Jennings School District
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Updated – March 18, 2024
A 14-year-old student in the Jennings School District was found on the street suffering from a fatal stab wound.
On March 13, 2024, News Nation reported, “The incident occurred around 3 p.m. … School resource officers responded to the scene immediately and provided medical treatment for the stab wound. The [student] was transported to an area hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.”
News Nation said the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD) is continuing its investigation. As of publication, no suspects have been arrested.
Fox 2 Now stated, “As of now, the circumstances leading up to the stabbing remain unclear. However, [SLCPD] have indicated that the incident does not seem to be random. This has raised concerns among residents, as fights involving school-aged children in the area are reportedly not uncommon.”
The source pointed out, “The stabbing incident in Jennings comes just days after a separate violent altercation near Hazelwood East High School, where a brawl between two teenage girls left one student in critical condition and another in custody.”
Jennings School District is roughly 10 minutes from Hazelwood School District. The School Board Watchlist covered the Hazelwood incident here.
Jennings School District has not released an official statement on the stabbing incident.
The School Board Watchlist will continue monitoring issues in this district. Please send tips and information to [email protected].
Published – March 27, 2023
In 2015, Jennings Senior High School opened the “Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens” (SPOT) clinic. According to the website, The SPOT “welcomes ALL youth (13-24) and responds to their particular needs through a comprehensive model of health and social services.”
The medical director for the clinic, Dr. Sarah Garwood, also works as co-director of the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. A Washington University press release says in fall 2015, “Garwood began offering students with signed parental consent forms free and confidential medical services.”
It goes on to say these services include immunizations, sports physicals, routine annual exams, and treatment for chronic conditions. However, the article later admits that “students visiting the SPOT at Jennings also can seek reproductive health care, and girls can receive medication to regulate menstrual periods and reduce cramping.”
Emails discovered by Parents Defending Education (PDE) reveal that Dr. Garwood encouraged the Parkway School District not to disclose students’ chest-binding practices to parents. When school officials asked for advice on how to handle chest-binding, a staff member from the Transgender Center responded by quoting Dr. Garwood, saying:
“I would actually decline any requirements for disclosure by students or from school to parents.”
Similarly, when asked for advice on how to handle fifth graders deciding they are transgender, Dr. Garwood responded:
“The best we can do is affirm, validate and allow for the exploration, if in a few weeks or months, a student wants to go by their legal name and pronouns that match their sex assigned at birth, no harm was really done in affirming them before.”
As of February 2023, the Washington University Transgender Center is being investigated by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the office of Senator Josh Hawley. The investigations come after a former employee authored an article “blowing the whistle” on the “morally and medically appalling” actions happening at the center.
The full article can be read here.
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Jennings School District has 2,441 students enrolled across seven schools.
