JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Multiple sources within the Duval County school district told News4JAX last week that Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene’s job could be under the microscope amid the ongoing investigation at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
Some have called for her resignation and rumors surfaced Wednesday of a possible early retirement.
We took those questions straight to Greene herself Wednesday, asking her if she plans to retire.
“Today, I’m still the superintendent, and I’m going to continue doing the things as superintendent I would normally do,” Greene said.
We pressed further, asking her to specifically respond to the rumors that she’s planning to resign or retire early because of what’s happening in the district with the DA investigation and a recent letter from the state saying DCPS failed to, in a timely manner, report 50 cases to the state’s Office of Professional Practices Services going back several years.
“People can expect to see me continue to fight for our students, continue to see me address whatever issues may arise,” Greene said. “I am in full support of this investigation because if there are things that are wrong in our system, we need to get it fixed, and I’m confident that we will resolve these issues and that the school district is going to be a better district for it.”
She said the focus right now is on testing, which is currently underway.
Over 100 supporters of Greene gathered Monday outside the Duval County Public Schools offices, asking board members to end the political chaos and keep Greene on as superintendent.
RELATED: Future of DCPS superintendent expected to be discussed at special school board meeting Wednesday
The conversation with Greene happened Wednesday at a special meeting of the School Board for members to discuss hiring a third-party law firm to deal with the Douglas Anderson situation.
A recent investigation of former DA arts teacher Jeffrey Clayton, who is charged with lewd behavior to a minor and other charges, preceded the removal of three other teachers from DA classrooms.
The firm will be tasked with looking into concerns that school leaders failed to address complaints about Clayton and other teachers.
Another meeting was set for Friday, for School Board members to have any of their concerns addressed regarding why multiple misconduct claims at DA were not submitted to the state office of professional standards.
Greene admitted that it’s never good when something is not working right in a school system, no matter where it is.
“But the thing that I love about this community is that we have a very strong resolve. We’re going to get through this, we’re going to fix whatever needs to be fixed and I’m going to be hopefully standing on those stages, welcoming our graduates to enter the world,” Greene said.
In it’s letter to Greene, the state threatened to slash her salary after it said she failed to report teacher misconduct.
RELATED: 4th Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher removed from the classroom
Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz wrote, “It is completely unacceptable that DCPS did not timely report these cases as required by Florida Statute.” He went on to say the conduct is “putting the health, safety, and welfare of students in jeopardy.”
Greene responded to the commissioner’s letter saying she was surprised and angered to find the district had 50 case files that had only been sent to the state recently.
I was surprised and angered to learn from Commissioner Diaz that our office of professional standards apparently was in possession of 50 delinquent case files, which they recently sent to the state office of professional practices.
Our most recent state operational audit reviewed the effectiveness of board policies and district procedures in investigations and reporting of ethical conduct of instructional personnel and school administrators. There were no audit findings on this topic in the January 2023 report. Therefore, until receiving the commissioner’s letter, I had no indication that we were out of compliance with any file.
I agree completely with the commissioner that delays in reporting cannot be tolerated. We will look into this matter further and take appropriate action following our review.
Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene