DUVAL COUNTY, Florida. – An investigative report from the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General, obtained by the News4JAX I-TEAM, reveals chaos in the current process for reporting teacher misconduct at Duval County public schools.
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The district has been under scrutiny since the arrest of longtime Douglas Anderson music teacher Jeffrey Clayton in 2023, which led to a flood of additional allegations and changes to the district’s policies and procedures for investigating misconduct.
In a scathing letter last April, Florida’s Secretary of Education threatened to cut the Duval County School Board’s pay for late reporting of 50 cases of teacher misconduct. School districts are required by Florida law to report complaints to the FDOE within 30 days of becoming aware of the complaint so the state can further investigate and determine whether a teacher should face consequences such as attending additional training or even having their teaching license revoked.
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After discovering the 50 late-reported cases, the FDOE OIG investigated why the district failed to report them in a timely manner. The resulting report shows that for years, cases that should have been investigated at the state level slipped through the net.
The most recent cases were submitted by the county’s then-chief investigator, Reginald Johnson.
Johnson told News4JAX the cases slipped through the net because his office, the Office of Professional Standards, was overloaded. He said he discovered the files during his own review and felt it was right to submit them, even if they were late.
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He sent the late cases back in April 2023 – some of the cases back to 2020.
Soon after, the OIG investigation uncovered additional cases of teacher misconduct reported that same spring, bringing the total to 73.
These included three allegations against teachers who had used racist slurs and a teacher at Douglas Anderson School who had shown a sex video and made sexual comments in front of students more than two years ago. He received a verbal warning following an internal school investigation.
County investigators and administrators interviewed by the OIG said Johnson, as a supervisor, was responsible for referring complaints to the state. But Johnson said investigators should also refer cases. But he said ultimately he bears the responsibility.
The OIG report also reveals that after Clayton’s arrest, it became known that numerous investigations into him dating back years when he worked at DCPS were never reported to the state.
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According to the report, Johnson claimed his office sent out reports on Clayton in 2021 and 2023, and that reports on Clayton from 2006, 2008 and 2016, including reports from before Johnson worked for the district, should have been sent but were not. He said he knew why those cases were not reported, but declined to provide further details.
When asked why these cases were not reported, Johnson said that sharing these cases with the I-TEAM would open a new chapter of systemic problems in the district that he wants to put behind him.
Johnson was transferred and retired after being threatened with termination for late submission of reports. He said the experience was extremely painful and he did not want anyone else to go through what he went through.
One former investigator interviewed said, “The school may have softened the severity of the disciplinary measures in order to keep Clayton employed.”
The OIG report also states: “Johnson reiterated that the cases were never reported due to oversight and the lack of an effective case management system within OPS. Johnson declined to answer whether he had received instructions not to report cases.”
When asked by the I-TEAM if anyone in his leadership team ever pressured him to downplay a teacher’s misconduct, Johnson said he had no comment.
The report found Johnson was responsible for failing to transfer cases in a timely manner. Other investigators interviewed said Johnson, 66, may have been overwhelmed by the heavy caseload and high turnover in his office.
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A district spokesman said it has hired two additional investigators and increased salaries to improve student retention, and is implementing changes recommended in the report as part of the district’s new student safety plan to ensure complaints of teacher misconduct are reported to the state in a timely manner.
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