{"id":122744,"date":"2025-07-29T01:02:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T01:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/2025\/07\/29\/investigation-douglas-anderson-student-accusers-lacked-faith-in-schools-response-jacksonville-today\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T01:18:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T01:18:55","slug":"investigation-douglas-anderson-student-accusers-lacked-faith-in-schools-response-jacksonville-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/2025\/07\/29\/investigation-douglas-anderson-student-accusers-lacked-faith-in-schools-response-jacksonville-today\/","title":{"rendered":"INVESTIGATION | Douglas Anderson student accusers lacked faith in school\u2019s response\u00a0 | 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=\"6dcf04d4-b17f-446b-9cc9-a9c9f55859e4\"><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=\"7b38f463-ebda-4ec7-9a7c-0567c2d13df5\"><em>This story is the second in a series, The Show Must Go On, based on tens of thousands of pages of public records and historical documents, as well as dozens of interviews with current and former Douglas Anderson students, parents, teachers and administrators.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr data-beyondwords-marker=\"4e0b39b4-3aef-4b64-9ea7-41d60faf3f95\" class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6c552493-b7c2-49e9-bb51-a2b029dd8f72\">In the early 2000s, Dani Burgess was floundering under the weight of bullying at her high school. About to drop out and get a GED, Burgess says her mom convinced her to first audition for Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"f5c5470e-b5ef-4487-95a1-1275ea78fccc\">\u201cI think my mother knew that it wasn\u2019t just my education\u2026at risk,\u201d Burgess said. \u201cI think she knew that my life was at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8d69090e-5eda-4382-8981-eac9dab5a5b6\">Today, Burgess is a professional photographer with ambitions of becoming an art teacher. Back then, she loved to make stop-motion animation movies. To audition for D.A., she used one of her favorites \u2014 a <em>Godzilla<\/em>-style story she created with some winter decorations her mom had made out of felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"30d85387-79f4-4fc2-8ad4-f9aeb0c4a531\">\u201cAnd I got in\u2026I don\u2019t think I would have completed high school had I not gotten in,\u201d Burgess says. \u201cAt D.A., I wasn\u2019t the weird kid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"926d85f6-90a3-41a6-ba37-f970f052d8f9\" class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dani Burgess today | Submitted <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bc3f34f1-b6ca-4c75-b205-92ea7554aab4\">Burgess blossomed in a class called stagecraft, where students make the high-end theatrical sets the school uses for its elaborate productions. She particularly enjoyed metalwork, a process that includes grinding metal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"00f71e8e-19a7-4dfd-9f6c-21a9b710ff6d\">She says the teacher, Tim Kline, nicknamed her \u201cGrinder Girl.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6c92468a-f623-4e5d-ae5f-d54859f3dfbe\">Kline seemed to pay more attention to her than to other girls in the class, Burgess says. Soon, he began to push for her to come in on Saturdays for private lessons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d7d1c23d-7916-47ea-b49b-be818e3e5d88\">\u201cAfter turning that down a bunch of times, it got a little less covert,\u201d Burgess says. \u201cIt turned into him making this smug, slimy expression and saying, you know, \u2018You can come grind with me anytime\u2019 and a lot of comments like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ec6782e3-a4ed-481f-9fff-d290ef2bc38b\">Kline did not respond to <em>Jacksonville Today\u2019s<\/em> requests for an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"a04c2174-3f1a-4e6b-beb8-651f810973e3\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"a79c98\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a79c98;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"912\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98567 wpsmartcrop-image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater.jpg 912w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-theater-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px\" data-smartcrop-focus=\"[71,65]\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The 2005 Douglas Anderson yearbook shows the Theater Department teachers \u2014 including Tim Kline, third from right. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d0451873-147d-40de-892d-882a61ec2628\">Burgess says she reported Kline to then-Principal Jackie Cornelius. She left the meeting feeling that Cornelius was not interested in addressing the teacher\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5d86e3ed-5666-4076-81ef-4c433404e142\">\u201cI kept pressing because it made me uncomfortable, and I knew teachers should not be talking to students that way \u2014 no adults should talk to children that way,\u201d Burgess says. She recalls the principal ended the conversation with something to the effect of, \u201cWell, you\u2019re a young woman, and as you grow, you\u2019ll learn to just expect to be uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d6e043ae-0ce2-4480-ae9e-cc9b5bd321f7\">\u201cAnd that\u2026that really set a tone for a long time in my teens and 20s \u2014 that I should just expect for that to be what it was like for women,\u201d Burgess says.