{"id":122670,"date":"2025-07-27T21:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/2025\/07\/27\/investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest-jacksonville-today\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T21:59:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:59:25","slug":"investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest-jacksonville-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/2025\/07\/27\/investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest-jacksonville-today\/","title":{"rendered":"INVESTIGATION | Douglas Anderson teacher received mostly \u2018unofficial\u2019 discipline before arrest | Jacksonville Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8864793242727901\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"9c23b4e2-63e5-4f98-bf19-6b2f5676115e\"><em>This June marked one year since the sentencing of Jeffrey Clayton, the former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Vocal Music Department director who\u2019s serving a decade in prison for inappropriately touching and kissing a student.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dd400400-4b8e-460f-a57e-d361f8b71136\"><em>This story is the first in a series, The Show Must Go On, examining who knew what, when, and what action they took\u00a0when confronted with reports of misconduct by Clayton \u2014 and other teachers at the school before and after him. It also explores the answers to \u201cWhy Douglas Anderson?\u201d and \u201cHow do we know this won\u2019t happen again?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1d4a0ad7-caee-4c60-a1c0-93ff080a3279\"><em>The series is based on tens of thousands of pages of public records and historical documents, as well as dozens of interviews with current and former Douglas Anderson students, teachers, administrators and district officials.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- This site is converting visitors into subscribers and customers with OptinMonster - https:\/\/app.optinmonster.com :: Campaign Title: 2025 Email Registration Wall Message --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/ OptinMonster --><\/p>\n<hr data-beyondwords-marker=\"7362d673-f4d5-4b7c-827c-bf0dff8da53f\" class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bffadaea-972c-4547-80fd-2c5dd737bf9d\">Jeffrey Clayton was arrested in front of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts on a Wednesday.\u00a0 March 22, 2023.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d07244db-7891-465b-babd-8d6389139d51\">The evening before, a Duval County School Police detective had recorded a call between the 65-year-old venerated vocal veteran and his 16-year-old student.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"76594886-eb47-4447-9d4d-dc914cdefa16\">\u201cI can feel my hands on the skin on your hip, and you said you like it,\u201d Clayton said on the call. \u201cI just want to kiss you again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"75898819-c96f-4365-8635-3bb9937c7d13\">The Friday before,\u00a0the girl\u2019s father had driven her to campus for a singing lesson with Clayton, a 23-year warhorse of the D.A. faculty. It was spring break, but she was prepping for a performance. As she sat on the couch in his office, Clayton\u2019s arrest warrant said, the teacher professed his feelings for her. He called them \u201cintoxicating.\u201d He touched her thighs. He kissed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b7c7d752-379e-47a5-ad85-4e4e5d7cd910\">Afterward, she confided in a friend, who told her parents, who called the authorities.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6e91199c-6305-4749-85dc-5c41f9809ddd\">In her case \u2014 first reported to law enforcement outside Duval County \u2014 the response was swift. Clayton was arrested within days and resigned before the School Board could vote on his termination. He later pleaded guilty to lewd conduct with a minor and other charges.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e813c63f-9ea6-4718-a0c1-0994337f2766\">For years prior, records and interviews confirm, school- and district-level administrators knew\u00a0 there had been complaints regarding Clayton\u2019s conduct \u2014 including some that involved\u00a0 inappropriately touching students. Though a handful of incidents resulted in district-level investigations, a system of unofficial discipline seemed to obscure the extent of the misconduct accusations against Clayton.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a8a708b4-a167-4555-8540-17dc0df8d6bc\">A Duval Schools spokesperson tells<em> Jacksonville Today<\/em> the district has, since Clayton\u2019s arrest, \u201csignificantly expanded\u201d the training required of staff. District policy now \u201cclearly stipulates disciplinary action for an employee who fails to report an allegation of this nature.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1cb86698-ee9d-452b-a4ad-0616a050cf8c\"><em>Jacksonville Today <\/em>sent Clayton a letter in prison, but he did not respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"e072269a-5d1f-4c6d-91ea-6b04e2671417\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018One of the best\u2019<\/h3>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"5dc66ecc-df7c-44f1-85d5-21671430a697\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Seen here in the 2001 Douglas Anderson yearbook, Jeffrey Clayton taught at the district\u2019s flagship arts magnet school for more than 20 years. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6371e7d3-ab29-4fae-988c-914f4b27a321\">Clayton began his Douglas Anderson career in the summer of 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6f21fbfa-02ff-4b73-9ca9-879410859d59\">Before that, he taught at a Texas community college for seven years (the school doesn\u2019t have his employee records anymore) and for two at a public middle school in Wakulla County, Florida. (That district says \u201cno disciplinary records or anything else out of the ordinary\u201d are in its files.