The Duval Schools administration building. | Claire Heddles, Jacksonville Today
Published on June 27, 2024 at 7:06 pm
After a number of serious incidents involving inappropriate teacher conduct at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, the interim superintendent released a student safety plan Thursday intended to “prevent employee sexual misconduct impacting students.”
Interim Superintendent Dana Kriznar sent a message to families of the esteemed magnet school with an eight-page document detailing 20 strategies — some new and others already implemented — that she said the district will use at all schools.
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“While the plan emerged from the situation at Douglas Anderson, our concern is for the safety of students in all our schools,” wrote Kriznar, whose yearlong tenure as superintendent will end Tuesday with the swearing-in of incoming Superintendent Christopher Bernier.
A district spokesperson said feedback from a survey of Douglas Anderson families and staff conducted in May “helped shape the strategies in the plan,” and Bernier reviewed it also. District officials will bring the policy recommendations in the plan to the board for approval over the next few months.
The new plan comes as the district faces continued fallout from its mishandling of incidents at Douglas Anderson, including that of former music teacher Jeffrey Clayton, who was recently convicted of lewd conduct with a student and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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The School Board is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to approve settlement agreements totaling almost $1.5 million for three separate lawsuits related to Douglas Anderson.
State Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., along with many members of the Duval Schools community, criticized the district for taking too long to remove teachers from their classrooms after incidents of misconduct and for failing to report incidents of misconduct.
The plan asks the School Board to require that employees be removed from student contact after arrest or allegations of offenses including sexual misconduct, abuse, violence and the use or distribution of illegal drugs.
It also requires all district staff to report allegations and evidence of misconduct or face disciplinary action if they don’t. And, it builds some redundancy into the investigation process: A team of cabinet-level leaders will review all investigations and recommendations, and the superintendent will be required to personally sign off on all disciplinary decisions.
Additionally, it suggests the district conduct more robust employee background checks, maintain a comprehensive database of employees’ disciplinary activities and create a procedure that allows the superintendent to conduct a quarterly review of disciplinary actions.
It also recommends the board update its policies regarding the way teachers communicate with students to “unambiguously state” that texting and interacting on social media with students may be grounds for dismissal. Clayton infamously texted many students during his years as a Douglas Anderson teacher.
“What Clayton and others did should not happen in any school,” Kriznar wrote in her email to Douglas Anderson families. “Schools should be places of trust and of trustworthy adults. With the benefit of hindsight through ongoing investigations, we can see areas where better policy, procedures and systems will better protect students.”