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"7df48ec9-bc32-4970-8620-1cd6f1af8d37\">Cornelius, who retired from Duval Schools in 2017, declined an interview with <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> and did not respond to a list of questions, including about Burgess\u2019 recollection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"2e194758-6e3d-4d9c-8069-a73c40e693b9\">There is no record of a school investigation in Kline\u2019s personnel file. He left Douglas Anderson in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e8dc8d0d-0389-4b76-8f81-7a735708d948\">Three years later, he was arrested in Walton County, Florida, and charged with sexual battery against a 12-year-old girl. Court records show he was found guilty of lesser charges of lewd or lascivious conduct and sentenced to six years in prison and restitution of $22,000 to the victim\u2019s parents. His sentence was then suspended, and he served 10 years of probation instead. He remains a registered sex offender.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a00f7c63-639a-408b-bcf4-eace9d666c44\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/07\/27\/investigation-douglas-anderson-teacher-received-mostly-unofficial-discipline-before-arrest\/\">Jeffrey Clayton<\/a> is the most infamous Douglas Anderson teacher, but his story is not unique. His 2023 arrest seemed to set off a reckoning: Six more teachers accused of sexual misconduct have since left the classrooms of Jacksonville\u2019s nationally acclaimed arts school in quick succession \u2014 adding to the at least six D.A. teachers in the decades prior who had been accused of sexual misconduct against students and were removed or exited.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c6e37d47-429b-4bc2-b4c6-f16599de222e\">District spokesperson Laureen Ricks tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>, in the last year, Duval Schools has changed a number of policies to \u201caddress system weaknesses, prevent employee sexual misconduct, and protect students.\u201d Teachers accused of certain kinds of misconduct must immediately be removed from student contact, for example, and employees who don\u2019t report misconduct allegations are themselves subject to discipline as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5ab16bad-a7b8-4c85-81e6-459f6a3f1334\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fldoe.org\/safe-schools\/sesir-discipline-data\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida Department of Education<\/a> requires schools to report sexual misconduct to the state, including sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual harassment and other sexual offenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"93bb1956-bdbc-45b3-9397-57118180b8f4\">Before Clayton\u2019s arrest, many Douglas Anderson students lacked faith that school administrators would take such complaints against arts faculty members seriously. <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> spoke with or reviewed letters from more than 20 former students, parents and faculty members who said they or a trusted adult had reported an arts faculty member for sexual misconduct, but they say their complaints either did not result in punishment or seemed to be minimized or ignored. Some of their reports appear in the district\u2019s official records, and others do not.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"9cbd66e2-117f-47d7-9864-2f3e493afc21\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Nothing further needs to be done\u2019\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dc3bd2d7-825b-4771-98c1-01f0f7ab3e56\">Early Douglas Anderson Principal Jane Condon <a href=\"https:\/\/everloved.com\/life-of\/jane-condon\/obituary\/?flow=201\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">died in February at age 86<\/a>. In her 2021 self-published memoir, <em>Chosen By Jane<\/em>, she described a situation at D.A. that she said could have cost her and a teacher their jobs: The teacher, who was supposed to be supervising a weekend rehearsal, didn\u2019t notice that five high school seniors had stripped naked and videotaped themselves. The racy recording came to light later, when a different teacher played the VHS tape for an art class, expecting it to be a lesson on Impressionism.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5172ce31-3df3-4116-a1ed-f633fa7e7900\">And so, along with a district employee, Condon strategized how to keep the episode off the books because the supervising teacher was one of the school\u2019s most \u201ccreative and effective,\u201d and Condon didn\u2019t think it fair for either of them to be punished for the \u201cmistake\u201d of not noticing the nude videoshoot.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"de3bb63d-9a38-4d17-89b1-95bf87a7b3df\"><em>\u201cI called a friend in Human Resources to ask what to do. He said, \u2018You understand that you are NOT telling me this. I am NOT hearing this. And do NOT tell me who the teacher is. Otherwise, I would have to take action.\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bb090d8f-699a-417b-a75a-2ef8e7c83ea3\"><em>\u2018Got it,\u2019 I agreed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"13eff06b-ad21-4383-aff0-385a9b84843f\"><em>He continued. \u2018You have some choices. If you write up the incident report and give it to the teacher, you must also turn it in to me, and I would have to act on it.\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ffd4081c-3b27-4490-b983-a7b2f60c63a0\"><em>I said, \u2018How about this: I write up the incident report, show it to the teacher, and file it away. If no parents come to complain by the end of the year, I will give it to the teacher, and nothing further needs to be done.\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1bf86d94-e374-4899-a766-3a7cdadac9f4\"><em>\u2018That could work,\u2019 he said. \u2018Be sure you make only one copy of the report and keep the report yourself. If anyone gets hold of it, you\u2019ll have to make it official.