JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New questions are being raised about an out-of-state organization that claims to send citizen patrols to help with security around two local high schools.
The One in Five Foundation For Kids has sent two releases in recent weeks, claiming it plans to help beef up security around local schools, but even with school starting back up Monday, it still seems no one knows who asked them to come or what exactly they will do when they arrive.
RELATED: Texas-based group deploying ‘uniformed patrols’ to Jacksonville to address gang violence at schools
In the release, The One in Five Foundation For Kids claims to have been established in response to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
The Texas-based organization indicated it plans to send more than a dozen emergency, uniformed “STOPNOW volunteers” to Ed White and Mandarin High Schools in response to recent gang-related incidents at the schools.
Local school board members, including Melody Bolduc, who represents Mandarin, have expressed concern about those incidents.
We spoke with her in December.
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“As a district I think we need to be looking into how we can help our students, who are involved, to get out. How we can protect our students, who are not involved but could be fallout,” said Bolduc.
According to the foundation its so-called “STOPNOW volunteers” will, “surround the campus community on a regular rotation”.
Action News Jax tracked down local news reports out of Nashville that raised questions about the group’s legitimacy, and whether it actually followed through with promises to deploy patrols in the city.
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In a statement, a DCPS spokesperson told us the district has had no contact with the group.
“Our School Police work collaboratively and directly with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on the issue of gangs in the community,” said the spokesperson in the statement.
It’s not clear when the patrols would begin here in Duval, and our efforts to reach the foundation over the past two weeks have only yielded an automated reply noting staffing would be adjusted for the holidays.
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