Koek to lead Riverside High
Students returning to Riverside High School Aug. 12 will be greeted by a new principal this year, as the Duval County Public Schools shifts administrators among schools amid a renewed focus on student safety.
Former Mayport Middle School Principal Chris Koek has assumed leadership of Riverside High, succeeding Timothy Feagins, who has assumed the principal’s role at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. That school’s principal – Tina Wilson – transitioned to the administrative position of supervisor of exceptional education services for the Duval County Public Schools.
Wilson stepped down as principal of Douglas Anderson following a tumultuous year at the school in which five teachers were removed from the classroom since 2023 for multiple investigations of inappropriate conduct between teachers and students.
Student safety
The principal reassignments come as the Duval County Public Schools experiences a transition at the very top, with new superintendent Dr. Chris Bernier assuming leadership of the school system in July from interim Superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar. On June 27, shortly before stepping down, Kriznar issued an eight-page plan to improve student safety in relation to child abuse, use of illegal drugs and employee sexual misconduct.
“One of our primary goals as a school district is to ensure the safety of our students,” the report stated. “While individuals associated with Douglas Anderson have been at the center of attention, the safety of all students is the focus of our plan.”
Policy recommendations in Kriznar’s plan include mandating the removal from student contact of any person arrested or alleged to have engaged in child abuse, bodily harm or sexual misconduct, including indecent exposure.
That recommendation follows the revelation in April that Douglas Anderson algebra teacher Chris Allen-Black had remained in the classroom for six weeks after being arrested for indecent exposure at Walt Disney World.
“The issues that emerged from the events at Douglas Anderson revealed areas of weakness and opportunity that must be addressed,” the report acknowledged.
Other recommended policy changes include stating “unambiguously” that “employees texting, interacting on social media and/or being alone with students who are not their family members may be grounds, following due process, for disciplinary action up to and including termination.”
The announcement of Allen-Black’s arrest followed the removal from class of four other Douglas Anderson teachers, including Jeffrey Clayton, who in June was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct with a student.