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"a7b9f525-799f-4b29-ae4d-413084761a4f\"><em>Thankfully, no children reported it, no parent complained, and I turned it over to the teacher the last day of school. Situation contained.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dcc0abfa-11be-40a3-a250-eedb84a86843\">When Condon exited D.A. in 1996, she selected the school\u2019s then-arts director, Jackie Cornelius, as her successor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"da0d2e94-a6f4-4671-a33b-6c33780d3e76\">\u201cI knew Jackie had the knowledge, the skills, and the experience to run the school the way we had together,\u201d wrote Condon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"800248d3-cfe2-440e-8190-583a4aeb8451\">Larry Zenke, who was Duval superintendent at the time, tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> that although he does not remember the specifics of choosing Cornelius, \u201cJane\u2019s support would have been very important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"86baba00-21a0-439d-801e-086978235454\">Cornelius would serve as principal for the next 20 years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"31546f48-ddb7-4764-aa52-492485848550\" class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"999895\" transparency=\"false\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"795\" height=\"596\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98570\" style=\"--dominant-color: #999895; width:795px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook.jpg 795w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-1993-yearbook-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This mid-1990s Douglas Anderson yearbook features both Jane Condon, upper left, and her successor, Jackie Cornelius, on the lower half of the left page. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"9baee941-3b23-40fe-a667-6f748033f7aa\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018I can\u2019t do everything\u2019<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"16b82d07-3314-4ebc-a0ad-41854446d88f\">One accuser\u2019s \u201cwhole life\u201d had been making films before she arrived at D.A., her mom tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>. As a kid, she used a flip phone to make videos, and she had a corner of her bedroom devoted to staging her movies. Her mom says her teachers knew early on that she was brilliantly creative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"89534659-28c1-440c-bf04-280b321ca3e2\">She was a freshman at Douglas Anderson \u2014 14 years old \u2014 when she told her mother she was anxious about the sound booth in the school\u2019s Film Department.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"19fa5a0e-64f6-4fdf-87f8-4f9957c63e47\">\u201cYou have to tell the principal that they have to lock that door,\u201d her mom remembers her daughter saying. \u201cThere\u2019s really bad things that happen in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"af774bb2-6c05-4e2f-ac10-da911da5a3a4\">The mom says she went to Cornelius and told her that, along with other reasons her daughter was feeling unsafe on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bc3be799-ecad-4020-a44d-c2c7e953b6a7\">\u201c\u2018I can\u2019t do everything, Mrs. [name].\u2019 That\u2019s exactly what she said to me. \u2018I can\u2019t do everything, Mrs. [name],\u2019 and it was just horrifying,\u201d she recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"7042282f-b90f-4927-ac2f-57283f3ae869\">Cornelius did not respond to a question about the mother\u2019s recollection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"52015f74-9911-4b9c-bfa3-bdc5b979a3eb\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"a79a97\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a79a97;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2015-thayer-wall-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Corey Thayer in the 2015 Douglas Anderson yearbook. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"68b23968-4df7-4bd6-857f-ae2d6eb2f65c\">In the spring of 2015, the student\u2019s mother filed a police report accusing Film Department Chair Corey Thayer of a \u201csex crime.\u201d According to the police report, the student told a mental health counselor Thayer, then 43, had \u201ctouched her breasts and vagina over her clothing in a lewd manner.\u201d School police soon closed the case, saying the student\u2019s father had asked to do so \u2014\u00a0a claim the family has disputed in sworn statements to district investigators and in interviews with the State Attorney\u2019s Office and <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"cc27d445-1ab0-408f-961c-2148cf64173d\">Then-Duval Schools Professional Standards investigator Aaron Clements received Thayer\u2019s case file in September 2015, but he did not investigate \u201cdue to other cases rising to a higher importance,\u201d district records show. <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> requested a list of cases Clements worked on that fall, but the district said it could not produce that record.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"411e6b5b-fb47-4ddf-bf82-fc86154337b3\">Almost a decade later, the district again investigated Thayer. The email records of several Duval Schools administrators, provided through public records requests, show the district received multiple complaints about Thayer in the month following Clayton\u2019s 2023 arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"2374d143-f812-4502-b7e8-925d52edd8d0\">One such report came from the former student\u2019s mother, who contacted the School Board on April 25, 2023. Then-Principal Tina Wilson sent a message to Douglas Anderson families that same day, announcing Thayer had been moved \u201cto duties off campus and without student contact\u201d and would be the subject of a district investigation.