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Tuesday also marked the first meeting since Superintendent Mark Rendell announced that he would not consider rehiring Melissa Calhoun, a teacher whose contract was not renewed after a spring investigation by the district revealed she had used a then-senior’s chosen name without parental permission, an action in violation of a 2023 Florida Board of Education rule. A Florida Department of Education committee approved a settlement with Calhoun at the end of July, the stipulations of which placed her on a 12-month probation. Her probation does not begin until she obtains a teaching position.

The former Brevard County teacher who lost her job over calling a student by their preferred name and was at the center of a statewide debate over parental rights is telling her side of the story for the first time.

A teacher from Brevard County who made headlines last school year is speaking out for the first time.

A little less than a week after a Florida Department of Education committee cleared a Brevard teacher to return to the classroom after she was ousted for her use of a student’s chosen name, Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Mark Rendell said the district would not rehire her.

Melissa Calhoun appeared before the State of Florida Education Practices Commission on Wednesday, where the commission upheld a settlement allowing her to continue teaching during a one-year probation, despite a nickname complaint

A Florida Department of Education committee on July 30 unanimously accepted a settlement that upholds the credentials of a Brevard teacher whose contract wasn’t renewed after she used a high school student’s chosen name without parental permission.

Amy Roub spoke about Melissa Calhoun’s ousting, criticizing the district’s decision to not renew her contract after she used a student’s chosen name without parental permission. ‘Your constituents did not want you to fire her, and you completely ignored them when they came out en masse,’ she said. ‘You keep boasting this A-rated district while you bully the teachers responsible for those high test scores.’

Nearly four months after Brevard Public Schools ousted a high school teacher who used a student’s chosen name without parental permission, a state department of education committee will decide the fate of her teaching certification

A firestorm over a local teacher using a student’s preferred name ended with the teacher’s contract not renewed, and now Brevard Public Schools is reviewing its policies to ensure it doesn’t run afoul of state law.