Attorney’s letter to School Board and City of Alachua alleges sexual relationship between SFHS baseball coach and female student

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA, Fla. – Attorney Bobi Frank has sent the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) and the City of Alachua a demand letter alleging that former Santa Fe High School (SFHS) Baseball Coach Travis Yeckring “engaged in inappropriate contact with a female minor student of a sexual nature” and that the City and School Board failed to protect the student from Yeckring after she reported the inappropriate incidents.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed in March that it was investigating “allegations of sexual misconduct” at the high school; Yeckring was placed on administrative leave at about the same time.

The letter demands information on liability insurance policies held by the two entities, a first step in the process of filing a lawsuit, and also demands the preservation of any documents relating in any way to the alleged incidents.

The “Notice of Claim” attached to the letter states that the claimant is a parent of the female student and that the alleged incident took place in October 2022 at the high school. The Notice of Claim states that the “City of Alachua and [SBAC], specifically SFHS, breached its duty of care by failing to protect the Claimant from inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature from Mr. Yeckring, specifically those that she reported to administration to prevent the foreseeable injury. Additionally, SFHS failed to document any of the incidents reported by Claimant regarding Mr. Yeckring’s inappropriate contact with her in a sexual nature, exemplifying further negligence.”

The Notice of Claim lists SFHS Principal Tim Wright, Assistant Principal for Curriculum Mac Rendek, Athletic Director Michele Faulk, and Yeckring as individuals who may be implicated in the lawsuit. It lists “Florida Statute violations, actual monetary loss, irreparable emotional trauma, mental anguish, pain and suffering, financial damage, and psychological & emotional injuries [that] are still accruing” as injuries and states that all “available and allowable compensation for injuries sustained” will be pursued.

Alachua Chronicle received the document from the City of Alachua in response to a public records request. In response to a request for comment from SBAC regarding the allegations against its current and former employees, Public Information Officer Jackie Johnson responded, “We would not be able to discuss this situation because of the pending litigation.” It is unclear why the City of Alachua is included in the lawsuit, but the Alachua Police Department provides School Resource Officers to schools in the city, including SFHS.

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