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"3735ea07-8cd2-4936-bece-6907914c4ce0\">Records show district investigators did not speak with Thayer\u2019s accuser, her lawyer or her parents during the course of that investigation, however. That\u2019s despite district officials being made aware of the alleged \u201csexual intercourse\u201d in a pre-suit notice received by the district from the accuser\u2019s lawyer on August 4, 2023.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"db136ba6-1616-4f7f-879f-8adbef75a017\">The resulting investigation report said allegations against Thayer could not be substantiated for \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">current<\/span>\u201d students (underline theirs), and Thayer was soon returned to the classroom, on Aug. 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"e454fe73-e823-497c-bb0d-010bef8c1f29\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"ededed\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ededed;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit-300x117.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit-768x300.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit-614x240.jpg 614w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-thayerpresuit-100x39.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A pre-suit notice sent to the district alleged Corey Thayer sexually battered a student. | Document provided by Duval Schools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"93e8a32c-89fa-4c27-b8df-485b27d59deb\">A few weeks later, records show several people \u2014 including the student\u2019s mother, her lawyer and community advocate Shyla Jenkins \u2014 questioned the district about Thayer\u2019s return to teaching. He was again placed on administrative duty outside the classroom, where he remained until his resignation at the end of the school year. Then-Superintendent <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/12\/05\/removed-douglas-anderson-teacher-was-accused-of-sex-with-14-year-old\/\">Dana Kriznar cited \u201cnew information\u201d<\/a> the district had received about Thayer\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"fd8e0a9a-2b91-4c14-96d1-11815eb3f02b\">Professional standards investigators this time directly interviewed the original accuser. In a sworn interview, the former student accused Thayer of coercing <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/12\/05\/removed-douglas-anderson-teacher-was-accused-of-sex-with-14-year-old\/\">her into sex<\/a> multiple times. In the sound booth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"c603fd7f-d3e3-4073-8a56-763090141bb5\">\u201cI didn\u2019t tell anybody the extent of what was going on,\u201d she told the investigator in 2023. \u201cI told\u2026my friends in freshman year about how I was \u2018Thayer\u2019s favorite\u2019 and stuff, but I never told them the extent of what happened because I didn\u2019t \u2014 I knew that it was wrong, so I didn\u2019t want to really share that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"063d717e-99d1-4a8d-973b-93eaa8886c31\">The district settled the civil complaint with Thayer\u2019s accuser last year without an admission of liability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4b164579-d443-4f09-ab9b-57b023311fa9\">After an investigation that spanned two school districts, the State Attorney\u2019s Office last month decided not to file charges against Thayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4b1bed09-755c-4569-b093-8bbd1972c343\">\u201cWhile the victim has given a very credible recounting of her abuse at the hands of Thayer, the passage of time creates significant impediments to proceeding on this case. There are no witnesses, no physical evidence, and no other corroborative evidence,\u201d wrote Assistant State Attorney Anna Hixon, who also prosecuted Clayton.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5141db55-5a49-41c6-b0e9-f654364d51a0\">The SAO noted the victim\u2019s priority was that \u201cThayer not be able to return to the classroom.\u201d After <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> first reported <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/12\/05\/removed-douglas-anderson-teacher-was-accused-of-sex-with-14-year-old\/\">what led to Thayer\u2019s resignation<\/a>, the state of Florida revoked his teaching license on July 9, 2025.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d8a7589a-4a21-47e2-bd5d-cb0da2160140\">Thayer did not reply to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>\u2019s invitations to respond to the allegations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"1cf75998-04f1-4bf5-9750-390f02e23909\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening the floodgates<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"5423c195-b089-4788-ae3d-6a13eb268ce1\">Jade Collins was a theater major who graduated in 2019, the year before COVID shut the world down. She says she had a \u201cmostly positive experience\u201d at Douglas Anderson. But after graduation, she realized through talking with friends at college how \u201cstrange\u201d some of the school\u2019s culture was.