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c7db9172-059e-440e-95be-a093b4d79b1d\">At the end of Clayton\u2019s first school year in Jacksonville, then-Douglas Anderson Principal Jackie Cornelius wrote in his evaluation:<em> \u201c<\/em>As a first year teacher and department chair at a demanding school, Mr. Clayton has adjusted well. I look forward to his input in making our vocal program one of the best nationally. His cooperation and dedication are valued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"44b78211-fc13-4c85-ad4e-9c29b927f4ee\">Cornelius also lauded Clayton for establishing a \u201ccomfortable nurturing environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"23ea42aa-2765-4579-9ab9-cbd3a8847ca9\">Over the course of his career, Clayton lived up to the principal\u2019s hope for accolades: The school won a handful of GRAMMY Signature Schools grants \u2014\u00a0including the GRAMMY Foundation\u2019s highest national school award, twice.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"9e6c2704-b4c5-44c3-97d2-fa1a7bc5cc49\">As for \u201ccomfortable\u201d and \u201cnurturing\u201d? Many former students and colleagues tell a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"54a9c0eb-2ea2-4ce5-8817-1439fbe068da\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018He ruled with fear\u2019\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"cbf90361-a878-4cc7-9cba-d4f61fed6307\">Some feared being on the receiving end of one of Clayton\u2019s angry outbursts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"180858a7-e1cc-4e2e-8e80-6ff7261de1d1\">\u201cThere would be times in our rehearsal sessions where he would get upset,\u201d says Shyla Jenkins, a junior vocal major when Clayton arrived. \u201cHe would slam the piano and \u2014 not just the piano, but the piano lid \u2014 and scream at us and then go into his office and slam the door, and we\u2019d be sitting there for 30 minutes, sometimes an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"571a44a2-a43e-44db-937a-ae11424e1e47\">Jenkins says she \u201cnaively\u201d thought Clayton clashed with her cohort because he hadn\u2019t been there to select them when they auditioned for Duval\u2019s flagship arts school. She expected his behavior to improve as his chosen students arrived, but instead his outbursts continued, she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"88a6172d-d3fd-4344-a672-ff8e1137200a\">\u201cThat fear \u2014 he ruled with fear \u2014 was allowed to be the culture,\u201d says Jenkins, who spent some time as Clayton\u2019s student assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"1f809a5a-b0bd-4cb7-8915-4e5d36d3b564\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"938c84\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #938c84;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98475 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1-1650x1238.jpg 1650w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/da-hammond-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[38,38]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Douglas Anderson vocal students rehearse under the guidance of current Vocal Department Chair Holly Hammond (at the piano) on March 14, 2025. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"44fcf03e-b548-4545-a5a8-086d83d66697\">A decade later, former student Karyssa Nevins says she also experienced Clayton\u2019s anger \u2014 with an added element.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"567ab1bc-7fc5-45bb-a235-230fb95991fc\">\u201cOf course, the girls talked like, \u2018Oh, Creepy Clayton\u2026Creepy Clayton back at it again,\u2019\u201d Nevins recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a3e871c2-77e1-4ab2-9e51-ff7cd8f58565\">Interviews with and statements from more than a dozen of Clayton\u2019s former colleagues and students \u2014\u00a0male and female \u2014\u00a0include recollections of his habit of putting his hands on or uncomfortably near girls\u2019 breasts while demonstrating breathing techniques.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"89a2a406-9324-4c16-a3ca-e45bf0298b06\">\u201cAt first, I was one of his \u2018favorites,\u2019 and it was very uncomfortable,\u201d Nevins says, \u201cputting his hands in between my breasts and telling me how to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"50b67084-68b8-40d9-8948-222731e37a87\"><em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> spoke with four professional vocal instructors who independently said touching students that way during breath instruction is not recommended. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nats.org\/code-of-ethics.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Association of Teachers of Singing<\/a> code of ethics stipulates teachers should maintain appropriate boundaries in contact with students, including avoiding \u201cinsinuations that could be construed as sexual advances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"7ef5b343-083c-4b71-a5bf-d2fad0522db5\">One male alum, who has retained counsel to bring a lawsuit against the district over alleged sexual misconduct by two other Douglas Anderson teachers, says, \u201cI remember how [Clayton] would massage my chest beforehand, but he would only work on <em>my<\/em> diaphragm for 10 seconds, but then he would go over to [a female student], and he would do the same exact thing but it would take him two or three minutes\u2026there\u2019s no reason that he needed to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b17eb867-4c4c-4dc2-80a9-fcfea6612134\">Nevins, who graduated in 2012, says \u201ceveryone knew\u201d students had reported Clayton\u2019s \u201ccreepy\u201d behavior to Cornelius, but nothing changed. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"56a354fe-0133-4e41-8840-761f63df790f\">\u201cBecause of what? Who knows?