Florida teachers fired for using the student’s preferred names without parental consent

• Melissa Calhoun’s contract was not renewed after referring to a student with their preferred names without permission from the child’s parents, according to Florida Law
• Brevard Public Schools said that the teacher admitted that he did not follow the law during an investigation
• A change in change.org that requires Calhoun’s reinstatement has over 14,000 signatures

A Florida teacher was fired for calling his student with his preferred name without the consent of the child’s parents, according to Click OrlandoThe Central Florida public media and Florida today.

Melissa Calhoun, teacher at Satellite High School in Brevard County, Florida, was informed that her contract for the school year 2025-2026 would not be renewed because she called a student an alternative name to their legal name without a signed form.

According to Floridas ”Parent approval for deviation from the student’s legal name form“Law, teachers are obliged to get parental permission before calling a student with a name other than their legal. The law was implemented at the beginning of the school year 2023-2024.

The student’s parent warned the school that Calhoun called the student with a preferred name. Brevard Public School’s spokesman Janet Murnaghan said the district conducted an internal investigation into the matter, and Calhoun admitted that he used the child’s preferred name Per Florida today.

As a result, Florida will review her teaching tasks because she violated state law. Due to the state’s intervention, the district chose not to renew its annual contract. Calhoun started working at school in 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“BPS supports the parents’ rights to be the foremost decision makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law confirms their right to be informed,” Murnaghan said in a statement Per Florida today.

“The teacher works according to a ten -month contract that expires in May 2025,” Murnaghan’s statement continued. “Since the state will review its teacher certificate based on these measures, the district decided not to renew the annual contract until the issue has been resolved with the state.”

“At BPS, our focus on education teachers is here to teach and support students academically,” Murnaghan wrote. “Our job is to work in collaboration with parents and guardians to ensure the success of the students.”

During a school board meeting on Tuesday, April 8, Calhoun’s colleague, Kristine Staniec, said, “the teacher made a difference in her classroom and in the life of our students, including my own child. She deserved more than a silent outcome. She deserved justice, context and compassion.”

“There was no harm, no threat to security, no malicious intention, just a teacher who tried to get in touch with a student,” Staniec said.

A change in change.org, entitled “Reinstate MS Calhoun”, was created and has over 14,580 signatures as of Thursday, April 10.

“I expand my strongest recommendation for the reintroduction of Melissa Calhoun at Satellite High School,” wrote a person named Joanna on the presentation. “I have known her since she was 16 as a student in my classroom, and I have seen her flourish as a teacher of her adulthood, from her work at Delaura Middle School where she inspired so many young people including our son, to her work at the Satellith School where she has not only poured her heart in teaching but also to develop strong bands with students.

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A representative of Brevard Public Schools did not immediately respond to people’s request for more information on Thursday.