Florida Teacher Loses Job Over Trans Student’s Name, But Community Fights Back

Administrators tried—and failed—to brush the first-of-its-kind case “under the rug,” community members say.

Satellite High School - Public Domain

Brevard County Public Schools quietly dismissed Melissa Calhoun, an AP Literature teacher at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, largely behind closed doors. Her crime: calling a supposedly trans student by their name.

But the community fought back. Now, Brevard Public Schools—the birthplace of Moms for Liberty—has once again found itself at the center of a maelstrom, igniting a mobilization of its students and parents against the far-right policies that its school board helped pioneer and spread across the country.

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich was once a Brevard school board member herself for the sleepy island town just outside Cape Canaveral. It also falls under the constituency of the newly minted Congressman Randy Fine, a Republican known for stoking the anti-trans by spreading false reports that a trans person sexually assaulted a student in a bathroom in this district.

On April 8, the board—composed of a conservative firewall including Megan Wright, Gene Trent, John Thomas, Katye Campbell, and Matt Susin—voted unanimously to dismiss Calhoun at the end of her contract in May, ending her decade-long career at Satellite High School. Their stated reason was that Calhoun had called a student by a name different than that on their birth certificate, which violates a 2023 statewide policy requiring written, parental consent before a teacher may do so.

A student’s parent evidently discovered the discrepancy and escalated it to the board. Calhoun’s case marks the first publicly known case of an educator losing their job due to the naming provisions of this law.

“After the accusation was made, the district conducted a detailed investigation,” a Brevard Public Schools spokesperson told Erin in the Morning. “Based on the teacher’s own admission that she knowingly did not comply with state statute, she received a letter of reprimand.”

The state is reviewing, and may rescind, her teaching certificate as a result. Calhoun could not be reached for comment at this time.

The “nickname” rule in question was enacted as part of a broader, statewide push by Governor Ron DeSantis to target and silence LGBTQ students in Florida. However, it applies to all students, not just in instances where a nickname may indicate something about a child’s gender identity. Even name shortenings such as calling a child “Matt” instead of “Matthew” could violate the law, unless a parent fills out a district-mandated form first.

“This teacher was not fired,” said Kristine Staniec, Calhoun’s colleague and a Satellite High School media specialist, in a speech at the April 8 board meeting. “Instead, her contract was simply not renewed. On paper, it may seem like a small administrative decision, but let's be honest, it was a way to slip this under the rug.” She lambasted the board for what she called a lack of “transparency.”

Finch Walker, an education journalist at FLORIDA TODAY, reported that students and parents also voiced support for Calhoun in an off-camera portion of the meeting captured by Walker.

“She was not reinstated for one simple reason,” said Satellite junior Ryan Matriagali in one such speech. “She was allowing a student to use the name they prefer.”

He cited a student-run petition that had been launched to save Calhoun’s job. When Matriagali made this speech, the petition had garnered a few hundred signatures in-person and over 1,600 online. As of writing, the online petition has surpassed 20,000 signatures.

The ink was still dry on the school board’s ruling when students began planning a walkout via social media. By Thursday, April 9, Satellite administrators knew they had a problem on their hands.

That day, teachers received an email signed by Satellite Principal Courtney Lundy, which can be seen in a photo obtained by Erin in the Morning depicting the message projected onto a white board. It instructed teachers to emphasize the consequences of walking out.

“Skipping class or leaving campus without permission [...] disrupt[s] the learning process and compromise[s] the safety and security of our school community,” the email reads. “Leaving campus, as always, results in suspension.”

Gavin, a 16-year-old Satellite student, told Erin in the Morning that he isn’t sure whether he would be suspended for his participation in the walkout, but that he felt it was important to join anyway because the law is “transphobic by nature.”

“If someone wants to be called by their preferred name, why should a school board have a say in that?” he said. “We have strength in numbers—I had to go there to help everybody out. If I didn’t go, and everyone else didn’t go, then we wouldn’t make a difference.”

Reports vary on the size and scope of the action, but the local police department said students engaged in a walkout, and noted it did not warrant a law enforcement response. There was also a student rally after school, and community members protesting at the perimeter holding signs like “Students have First Amendment rights, too” and “Support LGBTQ students.”

The Brevard Federation of Teachers, as well as advocacy organizations such as the local GLSEN and Defense of Democracy, also denounced the board’s decision on Calhoun.

"It's not obvious how firing a teacher for being kind to a student helps students learn and thrive,” Daniel Tilley, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, told Erin in the Morning. “Every student deserves a learning environment where they feel seen, safe, and supported.”

Jane, a Brevard County mother of four, says when she had to remove her trans child from the district after administrators admonished her then-preschooler for disclosing her gender to her peers. The incident left the child “traumatized.”

“We’ve built a wonderful community here, but I don’t know how much that can ultimately protect her as she gets older for various reasons, including her health care,” Jane told Erin in the Morning. She said she has friends who have fled the state, but that this is not economically viable for families like hers—everyday, supportive parents of trans youth.

“We all feel like a frog in boiling water,” said Jane.“We all feel like, when is it going to be our last straw? When do we really have to get out of here?”