At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, Florida began requiring educators to get parental permission before calling a student by an alternative to their legal name. Less than two years later, a teacher didn’t comply — and lost her job.
Melissa Calhoun, a teacher at Satellite High School in Brevard County, will not have her contract renewed for the 2025-2026 school year after calling a student by a preferred name without getting a signed form, according to Brevard Public Schools Spokesperson Janet Murnaghan.
The decision is the first of its kind in reaction to Florida’s law.
“BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed,” Murnaghan said in an email statement Tuesday night.
The decision sparked outrage among some current students, alumni and pockets of the community on social media. A handful spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting, and thousands signed an online petition to reinstate Calhoun at the school.
Here’s what we know.
How did the district respond?
The district was made aware of Calhoun calling a student by a preferred name by the student’s parent, Murnaghan said, though she didn’t specify when this took place. After an investigation was conducted, during which Calhoun allegedly said she “knowingly did not comply with state statute,” a letter of reprimand was issued, Murnaghan said.
Ultimately, Murnaghan added, the district chose not to renew Calhoun’s annual contract, as the state would be reviewing her teaching credentials because her actions violated state law.
“At BPS our focus is on education — teachers are here to teach and support students academically,” Murnaghan said. “Our job is to work in partnership with parents and guardians to ensure student success.”
Calhoun’s LinkedIn profile shows she has worked for the district since 2013. Her most recent role places her as an AP Literature teacher at Satellite High, where she is scheduled to finish out the school year on a contract which expires in May.
She did not respond to FLORIDA TODAY’s requests for comment.
Brevard Federation of Teachers, the county’s teacher union, also declined to comment.
Brevard’s school board members did not respond to FLORIDA TODAY’s request for comment.
Has this happened in other Florida districts?
The Brevard incident is the first reported case of an educator losing their job as a result of “Parental Authorization for Deviation from Student’s Legal Name Form,” a 2023 rule requiring parental permission to use an alternative name for a student.
The law applies to any deviation from a student’s legal name, whether that be a name used because of a student’s transgender identity or a shortened form of a given name.
Community members believed this is a case related to the student’s gender identity.
The 2023 rule says Florida districts must develop a form for parents to sign indicating whether or not they consent to the use of an alternative name for their child.
What does Florida’s law say?
The “Parental Authroization for Deviation from Student’s Legal Name Form,” created by Florida’s board of education and signed by DeSantis in 2023, doesn’t say what the consequences are for educators who don’t comply. And while Florida’s state guidelines laying out educator ethics address certain topics related to LGBTQ issues, such as prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity except in select cases and using facilities designated for the opposite sex, they don’t mention the use of alternative names for students, with or without a parent’s consent.
The guidelines do say that teachers should include parents in decisions related to a student’s mental, emotional or physical wellbeing — though the guidelines aren’t specific about what those decisions may encompass. If a teacher believes the inclusion of a parent in these decisions may cause a student to be abused or neglected, the teacher doesn’t have to disclose the information, the guidelines state.
While Florida has a statute that addresses the use of preferred pronouns and a “personal title” that doesn’t “correspond to that person’s sex” by K-12 educators, it says nothing about whether or not a student may go by another name or pronoun.
That law has been challenged in federal court and was blocked in part by Judge Mark Walker, with teachers suing multiple defendants including the Florida Department of Education, Hillsborough County School Board, Lee County School Board and Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees.
The state has appealed Walker’s decision.
What are parents saying?
FLORIDA TODAY reached out to the family of the child in question. They declined to comment.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, Susan Pinsky, a mother of four, called Calhoun a “foundational teacher,” adding that Calhoun had taught three of her children.
“She is one of those teachers that builds the character of the people that she teaches,” Pinsky said. “She is a gift, and a teacher like that does not come around very often. So I implore you as a board to please reconsider your decision.”
Kristine Staniec, a media specialist at Satellite High and mother, compared the situation to the case of former principal Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan and teacher Karly Anderson at Roosevelt Elementary School being charged in connection to a house party involving minors. Both were placed on administrative leave, whereas Calhoun’s contract was not renewed.
“It has been over three months, and yet they still receive the benefit of time, privacy and due process and up until today’s agenda item, pay,” Staniec said, referencing an agenda item at Tuesday’s school board meeting that suspended Hill’s compensation. FLORIDA TODAY confirmed through employee records that both women were placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
“How can a serious legal matter involving student safety be met with patience and protection while a policy level misstep ends a respected teacher’s career in silence?”
What are students saying?
On Tuesday, prior to the school board meeting, students distributed a petition around Satellite High with the goal of reinstating Calhoun, said Ryan Matrigali, a junior at the school. The petition garnered 284 signatures over the course of the day. A similar online petition had 1,655 names as of the end of the board meeting and has continued to gain traction, boasting nearly 6,650 signatures just after 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“This teacher was not committing a crime or posing a threat to her students like others, but rather making her students feel comfortable in their own skin and in the classroom,” said Ryan.
Some students planned to protest by staging a walkout from school Thursday afternoon.
What are advocacy groups saying?
On Wednesday, multiple statewide advocacy organizations responded to the district’s decision not to renew Calhoun’s contract.
Quinn Diaz, Brevard County resident and public policy associate at Equality Florida, the state’s largest civil rights advocacy organization for LGBTQ people, said that respecting a student’s name is the “easiest way for teachers to create a positive” learning environment.
“This dedicated teacher is being fired for recognizing a student in the same manner that we acknowledge our family, friends and peers who use a nickname, their middle name or a shortened name,” Diaz said in an email to FLORIDA TODAY.
“Hundreds of students have spoken out in support of this teacher who is being ousted from the classroom at a time when we have a dramatic teacher shortage. Unfortunately, Governor DeSantis and the Brevard County School Board have prioritized culture wars at the expense of high-quality, beloved teachers.”
ACLU of Florida called into question how Calhoun’s removal would help students learn and thrive in a statement sent to FLORIDA TODAY Wednesday afternoon.
“Administrators should strive to retain great teachers, not toss them out merely for being respectful,” said Daniel Tilley, legal director of the ACLU of Florida. “Every student deserves a learning environment where they feel seen, safe, and supported.”
In a joint press release issued Wednesday afternoon, Florida Defense of Democracy, Youth Action Fund, Moms for Libros, National Parents Union and Our Florida called on Brevard’s school board to reverse their decision and renew Calhoun’s contract.
“(This moment is) about standing up for students, supporting educators and preserving the moral backbone of our public schools,” the release said. “Ms. Calhoun stood up for her student. Now it’s time for us to stand up for her.”
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at [email protected]. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida high school teacher calls student by preferred name, loses job
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