JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board approved a vote at its meeting Tuesday night on a $365,000 settlement for another lawsuit connected to former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher Jeffrey Clayton.
Clayton is serving a 10-year prison sentence for crimes against a 16-year-old student.
The district already paid a $1.45 million settlement to three of Clayton’s former students in July in connection with crimes involving grooming and inappropriately touching a student.
Shyla Jenkins, one of Clayton’s former students and an advocate for his victims, spoke during public comment, asking for the board to release the results of a third-party investigation that was approved in May 2023.
“We have yet to see the report or even understand where we are in the process of the report being completed, that’s unacceptable. This is taxpayer money,” Jenkins said. “This is close to $75,000 that was invested in this, and we still have no understanding of what they found, what was achieved by this investigation. And quite frankly, we’re tired of waiting.”
Clayton taught at Douglas Anderson for 22 years before he was arrested in March 2023.
He is in prison for sexual misconduct with a minor or seeking to engage in a romantic relationship with students. Clayton was not charged with having sex with a student.
The former longtime art teacher was accused of kissing a female student and making inappropriate comments to others. One former student even claimed Clayton sexually harassed her, degraded her and touched her body inappropriately.
Reports show district leaders received multiple complaints against Clayton for more than a decade.
That’s what prompted the lawsuit that DCPS settled in July. It implied that the district knew about Clayton’s misconduct for years but failed to address it.
In response to the multiple abuse allegations, Duval County Public Schools added a new student safety plan to protect children from predators.
The plan lays out six key strategies, including improvements in policy, investigation, staff training, and awareness in students and parents of inappropriate adult behavior.
It also calls for a person to be removed from student contact when they’ve been accused of physically harming someone or sexual misconduct, regardless of where the reported offense occurred.