<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"67b2e1ee-4dda-47d1-9713-84380a0f9c9c\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"a7988e\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a7988e;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"895\" height=\"672\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh.jpg 895w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-yearbook-2016-jcmh-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 895px) 100vw, 895px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Melanie Hammer, left, and Jackie Cornelius, right, in the 2016 Douglas Anderson yearbook. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"af630845-926d-45af-8954-6f0433f1470f\">As the the viral #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements converged online in the pandemic summer of 2020, Collins used social media to collect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2020\/06\/19\/students-alumni-call-out-racism-at-douglas-anderson-school-of-the-arts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stories of racial tension at Douglas Anderson<\/a>. Stories of sexual misconduct soon flowed too. Collins eventually met with then-Principal Melanie Hammer over Zoom to debrief her on what she\u2019d heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"436d52cd-9ab0-4028-a35a-9c3dcc5add36\">\u201cI remember feeling like the D.A. alumni community was really coming together,\u201d Collins says.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"d8d8fa28-2646-4e6e-a435-a75130c86e89\">Hammer did not respond to interview requests for this story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1fb8fe04-1dbf-4f22-bcb0-3904e1c14ee2\">Shyla Jenkins, an alum and community advocate for change at the school, says, \u201cJade really paved the way for all of us to come forward and say, \u2018This is something that has to be addressed.\u2019 Before that, D.A. was untouchable. D.A. was the perfect school that pushed out these great, amazing kids \u2014 but many of us knew the cost of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"ccb086c0-4dbc-4690-b397-5f7a2b1ad232\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"928988\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #928988;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"991\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins.jpg 991w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2005-yearbook-higgins-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 991px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Theater teacher Michael Higgins, pictured here in Douglas Anderson\u2019s 2005 yearbook. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"39d801da-7fdc-4d00-a672-68c0244e1924\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Higgins Boys\u2019<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e8f36586-2db9-4429-8ef7-fe2e9a2ef55f\">A theater teacher who\u2019d taught at Douglas Anderson since 1993, Michael Higgins, came up again and again in the stories shared online that summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"98121cec-b7c1-479b-84ab-1d433692d823\">Higgins was investigated for alleged \u201csexual abuse,\u201d according to district records, shortly before he left the school in July of 2020. The district currently faces the prospect of a lawsuit from one of his accusers, who alleges in a pre-suit notice \u201cemotional, sexual and physical abuse, sex discrimination and sexual harassment\u201d\u2014 and also alleges, after he was \u201cconsistently groomed and abused\u201d by Higgins for three years, that a guest lecturer at Douglas Anderson also sexually battered him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"665c740e-eeab-4417-9f36-6beb17ba0f81\">\u201cSo many people I\u2019ve met in media, in theater, in film, had these lovely experiences with mentors. They have someone that brought them up and facilitated who they are and saw their gift and nurtured it. My mentors took away my gift,\u201d the accusing student tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>. \u201cThe way that I have found to be creative in the arts is fulfilling, but it\u2019s one of those I look back and I go, <em>\u2018Damn<\/em>, what if \u2014 what if that had been just a little different? \u2029And what if the safety nets that are there had caught me?\u2019 Then I wouldn\u2019t be broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8c421ba7-e9a5-4f79-b322-8f17adbd9dbe\">A district spokesperson did not specifically address the allegations against Higgins in response to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>\u2019s questions but did refer to recent policy changes meant to \u201cprevent employee sexual misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"1ed05f1e-deaf-40c7-a04c-d77de9553484\">In an email to then-Superintendent Diana Greene, another former student alleged that, in preparation for a role, Higgins had isolated her for hours and had another student beat her until she was black and blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8b9e07b4-36f0-43be-ab5e-06a067f8db15\">\u201cI was so desperate to get a full scholarship to college that I would have done anything to please that teacher,\u201d the student wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ac15c5aa-6e26-46c8-94fe-8aa7f7fc995a\">Higgins\u2019 reputation at Douglas Anderson was equal parts brilliant and difficult, according to interviews with seven of his former students.