BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (WKRC) – A high school teacher reportedly lost her job after she called a student by their preferred name without permission from their parents.
Although Melissa Calhoun worked at Satellite High School since 2019, her contract was not renewed after the school received a complaint from a parent that claimed Calhoun was addressing their child by a name that aligned with the student’s gender identity and not their legal name, per The Washington Post.
The student’s parents cited a piece of Florida legislation that requires teachers to call students only by their legal name or by a name signed off on by the parents, including in the case of nicknames. Although similar laws exist in other states, this incident was allegedly the first in which a teacher was fired for breaking the law in question, per Huffington Post.
The decision was defended by a spokesperson for the school district, Janet Murnaghan, who said the school “supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed.”
Although the school stood by their decision, students protested the termination and a petition to get Calhoun’s job back generated over 20,000 signatures.