Clay County Schools has a favorite hobby, and it isn’t protecting kids. It’s protecting Clay County Schools. The children come second. Sometimes third, right after the lawyers.
“Independent,” they said
On September 3, Superintendent David Broskie told the board that an independent Tallahassee investigation produced nine shiny new safety fixes. Its recommendation, he said, was “really nine things that have already been instituted.”
Already instituted. Funny choice of words. The district’s own safety director, Matt Boyack, presented those exact nine items at a board workshop on July 23. That was three weeks before the outside firm had reported a single finding, by Broskie’s own timeline. Clay News & Views put the lists side by side. They match.
So the “independent” review signed off on homework the district had already turned in to itself. Gold star.
What Broskie didn’t mention: the firm’s name. What it found. How Mikal Detoro got near kids without a completed background check. Who was disciplined, and how. Apparently “trust us” is the policy now.
Meet the “volunteer”
In late April, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sting arrested 29 men. One was Mikal Detoro. Sheriff T.K. Waters says Detoro drove to a prearranged spot planning sex acts with a boy in his Jeep Wrangler: seats folded down, blankets, multiple cameras, sexual paraphernalia. The sheriff also noted a prior Clay County arrest for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The district’s response was a masterclass in paperwork. Never an employee. Never approved as a coach. Just a Level 1 volunteer who, by policy, is never alone with students. Nothing to see here.
Except Clay News & Views reports he volunteered as a wrestling coach at Wilkinson Junior High right up until his arrest. And the sheriff described him as coaching a minor child at a Clay County facility. Pick a story, district. You don’t get both.
The report you paid for and can’t read
Clay News & Views asked for the investigation report. The district declared it exempt and cited two Florida statutes. One doesn’t match current public records law. The other doesn’t appear to exist at all. Bold strategy: cite a law that isn’t there and hope nobody checks.
The exemption they probably meant covers active investigations. But Broskie already told the board discipline was done and the investigators had finished. By his own words, the report is fair game.
Rinse, repeat
Clay High wrestling: a lawsuit alleges four students pinned a boy in the locker room, tried to rip his pants off, and threatened him with a hacksaw. Prosecutors dropped the charges, saying the attackers couldn’t be identified, even though they had been identified before.
Then the family hired a lawyer. So the district hired that same lawyer. Cute.
The district told reporters the suit was a rerun of dismissed cases. Action News Jax went through dozens of court cases and found no connection to any similar ones. Then in June, district lawyers asked a judge to toss it, arguing the county isn’t responsible for what happens inside its own walls when a third party is using the space.
Read that again. Your kid, their building, not their problem.
Now Clay News & Views is asking about Iron Forge Wrestling Academy, which operates inside Ridgeview’s gym and is owned by Ridgeview’s head wrestling coach, Mark Detoro, and his wife. Mark is Mikal’s brother. The “it was just a club” defense is already warming up in the bullpen.
The running tab
Ten adults tied to Clay County District Schools, arrested or accused of crimes against children since 2018. Newest first…
Substitute teacher at 5 elementary schools, hired through Kelly Services
2026
Possessing child and animal sex abuse images (6 counts)
Charged. Had passed all required background checks
Industrial education teacher, Ridgeview High
May 2026
Sending sexually explicit messages and photos to a student
Charged (7 felony counts), held on $525K bond
Volunteer wrestling coach, Wilkinson Junior High (district says Level 1 volunteer only)
April 2026
Driving to meet a boy for sex, caught in JSO sting
Charged. Banned from district campuses
ESE behavioral assistant, W.E. Cherry Elementary, employed since 2016
Aug 2025
Kicking a special-needs student three times
Charged with child abuse. Reported by the principal.
Math teacher for a few months [add school and dates]. Son of board member Beth Clark
Jan 2025
Driving to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old boy for sex, caught in Nassau County sting
Charged. District has refused repeated records requests from TheBoldAdvocate and Clay News & Views for his file. Thankfully Nassau county wasn’t so difficult to work with and we were able to obtain his entire investigation file and arrest video.
Wrestling coach, Fleming Island High, since 2009
Investigated 2024
Sexual contact with a wrestler starting in 2018, when the student was 16–17
Never charged: statute of limitations expired. Suspended Sept 2024, resigned 2025
Teacher, assistant football coach, girls weightlifting coach, Oakleaf High
Aug 2023
Lewd and lascivious molestation; multiple students aged 15–17
Pleaded to lesser child abuse charge in 2025. Adjudication withheld, 3 years probation, teaching license forfeited
Clay County teacher since 2014
Aug 2022
Aggravated child abuse of his own 1-month-old (not a student)
Charged, suspended.
Teacher, Orange Park Junior High, hired 2013
March 2019
Unlawful sexual activity with a 16–17-year-old former student; allegedly got her pregnant and offered abortion money
Resigned before arrest, pleaded not guilty.
Former teacher, Clay High (2016–17) and Orange Park High (1997–2004)
Sept 2018
Distributing child sexual abuse material; discussed meeting an undercover “14-year-old” for sex
Federal charge. Outcome not found
Not in the table: the 2022 Clay High wrestling hazing, where four students are accused and the civil suit against the district is ongoing. The civil suit states that a wrestling coach walked in while this was happening. Why did he never report the abuse? Why did it take this kid and his parents to file a lawsuit for their voices to be heard?
The board member’s son
Board member Beth Clark represents District 3; her term runs to 2028. Her son, Harrison “Ted” Clark, briefly taught math for Clay County District Schools and was a Clay County elected official until a January 2025 Nassau County sting. According to Nassau, he’s accused of driving to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old boy for sex, and he resigned after being charged.
Beth Clark isn’t accused of anything. But the district she helps govern won’t release her son’s employee file, and she holds a vote on the board sitting on the Detoro report.
So, Ms. Clark: do you want it released? Yes or no. And if no, why? Are you a predator protector?
The clock just stopped
Florida changed the law. Prosecutors said that for years, by the time victims came forward as adults, the statute of limitations had already run out on the adults who stayed quiet. The new law covers future cases. Translation: “wait it out” just stopped working.
And look at the wrestling pipeline. Detoro got caught by Jacksonville’s sheriff. Cobbert got flagged to the district by the sheriff’s office, and the prosecutors were too late. The Clay High hazing surfaced because a family pushed. The district wasn’t the one blowing the whistle.
Release the report. Name the firm. Name who was disciplined. And stop making children do your job for you!
And will a group of parents please find their courage and over throw this pathetic school board already?