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"47c7be4f-7384-4de4-b7a2-4cb872739484\">\u201cMichael Higgins is a genius. What he knows about theater, how he analyzes theater and how he directs \u2014 truly is at a superior level,\u201d one of them says. \u201cI think the reason he stayed in high school theater was because he wanted to be so powerful and have this sense of power over the students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0d7d4e5c-3249-4cb8-a6bd-3bd46d9a6b62\">In a text message response to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>, Higgins said he was \u201coffended\u201d at the suggestion that he was \u201cinvolved in any wrong-doing while serving as a teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"726ceb01-d35a-4d69-87ec-35bc7fe64b3f\">He did not respond to invitations to address the specific allegations against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"50147375-9453-4071-a754-f8d70fff14fd\">\u201cMy experience was very positive at D.A.,\u201d Higgins wrote. \u201cI have been happily retired for five years and know nothing about the administration of Duval County Schools. All of the leadership has changed from my days of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0647d763-0f68-4377-96d3-6d8d70184bd9\">D.A. alum Veronica Vale remembers a familiar scene in the mid 2010s: Down a labyrinth of brick halls behind Douglas Anderson\u2019s impressive theater was a heavy metal door. Higgins\u2019 office.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"2637e48a-bbc9-41ce-b6aa-511541fda38d\">Vale would be coming back from making copies for Higgins. His door would be slightly cracked, the sound of laughter spilling out. Lunch with a boy. \u201cHiggins Boys,\u201d the students called them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"2e83eef3-0855-49b7-94ad-fbd6f3a884aa\">\u201cIt was always the same. It was never some random. It was like he had a target \u2014 or his favorites,\u201d Vale says. \u201cThe joke that we had growing up was, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re a \u2018Higgins Boy.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4ea5bfc9-6d0c-485f-920e-4bc34c1bbf35\">Earning and keeping a spot among the Higgins Boys wasn\u2019t easy, the seven former students say. One wrong move \u2014 like a bad performance or an ill-timed opinion \u2014 would get you ousted.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4a74ce18-3233-4b32-9719-01ec9d22abf0\">\u201cI would have done anything to be a Higgins favorite,\u201d says one alum who fell out of the teacher\u2019s favor. \u201cI would have been\u2026I would have done anything that that man asked me to do to be back in his good graces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0326c19f-4342-4942-a44f-3a0837c2fb1e\">All of Higgins\u2019 former students who spoke with <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> recall his instructing teenage boys to kiss, wrestle or wash each other while he looked on \u2014 what one self-described former Higgins Boy now calls a misuse of the Growtowski Technique, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.backstage.com\/magazine\/article\/guide-to-the-jerzy-grotowski-technique-74788\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">legitimate theatrical teaching method<\/a> that focuses on actors\u2019 physicality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"602d208c-51bc-461f-84ff-6ada268c829f\">\u201cIt\u2019s five of us, in a room alone with him, getting private tutelage from this brilliant man,\u201d recalls the alum. \u201cAnd so when the older boys start taking off their shirts to get more comfortable, you take off your shirt to get more comfortable. And when the older boys take off their pants \u2014 to really loosen up because the clothing is somehow affecting our ability to grab one another \u2014 then you take your pants off, too. And all of a sudden you\u2019re wrestling in the theater lobby in the middle of school hours for Mr. Higgins.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"86114f47-cfb6-4a91-ba32-75afd457ed52\">Higgins retired on July 31, 2020, and collects a more than $3,000 monthly pension, according to state records.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"be397338-c266-47dd-95a0-91d2745257f4\">A Duval County School Police report shows the agency briefly investigated Higgins that summer and then forwarded the complaint to the \u201cappropriate jurisdiction\u201d for follow-up. District emails suggest the receiving agency was the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office, but JSO tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> it has no record of investigating Higgins.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"7adc1180-fe80-46c6-8d2b-19ee33c1d0f9\">Records in Higgins\u2019 personnel file indicate the Florida Department of Education in 2022 declined to investigate him after Duval Schools forwarded the 2020 misconduct complaint. The state wrote that the information provided \u201cwas insufficient in that it [did] not support a violation of pertinent statute or rule over which [the state] has authority to pursue investigation.\u201d His teaching license remained active until June 30, 2025, when it expired.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"8e79bddf-35e5-4d4b-a9c5-f698412bd6be\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"f3f3f3\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f3f3f3;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso-366x240.jpg 366w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-higgins-jso-100x66.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/figure>\n<hr data-beyondwords-marker=\"eba258c9-1a35-46e8-9d8d-d1c1f6c4bb89\" class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b99fd2aa-a447-4fb7-abfb-94a25400e607\">Another D.A. teacher, Craig Leavitt, was <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/08\/29\/another-douglas-anderson-teacher-accused-of-misconduct\/\">removed from teaching<\/a> last year while he was investigated for an alleged \u201cinappropriate communication\u201d with a student during the 2021-22 school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"dc16f1c0-7f6f-4009-a9ca-730d6e491cf5\">The accusing alum tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> Leavitt, a special education teacher, took an interest in him after coming to his math class to help other students.