Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. | Claire Heddles, Jacksonville Today
Published on December 17, 2024 at 2:35 pm
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A Duval County School Board member is urging the state to reopen its investigation into a former teacher accused of sexual battery against a 14-year-old student, as Duval Schools administrators send records from the district’s investigation to the Florida Department of Education.
School Board member April Carney gave the update on former Douglas Anderson teacher Corey Thayer at a board workshop Tuesday.
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“This student has had to relive this situation with this teacher now as an adult,” Carney said. “There was a court reporter there. There are transcripts on file.”
Carney told the board that Duval Schools has now sent the transcript from its October 2023 interview to the state, following Jacksonville Today’s reporting this month on what the accuser said Thayer did to her a decade ago.
“Those transcripts have been sent over to the Department of Education,” Carney said. “It is my hope that FDOE’s office will reopen the case now that they have the information that was needed.”
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After Jacksonville Today first reported the specific allegations that led to Thayer’s removal from the classroom last year, Carney contacted Randy Kosec, the state Department of Education’s Office of Professional Practices chief.
“I had reached out to DOE after I saw that article because I believe there were some missing pieces to the puzzle in regards to Mr. Thayer’s settlement and what has happened with the investigation with FDOE,” Carney said.
Investigation closed
Thayer’s accuser — now an adult — recently settled a civil case against the district. The district did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in its handling of her case. But, Carney said Tuesday that the woman expected Thayer’s teaching certificate to be revoked as part of the settlement. The state’s online database shows that it is still active.
“One of the stipulations in that settlement was that not only was Mr. Thayer going to resign from the district, he was also going to have his teaching certificate revoked,” Carney said. “So I had some questions for DOE as to why that (hadn’t) happened.”
Kosec told Carney that his office had closed its investigation because the victim had not been made available to speak with him.
However, emails reviewed by Jacksonville Today contradict that claim. The records, provided with the accuser’s permission by her mother, show that her attorney sent the district’s interview transcript to Kosec about a year ago.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the DOE told Jacksonville Today they had received the documentation from Duval Schools but “cannot confirm or deny that an investigation is ongoing.”