\u201d Nevins said. \u201cThere was lots of rumors \u2014 of course it was all speculation \u2014 but the only thing that wasn\u2019t speculation was the fact that reports were being made and nothing was being done about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1b890faa-0e5c-4478-981c-650903f8a2c2\">Five people tell <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> they or a trusted adult reported Clayton to school or district officials for inappropriately touching students during breathing exercises. A parent volunteer, who asked not to be identified, also wrote the district a 2010 letter, reviewed by <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>, saying, among other allegations, that she witnessed Clayton tell students they looked \u201csexy\u201d and he commented to her that a student looked \u201chot in her dress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1b22e9f6-bc40-4548-9f20-9236d12c30e3\">Though the kind of touching Clayton allegedly engaged in was never acceptable under district policy or state law, Duval Schools recently changed its policies to explicitly restrict physical contact between teachers and students. Teachers are now generally discouraged from anything beyond <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duvalschools.org\/page\/know-the-line\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">high-fives, handshakes or fist bumps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"d1a78fc2-ec6c-45be-b203-3ab35dd9ce2c\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Greater professional distance\u2019<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"97021d21-061c-4ed9-8f28-c29017f542f5\">After nearly a decade, Cornelius\u2019s 2009 evaluation of Clayton said he had \u201cdramatically increased the number of students accepted into top vocal performance universities\u201d \u2014 but also, \u201cSuggest Mr. Clayton maintain a greater professional distance with students and parents in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"779d8e7b-d883-402b-9829-ad95c365c5a9\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"e9e9e9\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9e9e9;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"443\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009-768x340.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009-542x240.jpg 542w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-eval2009-100x44.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1e4f93be-094c-4c54-8f91-e2d206354608\">In her 2011 evaluation, Cornelius noted Clayton needed improvement in two areas: \u201cshows sensitivity to students by maintaining a positive classroom environment\u201d and \u201cdemonstrates professional behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"67901bb9-52e9-48df-83e0-5e07093de4da\">Cornelius, who retired from Duval Schools in April 2017, declined an interview with <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>. She remains involved with Douglas Anderson as executive director of the independent D.A. Foundation, which provides financial support to the school, including financing the construction of a new amphitheater.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"6e5b5e1b-2b6d-4eb8-addf-f0be12738bf3\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"666a6c\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #666a6c;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/amp-1-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The D.A. Foundation helped finance the construction of a new amphitheater at Douglas Anderson, built in the spring of 2025. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"ff873140-1fd8-454a-872b-9474e9e05a26\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coworkers\u2019 concerns<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8f882902-3d7f-4033-9e4c-ccf90f785355\">Becky Loar\u2019s name still brings a smile to many alums\u2019 faces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4ef88ca5-c4c6-4d8b-bb6c-b80970e13257\">The former Douglas Anderson vocal teacher, a soprano opera singer whose resume includes performances with the New York Philharmonic and at Carnegie Hall, worked alongside Clayton from 2007 to 2012. She\u2019s preparing to file a lawsuit against the school district over Clayton\u2019s behavior toward her, which she says resulted in a hostile work environment, a pre-suit notice shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6bc825eb-138a-450d-916a-f4d69095123b\">Loar tells <em>Jacksonville Today <\/em>she saw firsthand the kinds of too-close-for-comfort interactions that student after student describe in interviews. She says Clayton once walked into her office while she was coaching a student and came up behind the girl and pressed his body into hers. Loar says she intervened quickly. On another occasion, Loar walked in on Clayton with a hand on a female student\u2019s chest while working on breathing exercises. Again, she intervened.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"93e91723-d1ab-4e63-aaa9-adba637373f4\">Loar says she was one of at least five teachers who reported Clayton to administrators for touching students unnecessarily or inappropriately or for excessive anger. <em>Jacksonville Today <\/em>was able to verify four of the reporters through records and interviews, as well as another who was not in Loar\u2019s tally.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"37821b43-727b-4270-b2fc-c40623436b6e\">None of Loar\u2019s complaints \u2014 about Clayton\u2019s\u00a0 inappropriately touching students or his treatment of her \u2014 appear among the documents in his official personnel file, provided to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> by the school district under a public records request<em>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"85561218-e546-42d2-9382-854fafc2f136\">\u201cI was there two more years with no acknowledgement of anything, nothing changing, no dealing with his behavior \u2014 even though I was told multiple times by Jackie (Cornelius), \u2018This is it. I\u2019m done with him. I\u2019m firing him today,\u2019\u201d Loar says. \u201c\u2029And then nothing would be done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"3bd1f24e-728c-4955-826b-bbf669e15484\">Cornelius did not respond to a list of questions about what <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> learned from interviews, including this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"2f61066f-f264-458f-bc74-e3bea38fa7bc\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"444331\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #444331;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"751\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98477 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/loar-becky-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[62,34]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Becky Loar worked as a vocal teacher at Douglas Anderson alongside Jeffrey Clayton from 2007 to 2012. