JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County School District is coming under fire by a Florida senator over the district's handling of teachers arrested for sexual misconduct crimes.
Some parents of former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts students are applauding Florida Senator Clay Yarborough for sending a letter to district officials on Monday, asking for more accountability at the school.
Claire Proudfoot, a former Douglas Anderson teacher, said it's about time a Florida senator stepped in and advocated for accountability from DCPS.
"A lot of behaviors were tolerated for a long time by the administrators," Proudfoot said.
In a letter to the DCPS Interim Superintendent, Yarborough asked DCPS officials to reevaluate how they alert parents about teachers accused of sexual misconduct.
He went on to explain the time it takes district officials to handle sexual misconduct allegations is putting students, particularly those at Douglas Anderson, at risk.
"We try to be patient and let those things pan out. But the time has come where we need answers...We're coming to the end of the current school year, we don't want this to just fester on end of the summer and bleed into the next school year without having answers and knowing what's going to take place from an accountability standpoint," Yarborough said.
Yarborough called on the district to release the results, or give an update, on the progress of an investigation into former Douglas Anderson teacher Jeffrey Clayton, who was charged with four counts related to lewd behavior with a student in 2023.
Yarborough also is questioning why the district took two months to remove a math teacher from classrooms after he was arrested for exposing himself at a Walt Disney World hotel.
“It's really a transparency and accountability issue for the district, for the school, for leadership, both," said Yarborough. "I mean, how can parents have any confidence that when they're sending their students to school, and those children are supposed to be around trusted adults?"
Proudfoot’s daughter graduated from the school in 2020 and while she no longer works at the school, she believes policies around alerting parents when a teacher is arrested need to change.
"When it's reported to the district, it should immediately be reported to the administrator of the school. Parents should be notified," Proudfoot said.
First Coast News did reach out to DCPS officials asking if they received results from the investigation surrounding Clayton, and if they plan on changing how they notify parents of DCPS teacher arrests.
While the district did respond, they did not answer those specific questions.