Douglas Anderson teacher reassigned, accused of ‘inappropriate communication with a student’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Another Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher has been reassigned over alleged misconduct with a student.

On Wednesday afternoon, Action News Jax learned Craig Leavitt is accused of inappropriate communication with a student.

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It allegedly happened during the 2022-2023 school year and he has not been charged with any crimes.

For nearly two years, Action News Jax has been covering allegations of inappropriate conduct by several teachers at DA.

One teacher, Jeffrey Clayton, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. We have also reported on at least four other DA employees that have also been investigated for potential misconduct.

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We obtained a letter sent to DA families by School Principal Timothy Feagins about Leavitt.

Here is the full email that was sent to families by Feagins:

“Dear Douglas Anderson families,

“While our school and the district have taken strong steps this year to ensure students, families, and employees are aware of boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate behavior with students, I am writing today to inform you that we have reassigned a teacher based on information recently received regarding alleged misconduct in the past.

“Specifically, we have received information that Craig Leavitt, an exceptional education teacher, allegedly engaged in inappropriate communication with a student during the 2022-23 school year. This allegation is under investigation, and while the presumption of innocence always applies in a professional standards investigation, we have reassigned him to duties at a district site with no student interaction while the investigation is in progress. The investigation is confidential, but we will update you once the investigation is complete. My team will work to provide appropriate coverage for his teaching duties and maintain the quality of the educational experience for his students.

“As your new principal, it is disappointing to have to share this information with you; however, I do want to use this moment to remind you of some expectations I have for our team at the school and resources available to you.

• I assure you that if a student brings a new allegation of this nature to a member of my administrative team, we will report it to legally required internal and external authorities.
• While I am fully confident of my team’s responsibility to handle any future situation, I also understand that it might be difficult for a student to share information of this nature with school staff. Therefore, please remember that the district created this online form for students to report directly to the district.
• So that you and your student will better understand our expectations for staff interactions with students, we recently launched Know the Line. I encourage you to become familiar with those boundaries and inform us if you or your child experiences anything that might be on the wrong side of that line.

“We will always have high expectations for your students both academically and artistically. We will also have very high expectations for achieving those goals in an emotionally and physically safe school environment. I look forward to working with you in partnership to achieve those goals and fulfill those expectations for our students.

“Sincerely,

Timothy M. Feagins, Principal”

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