Florida teacher loses job for calling student by preferred name
Washington Post |By Laura Meckler & Lori Rozsa | April 10, 2025
It’s the first known dismissal stemming from the conservative campaign to limit schools’ recognition of transgender identity.
A Florida high school teacher lost her job after calling a student by an alternative name without parental permission, sparking community backlash in the conservative birthplace of Moms for Liberty as school officials sought to comply with state law.
Melissa Calhoun had taught in Brevard County for 11 years when she ran headlong into a state rule that bars school staff from deviating from students’ legal names without written parental permission. The rule applies to students who choose an alternative name because of a change in gender identity, as well as those who might want to use a nickname. In this case, Calhoun was respecting the wishes of a student whose legal name is associated with girls, a person familiar with the situation said.
One of the student’s parents complained to the school district, which investigated the matter. The teacher admitted to knowingly using an alternative name without permission, district spokeswoman Janet Murnaghan said in a statement. This “directly violates state law” and district procedures, she said. The teacher received a letter of reprimand and was told last week that her annual contract, which expires in May, was not renewed, though she will finish out this school year.
The school district “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. “Teachers, like all employees, are expected to follow the law.”
Calhoun’s contract was not renewed because the state of Florida will be reviewing her teaching certificate based on this case, Murnaghan said, and the district will not bring her back until the issue is resolved with the state. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
Calhoun, who has worked at Satellite High School since 2019, could not be reached for comment.
The action prompted a surge of student and parent activism on Calhoun’s behalf — a striking response in a county where one of the founders of Moms for Liberty, a national group on the front lines of the education culture wars, once served on the school board.
More than 7,400 people signed a change.org petition calling for her to be reinstated. Students planned a walkout of classes on Thursday afternoon in support of the teacher. And while the matter was not on the agenda at the school board’s meeting this week, several members of the community spoke on her behalf during a public comment period.
“I’m seeing people who never got involved before signing the petition and commenting on Facebook,” said Amy Roub, a parent in Brevard County and volunteer with Florida’s chapter of Defense of Democracy, a group formed to oppose Moms for Liberty. “I think people have just had enough of this from the school board. They’ve gone too far this time.”
Two of Roub’s four children had Calhoun for a teacher in their Advanced Placement Literature class, and Roub recalled being struck by her love for teaching when she first met her. Calhoun also made it a point to attend student performances at the school, Roub said.
(Satellite is an arts magnet school set on a barrier island south of Cape Canaveral.)
“She is a beloved teacher, a teacher that changed her students’ lives,” Roub said.
But school board member Katye Campbell said teachers are trained to follow state rules, and it’s reasonable to expect that they will do so. She said people may think the rule is “silly,” but she said it’s important.
“The parents are the number one decision-makers for their children. That’s why we send out the form, that’s why the State Board of Education made the rule,” Campbell said. Asked about the rights of the students, she said it was not the district’s place to interfere in family relationships “unless we legally have a reason to.”
Similar rules prohibiting schools from using alternative names or pronouns are in place in 13 other states, but this appears to be the first time a teacher has lost his or her job for violating the policies, said Brian Dittmeier, director of public policy for GLSEN, an advocacy group for LGBTQ students.
The California law, signed last year, bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change. Maine policy allows students to use alternative names or pronouns without parental notification, the federal agency said.
