Parent tells Baldwin board of ‘serious safety failures’ at JCC after-school program; asks district to review space, staffing and contracts

A Baldwin parent told the Board of Education on March 19 that her son was the subject of a safety incident at the independent JCC after-school program that runs in district facilities and urged the district to strengthen supervision, evaluate leased spaces and add accountability measures to contracts.

“Baldwin students are in the care within the Baldwin buildings and within our Baldwin roof. Our children's safety should be a shared priority between the district and outside organizations operating in our schools,” Jasmine Shepherd told trustees in public comment. Shepherd said she would not describe the incident in public but offered to speak privately with the board and district staff.

Shepherd asked the district to ensure appropriate staff-to-student ratios in the JCC program, to evaluate the physical spaces used by vendors (particularly areas with direct street access), and to implement stronger monitoring and accountability measures to ensure outside providers adhere to safety protocols. She said she had been in contact with district staff for three weeks about the matter.

Board response: the board acknowledged her comment and said staff would follow up; no formal action or vote was recorded at the meeting on the matter. Shepherd said she would remain available to talk privately with district officials.

What the record shows: the comment was a public request for stronger safety oversight of an outside after-school provider operating under a lease or contract with the district; it did not include a formal motion or binding direction from the board. Trustees later proceeded with scheduled agenda business.