The Duval County School Board voted Monday, Nov. 9, to fire a school principal after police found a loaded handgun in his vehicle on campus in September.

Michael Smith, principal of Baldwin Middle-Senior High School, was terminated at the board's meeting that night, as first reported by News4JAX. The same meeting included a proposed policy change that would allow legally possessed firearms secured inside vehicles on school property across the district, including at Beaches-area campuses.

What happened

Duval County School Police received an anonymous tip on Sept. 15 that a firearm was on school grounds at Baldwin. Chief of Police Jackson Short and another officer responded and met with Smith, who initially declined to consent to a vehicle search, according to his arrest report as described by News4JAX.

Officers deployed K-9 Maverick, who gave two positive indications on Smith's vehicle. Smith then agreed to the search. Officers found a Sig Sauer P226 .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in the center console, stored in a cloth holster with a loaded magazine containing 13 rounds of ammunition, according to News4JAX.

Police took the gun into evidence. Smith was issued a notice to appear on a second-degree misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm on school property and was reassigned to his home.

Criminal charge dropped, board still acted

Court records show the misdemeanor charge was dismissed Nov. 5 after Smith completed a pretrial intervention program, First Coast News reported via Yahoo News. The board voted to terminate him four days later.

DCPS rules prohibit anyone, including employees, from having a firearm in any vehicle parked on school grounds, whether the vehicle is locked or unlocked. District officials said there was no indication Smith intended to harm anyone, according to News4JAX.

Smith had been appointed principal after his predecessor was arrested in June on a charge of failing to report suspected child abuse. Records obtained by Jacksonville Today and shared with News4JAX detailed previous complaints involving Smith, including one substantiated complaint from 2016 and two others that were not substantiated. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said those prior allegations did not involve weapons possession and that the district had no information indicating a firearm could be in Smith's vehicle.

Bernier and two other district leaders will serve as the interim leadership team at Baldwin while the district considers a permanent replacement. Bernier also said the district is reviewing its hiring process.

Policy debate hits close to home

The board also considered a proposal to allow certain adults to keep legally possessed firearms secured inside vehicles parked on school property, as long as the firearms are not readily accessible. That policy would apply to every DCPS campus, including Beaches-area schools such as Fletcher High School and Fletcher Middle School.

Under the proposed language, administrators, employees, contractors and parents would be covered, News4JAX reported. The proposal would not apply to students. It could also cover school-sponsored activities such as football games.

Supporters of the proposal said teachers and staff should not lose the ability to protect themselves because they are at work. Board member Cindy Pearson pushed back.

"I'm really struggling to find a way to say that having more guns in cars or having guns in cars in parking lots, especially during sporting events, is going to create a safer atmosphere for our students and staff," Pearson said, according to News4JAX.

Board member Melody Bolduc questioned how often someone has left a school building, gone to a vehicle, retrieved a gun and then threatened someone.

Florida law already includes an exception allowing a firearm to remain in a vehicle on school property under certain circumstances, according to News4JAX. The law also allows school districts to adopt policies restricting that exception.

District officials said they plan to work with school police and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to examine incidents involving weapons over the past five years. The district is also expanding weapons detection systems to elementary schools under a $2 million contract approved in June.