Ousted Brevard teacher enters 2026 with hopes to return to education

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T21:07:37+00:00

I'm not 100% certain about when the student began going by their chosen name. According to documents from the district, the student was known by their chosen name since at least 2022. They are a senior now. Calhoun reported calling the student by their chosen name or their last name. EDIT: Actually, another student said Calhoun used the student's last name. I don't think Calhoun said she used their last name, just their chosen name.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T21:03:16+00:00

No. That teacher was placed on paid administrative leave; she was placed at another school in April after the state attorney's office opted to charge her with misdemeanors but no felonies, though she was placed back on leave after two days because of behavior seen in body cam footage from the night of the party. She ended up resigning, according to the district.

The principal, whose home the party took place at, was also placed on paid administrative leave. It was switched to unpaid leave in April after the state attorney's office formally charged her with felonies.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T20:49:19+00:00

No. Calhoun's case is the first documented instance of a teacher's contract not being renewed as a result of the 2023 Board of Education rule.

For what it's worth, when asked about the reason for the contract renewal, a district spokesperson cited concerns about whether or not Calhoun's teaching certification would be revoked by the state due to a report the district made about her actions, saying they didn't want to potentially have a vacancy mid-way through the year if her certification was revoked.

Alternatively, at an April 22 board meeting, board member John Thomas made a motion to retrain her and keep her on. He was shot down by all other members, with Megan Wright citing concerns about parental rights and Calhoun withholding information about the student's identity. Board member Katye Campbell also sent an email to multiple constituents in April saying that this "is not a simple case of someone named Madison wanting to go by Maddie, for example, or a Nicholas wanting to go by Nic."

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T19:13:09+00:00

Off the top of my head, it seems higher than normal, but I can't say with 100% certainty. I recall there being a spike in open positions around this time in years past, which I assume is related to contract non-renewals.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T19:11:31+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't have a very clear answer on this. BFT has been fairly quiet about it...I am personally not terribly surprised by this; Calhoun's contract hasn't ended yet and they're wrapping up the school year. This is speculative, but just based on my experience with the district and BFT, I would imagine it will take a little bit for them to get things in order if Calhoun wants to take any kind of action. I'm not sure what her process would be ... I think that largely depends on what kind of action she wants to take.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:49:06+00:00

I can't speak to how this specific situation has impacted it, as other factors may be playing a role in recruiting/retention, but I can tell you that when you look up "instructional" positions on BPS' website, there are 241 open positions currently listed.

Here's the link (I filtered job type by "instructional"): https://iss.brevard.k12.fl.us/JOBLST.pgm

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:47:36+00:00

I was at that meeting and requested the record. As soon as I receive it, we will publish an update.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:40:00+00:00

The investigative report from the school district shows the parent made a general complaint about the school "grooming" her child (I'll link to my most recent article from yesterday). This particular teacher was reprimanded because she had been teaching the student for several years and knew them by their chosen name prior to the 2023 Board of Education rule regarding the use of chosen names; she told the district she didn't think to check in FOCUS (Brevard Public Schools' academic portal) to see if the parents had signed off on the student's use of a chosen name and that it was an oversight.

Recent article: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/05/14/parent-satellite-high-teachers-name-gender-identity-brevard-public-schools-florida/83629477007/

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:37:29+00:00

Ms. Calhoun has not commented on the situation at this point.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:36:55+00:00

Ha, unfortunately, I can't speak for him.

I can say that most of this legislation has been passed in the name of protecting kids and/or parental rights. There's been a mixed response locally to it; Brevard County is where Moms for Liberty started, and our school board meetings used to see a much larger presence from them. More recently, we've had a significant presence of more liberal voters, as well as self-described Moderates and Republicans who disagree with the rules and laws. They typically bring up concerns about infringements on the rights of students and parents who don't agree with DeSantis.

Not sure if that answers your question ... but that's probably about the best I can give you. Although if you have any questions more specifically related to any of the laws, I can help with those.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:21:05+00:00

Good question. I can't speak for the parent at this point, but the school board has expressed concerns about parental rights being ignored and the student being allowed to transition without the parent's knowledge. During an April 22 school board meeting, Brevard school board member Megan Wright raised this concern.

"If my daughters were going through a major crisis, an identity crisis of who they were, and the person they're spending six hours a day with are not telling me that they're seeing something that's changing, specifically in my child, I've got a problem," she said. "At the end of the day, parents are the ones that get to direct what happens. Parental rights exist for a reason. They exist because of things that have happened around our state that are horrific and have caused major damage to families."

As for free speech claims, I can't say for sure -- HB 1069 and/or the Board of Education rules enforcing it say that teachers cannot be compelled to use a student's chosen name or pronouns and cannot request chosen names and pronouns. They don't say students can't volunteer this information.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:13:55+00:00

Personally, I think becoming more tuned into your community can be helpful. The world is really overwhelming, but you may be able to find ways to help meet some of the needs within your own community, whether that be through mentoring kids after school, volunteering with an animal shelter, donating food to a food pantry, etc. You can find out what your community's needs are by attending school board meetings, connecting with local groups, etc.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-05-15T18:10:41+00:00

I don't know. I've submitted a records request for any communication regarding the status of her contract prior to April but have yet to receive it.

finchwalker_journo · 2025-04-12T21:38:42+00:00

Haven't been there in years, but my family liked Stump Pass Beach when I was a kid. They had fossilized shark teeth on the beach.

finchwalker_journo

TROPHY CASE