A Florida teacher called a student by their preferred name without parental permission. Her teaching contract wasn’t renewed

By Alaa Elassar, CNN

(CNN) — A Florida high school teacher’s community is rallying behind her after the school district chose not to renew her teaching contract because she called a student by their preferred name without parental permission.

A parent at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, reported the teacher and complained that she “had been referring to a student by a name other than their legal name,” a Brevard Public Schools spokesperson said in a statement.

“This directly violates state law and the district’s standardized process for written parental consent,” spokesperson Janet Murnaghan said in the statement. “BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed.”

According to the BPS statement, the teacher, who was not named by the school district, told school district officials she “knowingly did not comply with state statute,” and as a result, the district conducted an investigation and issued her a letter of reprimand.

CNN has not been able to reach the teacher involved for comment.

State statute prohibits public K-12 school employees from referring to another person by their “preferred personal title or pronouns” if it doesn’t correspond to the sex assigned at birth, and a student cannot be asked by a public K-12 school employee or contractor to share “his or her preferred personal title or pronouns.”

“Florida is the Parental Rights state, and those rights are enshrined in law. Student name change decisions lay with parents, not educators or administrators,” Florida Department of Education spokesperson Sydney Booker told CNN in a statement.

“According to State Board Rule 6A-1.0955, (school) districts must adopt a policy for provisions for parents to specify the use of any deviation from their child’s legal name in school. School districts will develop a form to obtain parental consent along with any required documentation, as appropriate,” Booker said.

The teacher is still working under a 10-month contract that expires next month, according to the school district. Because of the accusation, the state is reviewing her teaching certificate and the district has decided not to renew her annual contract “until the issue is resolved with the state,” the district said.

“Teachers, like all employees, are expected to follow the law,” Murnaghan said. “At BPS our focus is on education – teachers are here to teach and support students academically. Our job is to work in partnership with parents and guardians to ensure student success.”

Community responds with outrage

More than 26,000 people have signed a Change.org petition, calling the teacher an “advocate for respect and student rights” and demanding her contract be renewed. Signatures include comments of support from her former students, colleagues and community members.

“She was reprimanded for referring to a student by the name they prefer rather than their official name – a direct blow to personal rights and respect,” the petition reads.

“(She) is an embodiment of what proper education should be: inclusive, understanding, and respectful of individuality. Losing her would be a significant loss to Brevard County’s education community. Her story highlights a fundamental problem in our education system where empathy and understanding are pushed aside for rigid bureaucracy,” the petition continues.

A group of Satellite High students held a walkout and peaceful gathering in the school’s courtyard Thursday before returning to class about 10 minutes later, the Satellite Beach Police Department said on Facebook.

Satellite High School media specialist Kristine Staniec, whose child was taught by the teacher facing disciplinary action, spoke at the Brevard Public Schools board meeting on Tuesday and criticized the school for its choice not to renew her contact.

She said there was “no explanation to families, no chance for the teacher to correct the mistake, no transparency, just a quiet final decision that effectively ended her career in our district.”

“The teacher made a difference in her classroom and in the lives of our students, including my own child; she deserved more than a quiet exit,” Staniec added. “She deserved fairness, context and compassion.”

Brevard County is one of two Florida counties where the right-wing conservative group Moms for Liberty was founded. Initially created in response to Covid-19 school closures and mask mandates, the organization has since broadened its focus to include advocating for book bans; calling for halting the teaching of critical race theory; and prohibiting teachers from discussing gender and sexuality during school hours.

This latest public school dispute comes as some states have moved to limit the rights of LGBTQ people.

In recent years, states across the US have restricted gender-affirming care, prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, and mandated that schools disclose trans and nonbinary students’ identities to their parents.

Critics say the nationwide, conservative-led pushes for more laws restricting discussion around gender identity and sexuality in classrooms as well as bans on books with LGBTQ characters, authors and themes in public libraries and schools is all aimed at limiting the community’s representation and rights. They point to data showing that LGBTQ youth reported lower rates of attempting suicide when they had access to LGBTQ-affirming spaces.

Decisions to punish educators for respecting their students’ sense of self-autonomy will likely have lasting negative impacts on students’ mental health, which will also affect their future academic success, said Brian Dittmeier, director of public policy for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, an advocacy group for LGBTQ students.

“We have seen consistently that hostile learning environments, including learning environments that don’t affirm students in their chosen name and pronouns, can contribute to diminished academic success, a lack of feeling of belonging in the school community, and adverse mental health outcome, including higher rates of depression and anxiety and higher rates of attempted and considered suicide,” Dittmeier told CNN.

Florida also has the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics because it bans discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation with students in certain grade levels. It also requires parents be notified of decisions or changes affecting students’ mental, emotional or physical health or well-being. And it says that school district employees aren’t allowed to discourage or prohibit such parental notification.

Several Florida teachers have fallen under scrutiny due to its provisions, including a fifth-grade teacher who in 2023 was investigated for showing a Disney movie featuring a gay character, and LGBTQ teachers who have said they no longer felt they could discuss their lives or answer their students’ questions without fear of punishment.

A settlement last year between state education officials and a group of LGBTQ advocates and family members clarified the law, spelling out that students and teachers are allowed to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as long as it isn’t part of formal instruction.

Civil rights organizations, teachers and families argued “vague” language of the original law could have a chilling effect on LGBTQ-related topics being discussed in schools.

By putting bureaucracy in the middle of the student-teacher relationships, Dittmeier said students will feel unable to attend school as their authentic selves, and teachers will be prohibited from treating their students with “basic dignity.”

At least 13 other states have enacted similar policies that prohibit educators from using students’ preferred alternative names or pronouns, but this seems to be the first instance of a teacher losing their job for violating such policies, Dittmeier said.

Staniec spoke passionately to school board members about her colleague.

“Her offense? An unintentional violation of the nickname policy. There was no harm, no threat to safety, no malicious intent, just a teacher trying to connect with a student, and for that, her contract was not renewed, despite her strong dedication and years of service,” Staniec said.

“I ask you: How can we justify this?”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.