{"id":398067,"date":"2026-09-12T18:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/398067\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T18:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:02:12","slug":"records-detail-past-complaints-involving-baldwin-high-principal-former-teacher-accused-in-child-abuse-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/398067\/","title":{"rendered":"Records detail past complaints involving Baldwin High principal, former teacher accused in child abuse case"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, FLa. \u2013 The recently appointed principal of Baldwin Middle-Senior High School previously faced multiple complaints alleging inappropriate conduct toward students, according to records obtained by Jacksonville Today<\/a> and shared with News4JAX.<\/p>\n

Michael Smith\u2019s first documented complaint dates to 2016, when he was an assistant principal at Atlantic Coast High School. A parent reported that Smith watched her daughter, told her she looked like his friend\u2019s wife and held a photograph next to the student\u2019s face. The parent also said Smith later followed the student to the library and used FaceTime to show her to his friend.<\/p>\n

Smith received a verbal reprimand, according to the records.<\/p>\n

RELATED | \u2018Deeply concerning\u2019: Baldwin Middle-Senior High teacher arrested, accused of a charge involving student<\/a><\/p>\n

In April 2022, a coach reported seeing Smith repeatedly speak with a student, hug her and call her \u201csweetheart.\u201d That complaint was not substantiated.<\/p>\n

Smith transferred to First Coast High School in 2023, records show.<\/p>\n

A parent later reported concerns through the Fortify Florida website, alleging Smith stroked a student\u2019s hair, stood too close to her and covered her eyes while asking her to guess who he was. The allegations were not substantiated, but Smith received coaching or counseling and was reassigned to another school.<\/p>\n

The records show that law enforcement, the Florida Department of Children and Families, district administration and professional standards were notified. They do not explain why the allegations were not substantiated.<\/p>\n

Smith was appointed principal at Baldwin after former Principal Michael Townsend was arrested in June and charged with failing to report possible misconduct involving social studies teacher James Mulvey. Mulvey was charged in May with offenses against a student by an authority figure.<\/p>\n

A substantiated complaint alleged that Mulvey exchanged emails with a student, including one that said, \u201cOK, honey, I love you.\u201d The complaint also said the student was frequently in Mulvey\u2019s classroom \u201ccuddling\u201d with him.<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Children and Families and law enforcement were notified, and Mulvey was not reappointed in June, according to the records.<\/p>\n

Other records detail reports that Mulvey held a student\u2019s hand and touched a student. Townsend warned Mulvey that holding the hand of a female student who was not a family member was inappropriate, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The records also say screenshots of emails between Mulvey and the student were later circulated around campus. Students reported feeling uncomfortable after witnessing contact between Mulvey and the student.<\/p>\n

Duval County Schools Superintendent Christopher Bernier said during a back-to-school interview that reporting inappropriate conduct is the first step toward creating a culture in which such behavior is not tolerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s substantiated, we take very serious and swift action,\u201d Bernier said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Duval County Public Schools said it understood concerns raised by the Baldwin community and emphasized a distinction between the allegations involving Smith and Townsend\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

Student safety is paramount, and safeguarding our students will always be a priority.<\/p>\n

Regarding current Baldwin Principal Dr. Michael Smith, our research indicates the hiring manager completed appropriate due diligence, including reviewing his background check, references, and personnel file. This included a review of three allegations between 2016 and 2024 that were investigated. Of those three investigations,\u00a0one from 2016 was substantiated. Discipline was issued for the substantiated 2016 incident in accordance with the district\u2019s progressive discipline plan. The remaining two were unsubstantiated. Note that video evidence reviewed during the 2024 investigation confirmed that finding.<\/p>\n

We fully understand the concerns raised by the Baldwin school community, and believe it is important to distinguish these allegations involving Principal Smith from the circumstances involving the former Baldwin Principal\u2019s removal and arrest. The latter incident included a violation of Florida\u2019s mandatory reporter law, which can never be tolerated. An investigation resulting in an unsubstantiated allegation is materially different from a statutory violation related to a failure to report.<\/p>\n

Duval County Public Schools<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, FLa. \u2013 The recently appointed principal of Baldwin Middle-Senior High School previously faced multiple complaints alleging inappropriate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[158616,48092,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-398067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-badlwin-middle-senior-high-school","tag-duval-county-schools","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}