A teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts was under investigation in August for inappropriate communication with a student during the 2022-2023 school year, according to First Coast News and he is, since early 2023, not the first.
5 Five teachers have been removed from Douglas Anderson, one having been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex crimes with a minor.
Tragic incidents like these remind us how crucial it is to maintain a safe and secure environment at school. Serious preventative measures must be implemented in order to avoid misconduct.
In the wake of this unfortunate event, Principal Todd Orlando explained the various steps taken to keep Bishop Kenny as safe as possible, both from outside and internal threats.
Safeguarding the campus from harm is no simple task, from the size of the property to the number of students present at the school.
“When you add up all those people, sometimes it keeps me up, right? Because it’s daunting,” Orlando said. “As far as the responsibility of a campus this size, we’re 55 acres.”
When students go to Bishop Kenny, they gain skills that help them prepare for college and for life.
“None of that can happen unless we have a safe learning environment,” Orlando explained, “So it truly is the most important thing that I do.”
One of the most easy-to-spot precautions that the school has in place are the keyless fob devices–the door locks that require a keycard or special permission from the front office to get through. Currently, almost the entire school is equipped with these fobs, with the exception being the cafeteria building. Fobs for that building will be installed by June 1.
Another crucial step that needs to be taken is the screening and fingerprinting of all employees. Anyone working on-campus needs to have background checks made to prevent any unsafe individuals from having access to both the campus and the students.
One of the most important steps that Principal Orlando and the faculty take is to encourage constant vigilance, whether it be for signs of misconduct or student distress. However, there is a difficult aspect of this vigilance: keeping it at the forefront of people’s minds.
“It’s kind of like putting your seatbelt on. We remind you to buckle up, right?” Orlando said. “It has to be all the time and consistent.”
Teachers specifically, in the whirlwind of teaching, grading, and maintaining a calm classroom, can forget to watch out for small behaviors from students. Remembering what to look out for in peers and students alike, whether it be signs of misconduct or abuse, can be difficult. That is why Principal Orlando has what he calls “the talk” with the faculty.
“What I do each year is–in addition to the infrastructure and in addition to the screening of employees–anybody that works here, whether it’s a volunteer, off-campus coach or on-campus coach, they have to have a talk each year,” Orlando said. “It’s called the Legal Ethics talk.”
Orlando makes it a point to do his Legal Ethics talk in-person, as opposed to recording himself or having employees simply sign a document. He believes that it is essential that the information comes directly from him.
This talk covers two main topics: the staff’s duty to report misconduct, and their duty to report instances of abandonment, neglect, abuse, self-harm or similar issues having to do with students. When teachers agree to work at Bishop Kenny, they agree to care for the children that they educate.
If any of these instances are reported by staff or students, it is Orlando’s job to immediately respond.
“Everything else becomes not important,” Orlando stated.
Employees are also required by the Diocese of Saint Augustine to take a course called “Protecting God’s Children,” a three-hour class that further ensures that they are knowledgeable and prepared to help and protect their students. All of these preemptive steps assure that anyone working around students is safe, well-informed, and constantly on the lookout.
The school also requires the constant presence of police officers to better-ensure the safety of students and staff. They are present for both school hours and after-school events.
“We have a presence of JSO every day, so it’s not just for traffic. In the morning, in the afternoon, they’re here all day.”
All of these steps are what make Bishop Kenny as secure as it is. Without even one of these safety measures, the school becomes vulnerable and the students are not as safe as they deserve to be.
“We dot the i’s and cross the t’s, because I’d rather be over the top about that than thinking ‘oh my gosh, how did this happen?’”
Prayers go out to the students at Douglas Anderson. With any hope, misconduct incidents such as those will cease to occur at that school or anywhere else in the county.