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"96e85f7a-3d8a-43b3-b88e-ad61ea1ff63d\">In 2011, Loar raised her concerns to an investigator in the school district\u2019s Office of Professional Standards. She says she was told to document them in writing and give them to Cornelius to forward back up to the district.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"206d38fd-8fe7-4c63-a49d-6d2cf57b51b2\">Text messages that spring between Loar and a school administrator, reviewed by <em>Jacksonville Today,<\/em> say Cornelius had reviewed the letter Loar wrote documenting her concerns. It\u2019s unclear whether the principal forwarded it along, though; it is also not among the documents in Clayton\u2019s official file.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"f76a8d03-0755-4d88-8358-497e23350551\">About six months after she left Douglas Anderson in 2012, Loar again documented her concerns in writing and met with a different district staffer amid a 2013 investigation that included Clayton\u2019s temporary removal from the classroom \u2014 though official records of that investigation don\u2019t include her letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"93bdce2c-8615-4441-bc85-c82b22bc3c52\">Dina Barone, the vocal teacher who replaced Loar at D.A. in 2012, says she didn\u2019t personally see Clayton inappropriately touch anyone during breathing exercises, but Clayton himself talked about his heavy hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5eeb961b-8906-4f3e-9515-3d5e9a294dc5\">\u201cHe liked to bring it up: \u2018Well, you know, I have to put my hands on the students; that\u2019s how you teach.\u2019 In hindsight, it was more about him defending it,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0613240e-48da-4043-9908-98f320dd5d12\">Barone did witness Clayton\u2019s anger firsthand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"3efa547a-69f6-44b8-b083-11a04697c747\">\u201cHe treated students horribly,\u201d she says. \u201cI mean, he wasn\u2019t\u2026he was just not a good teacher, not a nice person, to be frank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"9fc2b453-59e2-4b66-ae3e-7c76b93179e9\">She says students \u2014\u00a0girls and boys \u2014 came to her complaining about Clayton, and she reported him to Cornelius many times, over years, but \u201cnothing was ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"4e8ae26d-303e-4966-b48c-b3e67540b22c\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"a3998c\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a3998c;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98478 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-db-2015-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[45,58]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The 2015 Douglas Anderson yearbook shows Jeffrey Clayton and Dina Barone, colleagues in the vocal department. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a9911100-04c1-4c58-926a-f0ed9a9a031c\">A male teacher who also worked with Clayton tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> Clayton was \u201cvery handsy\u201d with students during vocal instruction sessions \u2014\u00a0and was \u201coverly suggestive\u201d that he, too, should touch students more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b74ff206-960d-448b-a95b-b46c8306215f\">The former teacher says he reported Clayton to administrators for behaviors that showed a \u201clack of professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"888b2233-fa3e-47e2-b94f-1061849c3de1\">\u201cIf some of those things would have been put in his file as warnings or write-ups, any employer or boss would have had the right to say, \u2018Hey, we warned you about this three times. This is your last warning and if you do it again you\u2019re gone,\u2019\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"1add6f2b-7e09-4c35-a04d-9f819b8dffee\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Handled unofficially\u2019?<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bcf308ad-5acd-4c86-82e4-fd4694cfea9c\">Over more than two decades at Douglas Anderson, Clayton accumulated five official reprimands \u2014 two verbal and three written.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4dd1a088-2dbb-4fee-9129-d8db9254fb20\">But a handwritten note likely scrawled by a district-level administrator, in the personnel file of a different Douglas Anderson teacher who was accused of misconduct, associates Clayton with \u201c17 incidents\u201d and \u201c16 verbals\u201d in just over a decade at the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"014863ac-4bad-43fb-92be-c08cf9b718a4\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"e9e9e9\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9e9e9;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"588\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents-768x452.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents-408x240.jpg 408w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-17incidents-100x59.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8667b719-a33e-40d5-af7d-229b93571100\">All of this raises the question of whether a system of unofficial discipline for Clayton made it difficult to progress him through the four steps of official discipline that could have led to his termination at some point before his arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-beyondwords-marker=\"51e42d6f-560d-4af9-b226-c6e3cc000bc0\" class=\"flourish-embed flourish-table\" data-src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/07\/27\/investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest\/visualisation\/23592432\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/23592432\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"table visualization\"\/><\/div>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6ae02e63-287c-4432-87d6-5a6e8908c597\">\u201cThere is no doubt that we knew that we had a problem with Clayton \u2014 no doubt it was grooming\u00a0\u2014 if he hadn\u2019t molested a kid, he was going to,\u201d says an ex-district Office of Professional Standards staffer, who asked not to be named because it could jeopardize their current employment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"da027117-a14a-4ad2-b64d-b57004b46619\">The person remembers finding a large Post-it note on Clayton\u2019s file that detailed why he should be fired \u201cthe next time,\u201d but a supervisor said because previous allegations \u201cwere handled unofficially,\u201d they could not be counted toward progressive discipline.