JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher Jeffrey Clayton pleaded guilty Wednesday to misconduct with a student that could put him behind bars and that sparked a review of years of complaints about faculty behavior at the esteemed Duval County high school.
Jeffrey Clayton, 66, was arrested in March 2023 after the 16-year-old girl showed police records of about 1,700 texts between the two — which a police affidavit said mentioned “your steamy, honey sweet lips” — over eight months.
Clayton pleaded guilty to all four criminal counts he faced and is scheduled for sentencing June 14. The counts could together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars, and prosecutors said Wednesday that state sentencing guidelines prescribe a term of about 34 months.
Prosecutors charged Clayton with two second-degree felonies (each punishable by 15 years in prison) based on a statute that forbids teachers engaging in sexual conduct with students as well as seeking or engaging in a romantic relationship with a student.
He was also charged with lewd or lascivious touching of a 16- or 17-year-old and using a portable phone to carry out the illegal actions. Both are third-degree felonies carrying terms of up to five years behind bars.
Clayton quickly retired but attention on the arrest triggered waves of reactions by Douglas Anderson alumni and students’ parents who said they had complained before about faculty misconduct but the problem hadn't been addressed.
School administrators retained a law firm last spring to perform an outside review of issues surrounding teacher conduct and the school system’s handling of complaints.
School officials have worked to rebuild community trust damaged by Clayton’s arrest and the stories of earlier complaints, with School Board member Lori Hershey last year telling an audience at a board meeting that “we are not leaving any stone unturned in this matter.”
School Board Chair Darryl Willie told an audience at a routine board meeting this month described the investigation as ongoing.
Board members were briefed individually on the review and "have been advised to not share any information from that briefing with the public at this time because of ongoing litigation," Willie said this month. But he added that "as part of that briefing we did hear about some suggestions on changes and improvements and so the district admin as well as OGC [Office of General Counsel] are working together to review and implement those appropriate changes."
In addition to his prosecution and the school district review, Clayton’s arrest was followed by a federal lawsuit in November by another former student.
That former student, now an adult, says in her suit against the district — not Clayton — that he had “sexually harassed, degraded and touched her body inappropriately” during school hours. The plaintiff said she and other students had written statements in 2019 to help a school district employee investigating complaints about Clayton but he had been allowed to return to his role at Douglas Anderson.
The lawsuit is still pending.
The suit argued that the school district’s lack of action about the complaint “created an ongoing abusive educational environment.” The school district hasn't filed a response yet to the lawsuit.
