Bravo. Unfortunately, I need to make you aware of the arrest of a Mandarin High School student yesterday, and the arrest of a student from another school today, following an unacceptable act of violence that took place on our campus earlier this week.
Both of these students are facing charges of aggravated battery following their violent confrontation with another Mandarin High School student. Along with criminal charges, we are pursuing strong school disciplinary action. Please note that per our student code of conduct, this level of violence involves a recommendation for expulsion. We are still working with police to investigate how this incident unfolded on our campus, but according to the police report, it appears to be related to an ongoing dispute between the individuals involved. While this incident did not involve the use of weapons, it was still appalling, and behavior of this nature should never be tolerated at our school or any school in the district. I am very disappointed to end this week with this news, but I felt it was important you were made aware and heard it directly from me. As always, don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me here at the school if you have any questions.
Principal Bravo of Mandarin High School