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"81d7c4e3-8aa0-496a-81ff-25ff1a27ce24\">\u201cUnless we had someone coming in saying they were molested, we couldn\u2019t get rid of him,\u201d the ex-investigator says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"62a83750-fcc0-4add-af0d-1ad2e198e6d4\">Cornelius, the former principal, did not respond to a list of questions sent to her by email and registered letter. She did reply to an earlier email with, \u201cI never kept an \u2018unofficial\u2019 discipline file on Jeffrey Clayton.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6eefb7b1-547a-4a19-bdea-c586d3fa2ee5\">More than eight years after she retired, Cornelius\u2019s district emails and paper records from her Clayton era are gone. District IT staffer Jim Moore tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> the district archives only the last five years of emails and wipes computers clean when employees leave. A district records custodian says some employee paper records are sent to a warehouse for archiving, but, in response to a different records request, the district told <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> only \u201cstudent records and board agendas\u201d are kept there.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"dab68742-9bff-49b8-8074-ae1eb93fbf61\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The official complaints<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"3f447200-3664-451e-9e1d-431548c8b59b\">Clayton\u2019s five officially recorded reprimands resulted from eight district-level investigations before his arrest.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ad25fd40-21a8-4bb1-840e-d360dbff312a\">His first documented discipline, a written reprimand, came in 2006, shortly after Joseph Wise became superintendent. Clayton had been caught giving private lessons in his office on a teacher planning day \u2014 improperly using school property for personal gain. The write-up says Cornelius had discussed this with him on \u201cmore than one occasion,\u201d but the district doesn\u2019t have a record of previous verbal reprimands.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"294cc778-41a1-47fc-8da9-399eef1633a2\">Over the next 10 years, Clayton collected four more documented investigations while he continued to receive sizable pay increases and glowing evaluations.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"394e7b67-8c36-4934-a688-b0edc70bad87\">In 2008: two written reprimands for Clayton\u2019s interactions with students, early in Ed Pratt-Dannals\u2019 tenure as superintendent. One case involved closed-door meetings and inviting a student to work out at Clayton\u2019s neighborhood gym off campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e0613dd3-a85b-4d77-974b-49a1f8f8ef89\">In 2013, with Superintendent Nikolai Vitti at the helm, Clayton was again investigated and removed from his classroom for a few days. The record doesn\u2019t detail the allegations, and the district couldn\u2019t provide clarification. The time period aligns with when an investigator contacted Becky Loar, Clayton\u2019s former colleague.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b77c2d33-2e17-4159-bff7-c9d7b9b6d2f4\">A note in that investigation file from Clayton\u2019s then-attorney Tad Delegal said, \u201cI am concerned that your investigation suggests that you are intending to resurrect each and every various allegation or inference against Mr. Clayton, and put them together in a fashion that suggests that Mr. Clayton is some sort of problem teacher\u2026Mr. Clayton\u2019s history reveals that Principal Cornelius has evaluated each of these incidents, and has addressed them appropriately. She has enlisted the aid of the district when necessary and has addressed other matters in an informal manner in order to appropriately maintain a positive and successful teaching environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c475385d-5d21-4964-a8aa-e5fd5051c37f\">The 2013 complaint was dismissed, and Clayton returned to teaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"cc876dd9-d207-4a8f-993a-0aed76d7387b\">Clayton was investigated again in 2016 and received a verbal reprimand. On the reporting form, Cornelius typed, \u201cI await the Office of Professional Standards review before taking further action since the teacher has had similar complaints in the past.\u201d She wrote that she had told Clayton not to touch students on the back or compliment them on their \u201cattractiveness, clothing or beauty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"dc5ea27c-f9cd-4878-a17a-d22daf90f764\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"f0f0f0\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f0f0f0;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand-768x622.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand-296x240.jpg 296w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-2016reprimand-100x81.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/figure>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"5bf62baf-e952-4676-8e22-5697780bf5f7\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Official investigations pick up<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"35c1b769-6809-484e-9add-f1a720b74e4c\">Amid the Black Lives Matter movement that exploded in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, Douglas Anderson students and alumni began to share stories on social media of their experiences with perceived racism at the school. Stories alleging teachers\u2019 sexual misconduct soon flowed in, too.