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6974ba5b-f78f-4b4f-811b-41802daef524\">\u201cThere was no reason for him to be talking to me,\u201d says the former student, who has retained counsel to bring a lawsuit against the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"055a15c0-b16f-4ad9-ac3c-d55e46aece25\">Leavitt did not respond to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>\u2019s invitations to comment on the allegations against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"e252e59f-daf5-496a-a7ce-c9a13ec73b69\">A pre-suit notice the district received last September alleges Leavitt \u201clavished [the student] with praise, made romantic and sexually charged comments fixated on [the student\u2019s] physical appearance\u201d and told the student that he had once been \u201cinvestigated and exonerated for grooming behavior.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6d3a9b2d-45c8-4825-adae-0906aabd2b0f\">The student says Leavitt began messaging him during the 2021 school year through social media. Monologues that became too personal. He promised help with college applications (though he didn\u2019t deliver) and offered financial help while at the same time complaining that he was struggling financially, his pre-suit notice says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"f3167f07-4f8b-46e8-96ae-0e59e6f72776\">A few months after the boy had graduated, Leavitt began messaging him in the middle of the night through the app Grindr, screenshots reviewed by <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> show.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6076df7f-4fb6-4125-815d-bd4412e87772\">\u201cWhen I was in school, it wasn\u2019t obvious, but reading that now? It\u2019s just like, oh my God, I can\u2019t believe he sent that to me,\u201d the former student says. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s like\u2026it makes you want to take a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"34d3e19a-5b24-47a7-b0ff-eea33e490c7f\">Leavitt\u2019s personnel file also includes a record of a previous investigation in September 2019. According to a statement from a teacher, another student told him Leavitt \u201ccreeps me out\u201d because of messages he sent in the middle of the night. That allegation was determined unsubstantiated after the student gave a written statement saying \u201cnothing inappropriate has occurred.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"40b71c6a-2942-433c-a74f-456e86b143ae\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018A list of names\u2019<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"f69ce53f-918d-4622-abad-9e07bd93f0d1\">During the summer of 2020, another Douglas Anderson alum emailed then-Principal Melanie Hammer: \u201cThis is a list of names you should know, and if any still teach at the school in 2020, cover your ass and fire them\u2026 cause you aren\u2019t the first person to get this list. And they all f*** children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4fbacb1e-d933-44e2-9aa3-0fb8cededec2\">A dozen names followed.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"b3cb03b2-0c85-447e-b743-bf9c95fd4d41\">As of the summer of 2025, all of them have left the school, with at least seven resigning or being terminated amid sexual misconduct investigations before or after the \u201clist\u201d email was sent. One was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/montreal\/eddy-toussaint-laval-sex-charge-1.6577407\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">arrested in Canada in 2022 on charges of sexual assault<\/a> and is awaiting trial. The last one remaining, a part-time Douglas Anderson staffer, was removed on April 22, 2025, during an investigation of unspecified <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2025\/04\/23\/another-douglas-anderson-employee-removed-after-inappropriate-conduct-accusations\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">alleged \u201cinappropriate conduct<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"6032026d-1654-4069-8231-57fb043cf870\">The email\u2019s author told Hammer that he had already talked with professional standards investigator Reggie Johnson.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"32b17395-afc6-47b9-9214-58084052d519\">Emails provided by Duval Schools show Hammer forwarded the 2020 \u201clist of names\u201d email to then-Region Superintendent Scott Schneider, her supervisor, and asked whether she should report it to the state, the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office or another high-level administrator. Schneider told her she had \u201cdone what is needed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"325fe609-215f-419f-a6c2-bd00358121a8\"><em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> asked the district whether Schneider forwarded Hammer\u2019s email or the list of names to anyone. No records were found to show he had.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"deb9eed8-6813-428b-a662-547e50d631a9\">Schneider, who <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/05\/12\/introducing-the-finalists-for-st-johns-county-school-superintendent\/\">was recently a finalist<\/a> for St. Johns County County School District superintendent, is still employed at Duval Schools HQ. He declined an interview with <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> and responded by text message, \u201cThis is still a matter of litigation so it would be inappropriate for me to address any questions at this time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"9cb3db6c-a263-4991-9fd0-f8fa08e57122\" class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"f5f5f5\" transparency=\"false\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"708\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-708x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98605\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f5f5f5; width:489px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-708x1024.jpg 708w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-768x1111.