Ryan Ray
A bill to provide funds for a “proper burial” for boys who died at the infamous Arthur Dozier School for Boys passed the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
The bill also authorizes the Department of State to “preserve historical resources, records, archives, and artifacts” related to the site.
The Dozier school is said to be the site of unspeakable abuse of boys who were often sent there for truancy or criminal mischief.
“If you did something wrong as a school child, you ended up in Marianna,” bill sponsor Sen. Arthenia Joyner said. “And I’ll tell you, it was a tale of horrors,”
The school closed in 2011.
Archaeologists at University of South Florida have unearthed the bodies of several boys who died at the school at the hands of state-backed caretakers.
The bill passed without opposition on a 40-0 vote.
Former Senate President Don Gaetz added he hopes the 1,300 acres of the former site, still owned by the state, are used for public, educational, or economic development purposes.
A former Marianna mayor, Elmore Bryant, has said he would like the state to grant the land to the city.
