SF High School Accused of Failing to Record Reports of Coach’s Sexual Misconduct
Santa Fe High School is in further legal trouble. As a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation is being conducted into the school for sexual misconduct, the school has now received a Notice of Claim from a victim’s family alleging the school and school district failed to handle the incidents properly.
On Wednesday, TV20 publicized a Notice of Claim sent on May 22 from Attorney Bobbi J. Frank to the City of Alachua and the Alachua County School Board. It states, “Santa Fe High School (SFHS) Baseball Coach, Travis Yecking, engaged in inappropriate contact with a female minor student of sexual nature.”
Yeckring is currently under administrative leave.
The Notice of Claim goes on to state that SFHS failed to protect the student from sexual misconduct and failed to document the abuses Yecking committed against her when she reported it to school authorities.
The notice names several authoritative parties, including the City of Alachua, the Alachua County School Board, and specifically SFHS. “[They] should have known of [their] duty to protect said minor female student,” the claim states.
Within SFHS, the notice names specific authoritative faculty members. Aside from the City of Alachua, the Alachua County School Board, and Yecking, the claim outlines that his colleague, athletic director Michelle Faulk, as well as the school’s principal Tim Wright and assistant principal Mac Rendek, may be named as agents of the school in the claim if investigation deems it permissible.
The Notice of Claim states SFHS’s actions have resulted in “Florida Statute violations, actual monetary loss, irreparable emotional trauma, mental anguish, pain and suffering, financial damage, and [accruing] psychological & emotional injuries.”
The monetary amount being sought is not specified in the claim, stating, “All available and allowable compensation for injuries sustained, including general and compensatory damages for violations of law to be enumerated, costs, and attorney's fees.”
Last March, Gainesville sod business Thompson Sod Inc. took down all of their promotional materials at SFHS in response to the FDLE’s investigation.
The letter demanding the removal of all references to Thompson Sod from school property stated they took the action to “stand up for all children, past and present, that attend SFHS and who have been, or are currently being, victimized by adults who have been entrusted with providing the children a safe place to receive an education.”
SFHS has had previous problems with teachers violating their students. In 2020, a SFHS teacher, Christopher Salamone, was arrested and found guilty on six counts of sexual battery against a 16- or 17-year-old. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by 25 years of probation.
A WRUF article written last year states Yeckring has coached the SFHS Raiders baseball team since 2020.
According to Yeckring's LinkedIn, he previously worked as an assistant baseball coach at Santa Fe College from August 2013 through October 2017 before becoming an event coordinator at the Florida Sports Foundation.
Gainesville Public Information Services attempted to contact Yeckring through direct messaging on Instagram; he was asked if he took advantage of his faculty position to engage in inappropriate contact with a student. He has not opened the message.
