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About a month and a half after a Satellite High teacher’s contract wasn’t renewed following her use of a student’s chosen name without parental permission, she attended a Brevard school board meeting for the first time.

Melissa Calhoun, whose contract was not renewed after an investigation found she violated a state statute, administrative code, and board policy, attended a board meeting in which members voted to renew the contracts of many of her colleagues.

Recently, it was decided that a Satellite High teacher’s contract will not be renewed after she referred to a student by their preferred name. I’ve covered the evolving Florida laws regarding LGBTQ+ students and education, as well as how local schools and communities have responded to the laws and policies that followed, including the policy that led to the teacher being fired.

The Brevard school district’s 128-page investigation into a parent’s complaint regarding the unauthorized use of her teen’s chosen name among educators concluded with a recommendation to reprimand a Satellite High teacher. But Superintendent Mark Rendell decided instead to not renew Melissa Calhoun’s contract, with the district citing uncertainty about what action the state would take when they opted to report her to the Florida Department of Education.

‘I don’t know the full details of the situation, but in my three years of having Mrs. Calhoun as a teacher I have never once heard her impose her views on another student or even bring them up in class,’ one student wrote.

Over a month after a Brevard County teacher was told she would lose her job after using a student’s “preferred nickname,” News 6 has obtained the investigative records that show what led up to it.

A Florida high school teacher who lost her job is receiving an outpouring of support — and some criticism — for calling a student by their preferred name, rather than their legal name.

Brevard’s school board has shared little about their reasons for not opting to renew the contract of an AP English Literature teacher who used the chosen name of a high school senior without parental permission. So a political activist and comedian took things into his own hands and imagined what they might say.

Following nearly a month of public outcry in response to a high school teacher’s contract not being renewed because she used a student’s chosen name without parental consent, a protest in her support was held ahead of the May 6 Brevard school board meeting.

A protest in the rain, a person escorted from the room and, to kick off public comments, a warning from the board chair that disruptions could lead to trespasses being issued.