JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX I-Team has obtained letters from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts alumni about what they describe as abusive interactions with former teacher Jeffrey Clayton.
The letters were recently turned over to the Duval County School Board’s attorney. An alum who went to Douglas Anderson more than 20 years ago has been collecting them and passing them along to the school district.
Clayton, a longtime music teacher at the school, was recently accused and charged with indecent touching of a minor among other charges. Two other teachers are also under investigation for other alleged offenses.
Former students wrote that Clayton was emotionally and verbally abusive and two of them claimed Clayton touched them inappropriately. “My high school hell” is the title of one letter written by a 2018 graduate about her experience with Clayton.
“We were terrorized, we were manipulated, we were controlled,” she wrote.
The letter and others were handed over to DCPS office of legal counsel by 2002 Douglas Anderson graduate Shyla Jenkins at a school board meeting earlier this month.
In the letters, alumni describe a culture of fear and competition. Jenkins said she experienced it herself.
“The environment was isolating,” she said. “He siloed people off.”
The letters also describe Clayton screaming at students and throwing things. One letter writer described it as “threatening physical aggression.”
RELATED: 140 former, current students asked to interview for ongoing investigations at Douglas Anderson
“He would, at times, throw tantrums, like, and I just thought this was normal behavior, as we all did, because we were conditioned to feel that way. Like, this is just what artists do, they come in, and if they’re having a bad day, or you know, you’re not performing to the level they think you should be, then they’re slamming the piano lid, they’re throwing things across the room,” Jenkins said.
One of the letter writers, identified as a female student from the class of 2017 said Clayton touched her inappropriately. She wrote that during private lessons, Clayton “would often use his hands and body to provide “adjustments” which often included him placing his hands on my ribs with his fingers overtly touching the underside of my breasts, forcefully gripping my jaw or neck or pulling my hair, holding my shoulders against him from behind so his groin was pressed against my backside.”
Another letter writer who said she enrolled at the school in the fall of 2010 wrote it was then “this man I barely knew excitedly placed his hands between my breasts lingering there for what seemed like minutes. I didn’t ask for or want ‘breathing techniques’ but it didn’t matter.”
She said it happened again over the course of two years and changed her for the worse. Another letter writer said she was later diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
“Since [Clayton’s] arrest, dozens and dozens of alumni that felt targeted by Jeffrey Clayton when they were students have shared their stories and connected with one another using social media. Many of these former students have spoken on how they were further traumatized by having their complaints ignored by Jackie Cornelius and DCPS’ HR,” another letter writer claimed.
Jackie Cornelius was the Principal at Douglas Anderson for 20 years before she retired in 2017. News4JAX has reached out to her but has not yet heard back.
News4JAX also reached out to Clayton’s attorney and he said he can’t comment because of the pending case and ongoing investigations.
The school board has vowed to act and is pursuing an external investigation.
“As a board, we are committed to hiring third-party counsel to complete an independent investigation of the events that led to the recent arrest of Jeffrey Clayton. The Douglas Anderson community and our community-at-large deserve our commitment to and focus on ensuring the safety and well-being of the students that attend Duval County Public Schools. Our meeting on Wednesday will move us closer to that goal,” Duval County School Board member Kelly Coker wrote in a statement on Monday.
Duval County School Board members are set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing controversy at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and determine who should be held accountable.
Multiple sources within the district told News4JAX last week that Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene’s job may be under the microscope as some are calling for her resignation over the district’s handling of the situation at the school.