More than 50 pastors, teachers and community leaders gathered in front of Duval Schools headquarters Monday over fears that Diana Greene could be ousted as superintendent over the scandal at Douglas Anderson School for the Arts.
“This is political assassination,” said Tony Hansberry, presiding elder of African Methodist Episcopal Church. “For all of us, Dr. Greene has stood. We’ve come to support her, to let her know that she's not standing alone.”
No School Board member has publicly stated an intent to fire Greene — though another elected official, Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond, has called for her firing. News4Jax also reports her jobis in jeopardy, citing unnamed sources.
The Florida Department of Education last week accused the district of not reporting previous misconduct by former Douglas Anderson teacher Jeffrey Clayton in 2021. Greene replied yesterday with records showing the district did file the substantiated claim against Clayton on a different state platform because “the investigation did not conclude in a finding of sexual harassment.”
The incident in 2021 was listed as “inappropriate physical contact with a student (of a sexual nature)” in the separate state system, the district’s own log showed. Clayton was arrested this month in a separate case and charged with lewd conduct with a current student.
School Board Chair Kelly Coker has scheduled a special meeting tomorrow to discuss hiring outside legal counsel to investigate potential “systemic” issues with the district's handling of teacher misconduct reports.
Greene is nearing her five-year anniversary in Duval in three weeks, and her contract was renewed last summer through 2026.