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-166x240.jpg 166w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter-100x145.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-theletter.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Email records show then-Region Superintendent Scott Schneider told Douglas Anderson Principal Melanie Hammer that she had \u201cdone what is needed\u201d regarding an email sent to her alleging misconduct by 12 Douglas Anderson employees. | Document provided by Duval Schools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 data-beyondwords-marker=\"ca5c13f7-56f3-4607-8fe2-36ff0271dd74\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018The signs were there\u2019<\/h3>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ab774628-314d-4d0f-9e23-664b7a715391\">In 2024, the district settled a civil case with another former student who accused Film Department teacher Nicholas Serenati of sexual advances, including explicit texts. The district did not admit to any wrongdoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure data-beyondwords-marker=\"ec84e237-74e5-4fd3-8bb9-8ea1f2574b45\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" color=\"8a9191\" transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #8a9191;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"875\" height=\"656\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-98574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept.jpg 875w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2-2009-yearbook-filmdept-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Douglas Anderson\u2019s 2009 yearbook, with Film Department teachers Corey Thayer and Nicholas Serenati shown here on the right. | Megan Mallicoat, <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"0ed38a65-b07b-43ec-872d-d1618f57d93f\">The accuser says, about 15 years ago, the department\u2019s three faculty members, including <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/12\/05\/removed-douglas-anderson-teacher-was-accused-of-sex-with-14-year-old\/\">Thayer<\/a>, shared a small office. She says she spent most of her lunch periods with Serenati and even skipped classes to be with him. They spent \u201ca pretty ridiculous amount of time together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"ecdd0617-e175-4026-8c53-05857525945e\">Serenati did not respond to <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em>\u2019s invitations to comment for this story. He left Douglas Anderson in 2016 and joined the faculty of Flagler College, where he stayed until last year. State business records show he now owns a youth soccer club in St. Augustine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"248e6b00-4e8f-4551-af20-d7822a7c55f9\">The former student, now an adult, says his texts came at all hours of the day and into the night. Her pre-suit notice alleged Serenati sent \u201chundreds of inappropriate text messages\u2026of an explicit and deviant nature,\u201d talking graphically about her body and asking for nude photos.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"3a7d6e46-16ed-4aef-8337-6d2724d8d432\">\u201cEach day and over a period spanning months, during school hours, both in his office and in the sound booth, Mr. Serenati made sexual advances toward her including sending her sexually inappropriate messages,\u201d says the pre-suit notice sent to the district.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"08d2c1a6-8a47-46ee-aeba-05af889a9893\">She tells <em>Jacksonville Today<\/em> she wishes other adults at Douglas Anderson had noticed she was struggling, as her grades were dropping and she was \u201cisolating\u201d herself.<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"bf516eff-db54-4681-a8f8-e4c9fd347ad6\">She remembers Serenati telling her that his two officemates warned him that he may be spending too much time with the girl. She says he laughed it off, telling her they were just jealous.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"8c8c025a-929f-4732-a7a9-4a83b14bf9fa\">\u201cThe special attention was very obvious. Obviously, other faculty members noticed it,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that\u2019s what\u2019s frustrating to me now as an adult \u2014 is that the signs were there.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr data-beyondwords-marker=\"4c23961b-d5ef-4a77-9615-cf941b92a8a8\" class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p data-beyondwords-marker=\"4ccb3e14-3032-4d20-9c61-6ccbc31c1a50\"><em>This story is the second 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 how D.A. compares to other schools \u2014 and how issues with the district\u2019s data make accurate comparison difficult.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/07\/28\/investigation-douglas-anderson-student-accusers-lacked-faith-in-schools-response\/\">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":122745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122744","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\/122744","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=122744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122746,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122744\/revisions\/122746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}