JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County School Board members are scheduled to vote Tuesday on paying $1.45 million to settle three legal complaints about teacher misconduct at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
The complaints all apparently involved actions of former teacher Jeffrey Clayton, sentenced last month to 10 years in prison, although the people bringing complaints were only identified by initials and two hadn’t filed lawsuits yet.
The sole case listed in material circulated to board members was a federal lawsuit filed by a former Douglas Anderson musical theater student who said Clayton, who taught chorus and was involved in theater productions, “sexually harassed, degraded and touched her body inappropriately.”
The other settlements involve a person with the same initials as the teenage girl with whom Clayton admitted breaking a state law forbidding teachers from having sexual conduct with students or seeking or engaging in romantic relationships; and a person whose initials match a Douglas Anderson graduate who testified at Clayton’s sentencing that her exposure to the teacher left her emotionally damaged.
Like in the settlement material, neither was identified by name at the sentencing.
Clayton, who was arrested at school in March 2023, was the most widely publicized of several teachers at the highly regarded magnet high school who faced discipline or reviews for their conduct.
Outgoing Superintendent Dana Kriznar referenced Clayton in a message to Douglas Anderson families last week saying she was “deeply sorry that we did not better protect our students” as she outlined a plan for improving safeguards against faculty misconduct.
This story was first published by The Florida Times-Union.