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"cd1ef0bd-bbd7-4622-adf9-6d0aa0b3d3e2\">Loar says that\u2019s when a former colleague encouraged her to send the district her written documentation about Clayton one more time.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"999d7976-3c76-481a-8cae-82223b01bd7b\">\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Becky, you\u2019ve got to say something,\u2019\u201d Loar says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m like\u2026\u2018I keep saying things. \u2029I have yelled to the hills. It\u2019s 2020. I left in 2012. What more can I do?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"73975fac-86c8-4d9b-b96d-f34aa99ab91b\">She sent her letter detailing the concerns about Clayton \u2014 this time in an email to then-Superintendent Diana Greene.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e1538ed1-f151-41c3-9897-1f48a8b1966e\">District records show Greene received Loar\u2019s email overnight on June 19, 2020, and she forwarded it to staff at 7:21 the same morning. About an hour later, then-HR Director Vicki Schultz wrote to professional standards staff that Greene had already phoned her about the message. \u201cDr. Greene called and asked for a response right away\u2026You will need to examine for possible investigation,\u201d Schultz wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"eee53819-ef3a-486b-813f-3986a13fd8fc\">The handwritten note mentioning Clayton\u2019s \u201c17 incidents and 16 verbals\u201d is written on a print-out of Loar\u2019s email that was forwarded to Schultz and then to Sherry Jackson, then the new executive director of what is now called the <a href=\"https:\/\/dcps.duvalschools.org\/o\/humanresources\/page\/department-overview\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Office of Professional Standards, ADA &#038; Title IX<\/a>. Jackson did not respond to a request for an interview with <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"faf80c38-11ad-4674-a46c-03bbd6546dfe\">What the district did next is unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e10324e7-5b91-43f2-923b-3e56fb1e87f5\">That fall, Clayton received a verbal reprimand for not wearing a mask in accordance with Duval Schools\u2019 COVID protocol.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"7949c4ca-94fe-4623-8ae4-8d510c2b9484\">In 2021, a student reported Clayton had rubbed a different student\u2019s back during a rehearsal. Clayton got another verbal reprimand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ca8c304b-8174-4dee-adb8-3f44a9cb8760\">That investigation included an interview with a previous D.A. assistant principal, Lianna Knight, who was then principal at LaVilla School of the Arts, a Douglas Anderson feeder middle school. Knight said she \u201ccould not recall a time when she received a complaint that involved Clayton inappropriately touching anyone\u201d and generally didn\u2019t recall \u201cany other complaints about Mr. Clayton.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b6d07f03-1c2e-43c9-8bd6-2586a0b6b9dd\">But documents show Knight authored one of the 2008 reprimands that Clayton received for his treatment of a student.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"934a5af7-e741-426d-97a0-a473d1361d40\">And, in an email to a district investigator in 2010, a parent who alleged Clayton had told her daughter to be \u201cmore submissive\u201d to him said she had reported the incident directly to Knight. The parent wrote that Knight told her that her daughter would be called in to discuss what had happened, but, \u201cUnfortunately, my daughter was never called to the administrative offices to discuss her concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"324a7011-d25b-44bd-b67c-5845de45e140\">Knight did not respond to a request for an interview.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e825541e-f225-43c3-abcd-898d94498aa0\">In 2022, the year before his arrest, the district investigated Clayton again for allegedly touching another student inappropriately during a private vocal lesson at Clayton\u2019s house during the previous school year. That student had transferred out of D.A. and described the incident to her new school\u2019s administrator, who filed a report. Ultimately, the complaint was not substantiated because the student could not provide an exact date or a witness.<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"7ac437a0-d9a4-45db-9097-bc9758d34367\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Missing reports<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c9397839-28bf-4408-b8f6-1f59caecb6d1\">After Clayton\u2019s arrest, the alleged 2021 incident of touching during a rehearsal became especially salient \u2014 as did the process Duval Schools used to investigate, record and report such incidents to the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"06f2241d-94f3-438c-9074-142569779b51\">Records show that Scott Strauss, then vice chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, sent a letter to Superintendent Greene about a month after the arrest, on April 19, 2023. He asked about the 2021 complaint, telling Greene his office was \u201cunable to locate this incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"108adceb-60ac-4577-ae59-db1ac5955a95\">\u201cAs you know, districts are required to report all SESIR incidents to the Department of Education,\u201d Strauss wrote, referring to the School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting protocol.