Duval County Public Schools updates its ethics policy

Jacksonville, Fla. — The Duval County School Board has unanimously voted to move forward on updates made to its ethics policies regarding teacher and student conduct.

The rules include how employees will be held accountable for inappropriate behavior with students.

Parents and school board members said they are happy to see changes, especially since Douglas Anderson School of the Arts has received a lot of attention for the removal of several teachers from the classroom.

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The most notable one is when former Douglas Anderson teacher, Jeffrey Clayton, was charged and convicted of sexual misconduct with a student.

“I have an official term for this. It’s called ‘icky,’” Duval Schools Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said at the school board meeting. “And when a parent or student or an adult or someone in the school feels like something just isn’t right, you’re better off reporting it than not.”

Dr. Bernier credits the staff for helping create this policy.

The district made some revisions to the ethics policies last year in February shortly before Clayton was arrested last March. Now, after Tuesday’s vote, there are new revisions.

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They include mandatory reporting of all district employees facing allegations or arrests of abuse, sexual crimes, or using illegal drugs. That includes both while on *and* off duty.

Anyone accused of misconduct would be put in another building away from students and placed on temporary duties during the investigation.

The school board members who spoke up in support of the revisions included Dr. Lori Hershey, Darryl Willie and Warren Jones.

“Hopefully what happened in the past will hopefully not happen again in the future,” Jones said.

The policies say the superintendent remains responsible for ensuring all applicable reports are made, including reports to the Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Education and law enforcement.

And, it defines how to mandate reporting and removal requirements of employees who are accused of affecting a student’s health, safety and welfare.

“I applaud the district for rolling out the “Know the Line” campaign last week,” parent Katie Hathaway said during public comment.

The district launched this campaign to allow people to report inappropriate behavior between students and teachers, and to educate the public about it safety concerns.

Parents say it’s been successful so far.

“Know the Line is a step in the right direction from protecting Duval children from pedophiles,” another parent said during public comment.

The campaign has already taken effect. Just last week, a Douglas Anderson teacher was removed from the classroom. The principal acted quickly after learning the teacher faced allegations for inappropriate communication with a student.

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