JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Following the arrest of Jeffrey Clayton, Douglas Anderson alumni have come forward with claims of abuse and harassment going back years and the school board is set to vote Tuesday on a recommended $1.45 million settlement with three former students.
MORE: Former Douglas Anderson teacher sentenced to 10 years for crimes against 16-year-old student
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Former Douglas Anderson student Shyla Jenkins says Clayton was emotionally abusive when she was his student in the early 2000s. Since his arrest, she has been pushing for accountability and change at DCPS.
News4JAX asked her about her thoughts on the district’s plan, released on Thursday, to prevent what happened at Douglas Anderson from happening again anywhere in the district.
“I mean, my thought is it took 15 months for an eight-page document. And that seems a little subpar,” Jenkins said.
The plan lays out six overarching strategies, including improvements in policy, investigation, staff training, and awareness in students and parents of inappropriate adult behavior.
Jenkins worries about the plan’s lack of direction in relaying information to stakeholders when a teacher is accused of wrongdoing.
“It didn’t tackle the question that we’ve been asking, that I have been in front of the board for a year now saying, What about transparency when this happens? How are parents notified before the news gets a hold of it?” Jenkins said.
She’s also concerned about vague language in the proposal.
“This document in section one talks about, you know, how they’re going to be very strategic on how students and teachers interact, which is great. You know, I think part of the problem with Clayton was that, you know, he had social media access, texting access, that needs to be limited, obviously. But there’s a ruling in there that says, you know, you can’t be one-on-one or alone with a student. Well, that’s highly subjective. Because what does that mean? It’s not very clear that to examples given, or for health reasons, whether it was mental health or a sick child, but you have speech pathologists who need to work one on one with kids, you have testing opportunities, that may be a one-on-one opportunity with a teacher and a student in the classroom. How are they going to deal with that? And how are the teachers supposed to feel empowered by this?” she said.
The president of teachers union, Duval Teachers United, said she needs to discuss the proposal with the district and the union’s attorneys to learn more about what it would mean for teachers before commenting on it.
An attorney representing two former students included in the proposed settlement with the district said her clients are happy with the proposed plan.
Ultimately, the board will decide which policies will be adopted.