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"218e7296-9c57-4bd5-8642-33f42c5f0e23\">In her response, Greene pushed back, telling Strauss that Duval Schools did report the incident to the Education Department, as required, and also notified the Department of Children and Families of possible abuse. Email records from Duval Schools show DCF received a report of the complaint on Nov. 22, 2021. It declined to pursue the case, saying it didn\u2019t \u201crise to the level of reasonable cause to suspect harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4ad83714-9551-437c-8d82-fb9ed022ebe8\">When news of Clayton\u2019s arrest broke, Greene was at once fiercely criticized and fiercely defended \u2014 and she ultimately retired early amid mounting pressure from the School Board over <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2023\/05\/23\/superintendent-diana-greene-ends-trailblazing-duval-career-under-scrutiny\/\">Douglas Anderson and other controversies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"aaad19a5-04f6-4b2d-8e8b-38a6a6cba2ca\">Months after her exit, speaking from the stage at the <a href=\"https:\/\/tedxjacksonville.com\/talks\/dianna-greene-phd-education-leader\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TEDxJackonville<\/a> conference, Greene reminisced about her trailblazing path to academic leadership \u2014 she was the first Black superintendent in two districts and had been named the Florida Association of District School Superintendents 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonville.com\/story\/news\/education\/2020\/12\/02\/duval-schools-diana-greene-named-florida-superintendent-year\/3798072001\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Superintendent of the Year<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4dc324b3-e44d-46b8-aa5c-b9ee1683645c\">\u201cEven when the challenges and the degradation came from the local to the highest levels of government in this state, I told myself, it is still worth it \u2014 because someone has to come behind me and take up the mantle of leadership. Because representation matters,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"f3e47074-2d08-4d97-8824-fda22f345c32\">Greene declined an interview when told this story was about Douglas Anderson, but she did respond to specific questions through email, detailed below.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"fe9ce786-1238-4be3-8212-499acdd540d7\">When reports come in alleging serious employee misconduct, school administrators are supposed to route them to Duval Schools\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/dcps.duvalschools.org\/o\/humanresources\/page\/department-overview\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Office of Professional Standards, ADA &#038; Title IX<\/a>, whose investigators\u2019 backgrounds often include law enforcement. The professional standards team is \u201cplagued with high turnover,\u201d according to a 2023 report by the state Education Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a8ca664d-8207-4bf9-8db7-911723caf3b9\">In 2020, an investigator named Reginald Johnson was promoted to manage the professional standards group. His supervisors described him as thorough and willing to \u201cask the tough question.\u201d Johnson had spent about 25 years with the Gainesville Police Department before coming to Duval Schools in 2014.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"45cb6a54-0bcf-4e51-8354-df513a769645\">When Clayton\u2019s arrest threw a spotlight on the district\u2019s handling of complaints, records show Johnson mailed three packages of previously unreported teacher misconduct reports to the state about a month later, and the district later sent more. All in all, the state received 73 \u201cdelinquent cases\u201d from Duval Schools dating back to 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bbcc5848-59d1-419f-9888-6171ff8c549c\">None of the delinquent records were about Clayton, the state says, but Johnson later told state investigators that complaints about Clayton from 2006, 2008 and 2016 should have been sent but weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"76e65b52-f1d8-43e9-abac-d1840fbf7c34\"><em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> made numerous requests to the state and the district for details about which cases Johnson submitted to the state, but so far neither agency has provided clarification.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"55c94a91-cdfb-4d0c-a50f-0388016fbe55\">During the ensuing state inspector general\u2019s investigation of Duval\u2019s \u201cdelinquent cases,\u201d David Farcas \u2014 later Johnson\u2019s replacement as the district\u2019s professional standards supervisor \u2014 testified that Johnson said someone had instructed him to send the cache of complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b5e8474c-41c2-4e23-aa64-ce6bd793b4fb\">\u201cFarcas testified that Johnson directly indicated to him that he was told to do so but did not divulge who gave him the directive,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2023-0003-FINAL-ROI-003.pdf\">the OIG report<\/a> reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"306df270-632a-402e-80dd-2fcf486dcf87\">Until the state notified the district of Johnson\u2019s mailing, Duval Schools officials including Greene were not aware the documents had not already been sent, they testified.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0b131068-7271-4921-878c-c89631912eae\">In her email response to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>, Greene similarly said she did not direct Johnson to send the files. She said, \u201cI was unaware that the cases had not been reported until I <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2023\/04\/25\/state-threatens-to-slash-duval-superintendents-salary\/\">received the letter from Commissioner Manny Diaz<\/a>. Mr. Johnson later told me that he submitted the files as part of a self-initiated audit, and he did so without informing me or his direct supervisor.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"2a556e59-d7e8-4d8e-a01a-4a87aeace669\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The final Clayton complaint<\/h3>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"98c066cf-5269-49dd-90e4-8be65d057c64\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"74695f\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #74695f;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98479 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-yearbook-jpc-2022-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[60,32]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The 2022 Douglas Anderson yearbook was the last to include Jeffrey Clayton. He was arrested the following year. