The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has referred three Santa Fe High School administrators to the Office of the State Attorney for potential criminal prosecution, more than a year after news broke of an investigation at the school.  

Now, the Office of the State Attorney (SAO) for the Eighth Judicial Circuit will review the sworn complaints and decide whether to bring formal charges. According to court records, FDLE’s recommended charges are child neglect and failure to report suspected child abuse—both third degree felonies. 

The FDLE made the filing on June 17 and named former principal Timothy Wright, current athletic director Michele Faulk and assistant principal David Rendek, who is no longer at Santa Fe High School. Wright retired from Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) in 2024 after the investigations started.  

Faulk and Rendek remain employed by the district. After Mainstreet inquired into their status, the school district announced that both employees would be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigations.  

Darry Lloyd, SAO spokesperson, said the office has up to two years to decide if it will prosecute the charges sent by FDLE. He said the office ensures it reviews long investigations in detail and even interviews witnesses cited in the sworn complaints.  

Lloyd said the prosecutors assigned to the investigation have an active case load to manage. He said they’ll wade through the reports to decide if it meets the criteria beyond a reasonable doubt—different from law enforcement’s probable cause criteria to submit an affidavit.   

Jackie Johnson, spokesperson for ACPS, said earlier Thursday that the district had not received information about the sworn complaints sent to the state attorney’s office and couldn’t address any steps the district might take. Later, just after 5 p.m., she said the district had received confirmation of the complaints and decided to place both employees on leave. 

In March 2024, reports emerged that FDLE was investigating crimes against children after a prominent advertiser pulled his support from Santa Fe High School. Former baseball coach and school media specialist Travis Yeckring was then placed on administrative leave. He had led Raiders baseball since 2020 and has yet to be charged. 

In October 2024, attorney Bobi Frank sued the city of Alachua and the School Board of Alachua County on behalf of a parent at the school, claiming Yeckring had sexually harassed her daughter. The lawsuit, which mentioned Wright, Faulk and Rendek, claimed negligence and said multiple reports about Yeckring had been ignored, with no record of complaints in his personnel file.   

But a judge threw out the lawsuit in April for having no grounds for a civil case.  

Still, Frank told Mainstreet in a Thursday statement that she believes the recommended criminal charges are appropriate. 

“The damage that these three people have done and the victims that have been harmed due to their conduct is reprehensible,” Frank said in an email statement before the school district’s decision late Thursday. “My client and her family remain hopeful that they will be held accountable for their crimes and that the Alachua County School Board will immediately terminate their employment, as it should have a long time ago.”   

Frank also called on the state attorney to send a clear message and to protect the children of Alachua County by prosecuting these cases. 

“This is a long time coming and an opportunity for the State Attorney to prove his critics wrong and show the community that he will hold people accountable for the felonies they commit against children,” Frank said.