Posted on 04/11/2025 10:50:54 AM PDT by simpson96
A Florida high school teacher has been fired for calling a student an alternative name without getting parental permission, making her the first educator to be fired under a state law passed last year.
Melissa Calhoun, a teacher at Satellite High School in Brevard County, will not have her contract renewed next school year after using a preferred name without obtaining a parental consent form, Florida Today reported Thursday.
“BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed,” Brevard County Public Schools spokesperson Janet Murnaghan told the outlet.
Calhoun worked for the school district beginning in 2013, with her most recent position being an AP Literature teacher, according to her LinkedIn profile. The school is not renewing her position because the state will be reviewing her teaching credentials due to her willful violation of the law. The school district conducted an investigation into Calhoun after the student’s parent told the district what was going on.
“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 is the first teacher terminated under a Florida law that requires educators to obtain parental permission before using a different name for a student. The law applies to minors claiming to be transgender or requesting other deviations from their legal name.
Florida’s board of education created the law and Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed it in 2023. It is unclear what the required consequences are for violators. The law is one of several parental rights initiatives passed by DeSantis who has been at the forefront of fighting left-wing ideological capture in education.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Excellent. Policy is irrelevant if it is allowed to be violated without consequence.
Parental rights trump educator feelings, 100% of the time.
Boom. You’re fired!
OK groomer
Excellent. Swing the pendulum back to normalcy.
My brother teaches high school. He has taken the position of only using last name or just pointing and saying “you.”
It’s not that he doesn’t like the students, he just knows that if he uses the wrong term he gets fired.
If a mentally disturbed boy thinks his name is Sally and the parents agree and he call him John, he’s fired.
If a mentally disturbed boy thinks he’s a girl and the parents disagree and he calls him Sally, he’s fired.
I was being interviewed at a trade show the other day and we were shooting a video for them to use for their social media. I hadn’t met the interviewer or the cameraman before. At one point I suggested the camera operator come for a close up and used the name on the nametag. As “she” got a little closer, I realized her parents didn’t name him Natalie.
Ick. I actually felt weird using his/her name.
good
had that happen in our lives
First step to a living hell.
“My brother teaches high school. He has taken the position of only using last name or just pointing and saying “you.”.
Very military solution! Soldiers name tags only have last names and if can’t read it “You” works fine.
In High school a good many of my instructors
were former military. In class most all used my last name
only.
National Review no longer reports.
I read the entire article and unless I missed it I saw nothing on what she miscalled the kid.
Guess she will be moving to Cali, Colorado, or New York now.
Without a legal change of name, schools should insist on their teachers using the name or variant that is legal (Pat/Patrick).
According to NR article she was not Fired.
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