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e1b39a9c-3cf9-4afa-8b94-72d66a16c5a2\">Duval County School Police Det. Carl Graham recorded the call between Clayton and his 16-year-old student, E., at around 5 p.m. on March 21, 2023. Graham took the evidence he\u2019d gathered \u2014 including about 1,700 texts between Clayton and the student \u2014 to the State Attorney\u2019s Office, and an arrest warrant was issued the next day at 8:48 a.m.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c8409ff4-d728-4efb-bde6-e6dedd8723aa\">Assistant State Attorney Anna Hixon, who prosecuted Clayton, tells <em>Jacksonville Today <\/em>it was the first time an allegation about him had reached the prosecutor\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dd61a4cb-f4bd-409d-8ba5-d5b94eeeb301\">Hixon says prosecutors decided to broker an agreement with Clayton: They would not pursue any other complaints stemming from his employment at Douglas Anderson \u2014\u00a0sexual misconduct or otherwise \u2014 and Clayton would not push for a lesser sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dce4d0b7-4763-4a8d-8056-be6d65d9d3e4\">Adair Newman, chief assistant state attorney, says prosecutors often use this type of arrangement as a way of \u201cminimizing trauma toward the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c9930603-3151-4611-b60a-bbda7aec41d4\">\u201cA lot of times in sexual assaults, we have multiple victims \u2014 so we go back and we talk to them about the outcome that everybody would like to see and how best to achieve it,\u201d Newman says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"cf8194be-be24-4ca3-a50f-fa97a64f03b5\">Less than a month after Clayton\u2019s arrest, the SAO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2023\/04\/14\/140-former-current-students-asked-to-interview-for-ongoing-investigations-at-douglas-anderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">identified 140 of his former students<\/a> it wanted to interview, according to State Attorney\u2019s Office spokesman David Chapman. He says investigators ultimately talked with just a small fraction of the students.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"65ec0d13-520d-4ee1-b4ab-e3ce21d9dea7\">\u201cSome offered basic information, others did not,\u201d Chapman wrote in an email to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>. \u201cA couple of students provided information that contributed to the investigation and successful prosecution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"c8fe80a3-4aad-44e1-92d5-11959e14b36e\" class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Jeffrey Clayton, a former vocal teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, is handcuffed after a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison on Friday, June 14, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today\" class=\"wp-image-71202 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-427x240.jpg 427w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-100x56.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-14-Jeffrey-Clayton-sentencing-scaled-1650x928.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[41,33]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts vocal chair Jeffrey Clayton is handcuffed after a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison on June 14, 2024. | Will Brown, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"60aff293-b150-4984-9472-f2e5c36b6dd0\">At <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/06\/14\/former-douglas-anderson-teacher-sentenced-to-10-years\/\">Clayton\u2019s sentencing<\/a> in June 2024, prosecutors played the recording of the phone call from the night before his arrest. The packed courtroom fell silent, except for occasional quiet sobs.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"65634278-8a04-4c27-9050-38d58bb39ab7\">Three other victims who alleged lewd conduct by Clayton took the stand next. One by one, they delivered emotional statements. Then E. stood and told her own story.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"9e0a39e3-41a8-4f5a-a49e-17f07a669c17\">E. said she\u2019d been warned about Clayton from the time she arrived at Douglas Anderson but naively thought him to have been \u201cmisjudged.\u201d She said he prayed with her in his office and told her he wanted to be \u201clike a father\u201d to her \u2014\u00a0but \u201cwhat began as kind words and seemingly innocent touches soon became proclamations of lust and lingering hands I did not ask them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ac94d0f7-6808-43df-a0d2-5cd92e304b72\">\u201cI feel that he not only took my ability to trust, but also my innocence,\u201d she said, standing feet away from Clayton.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"200f783a-a5d0-4172-a8a9-38cac5ba6f58\">\u201cIt was surreal,\u201d says Douglas Anderson alum Katie Sacks, a 2015 graduate and former Clayton student who watched a livestream of the court hearing. \u201cThat girl was so brave. That was just crazy brave. That never would have happened during my time. Ever. It just wouldn\u2019t have. It would have been silenced or disbelieved \u2014 if anyone even dared to say something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr data-beyondwords-marker=\"df31ba73-3d35-44d1-ae26-2e9d2004f0a3\" class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1d705aa0-ca8e-41a1-a58a-4dbf9f4309d3\"><em>This story is the first in a series,The Show Must Go On, examining the handling of reports of teacher misconduct at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts \u2014 and what\u2019s changed in the more than two years since Jeffrey Clayton\u2019s arrest. The next story is about other teachers who also left the school under clouds of suspicion.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/07\/27\/investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This June marked one year since the sentencing of Jeffrey Clayton, the former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Vocal Music Department director who\u2019s serving a decade in prison for&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122672,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122670\/revisions\/122672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}