Attorney Bobi Frank has filed an amended complaint against the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) and the city of Alachua after both entities filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit of a Santa Fe High School parent who alleged that baseball coach and media specialist Travis Yeckring sexually harassed her daughter.
The amended complaint leans on claims that the school board failed to properly supervise Yeckring after multiple student-reported incidents, and the Alachua Police Department’s (APD’s) failure to investigate or report Yeckring’s alleged repeated incidents of sexual harassment, child abuse and/or child neglect.
The amended complaint, filed on Wednesday, splits its accusations more clearly between the school board and the city, with the following amended counts:
Count 1 is now negligent supervision, against the school board, stating that the SBAC owes and breached a legal duty of care to ensure that its employees follow Florida law as mandatory reporters, and to ensure that “proper actions” were taken against Yeckring once his behavior was reported. This count focuses on the school district’s awareness of Yeckring’s alleged actions and failure to supervise him, creating a “foreseeable zone of risk.”
Count 2 is now negligence per se, against the school board, where a defendant violates a statute or regulation without an excuse and is automatically considered to have breached their duty of care. This count states that the school board and its agents and employees violated Florida law by “failing or refusing to report” Yeckring’s alleged behavior.
Count 3 is now negligence per se, against the city of Alachua, which the complaint says violated Florida statute when school resource officers provided by APD failed to report Yeckrings’s alleged behavior.
Formerly included counts of negligent retention and res ipsa loquitur have been removed in the amended complaint.
The amended complaint also addresses the “impact rule,” which the SBAC brought up as a reason to dismiss the case.
“Because of the foreseeability and gravity of the emotional injury sustained by [the minor], and the lack of countervailing policy concerns supporting the ‘impact rule’ the… facts of this case fall within the exceptions to the ‘impact rule’,” the amended complaint states.
The lawsuit was originally filed on Oct. 30, 2024 based on claims of sexual harassment, abuse and neglect suffered by a sophomore at Santa Fe High School during the 2022-23 school year.