C.J. Gish
Santa Fe High School (SFHS) baseball coach and school media specialist Travis Yeckring was placed on administrative leave Monday. The announcement came after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) recently started investigating alleged crimes against children at the school.
Yeckring, the head coach of the Raiders since 2020, also works in the SFHS library media center.
Alachua County Public Schools spokesperson Jackie Johnson confirmed that Yeckring has been placed on leave. Johnson was unable to give additional information.
On March 8, Gainesville attorney Bobi Frank, representing Thompson Sod, Inc., sent an open letter demanding SFHS remove her client’s logo from the school campus due to the FDLE investigation.
According to the letter, there is an ongoing investigation into “numerous” individuals, including employees and affiliates at SFHS, being conducted by the FDLE.
“The removal of the Thompson’s business logo from Santa Fe High School’s campus is the first step that the Thompsons are taking in their quest to proudly stand up for all children, past and present, that attend Santa Fe High School and who have been, or are currently being victimized by adults who have been entrusted with providing the children a safe place to receive and education, play sports, and socialize,” Frank wrote in the letter.
Thompson Sod, Inc. had a sign below the baseball field scoreboard recognizing the business for donating the scoreboard.
Yeckring previously spent time as an assistant coach at Santa Fe College (SF) and Buchholz High School. According to his SF coaching profile, Yeckring was a starter on the Saints baseball team that won the 2009 state championship and JUCO national runner-up team. He was a three-year varsity starter for Buchholz and was named a 6A first team all-state infielder.