Florida Teacher Loses Job For Using Student's Preferred Name

Melissa Calhoun — an AP English instructor at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida — has been teaching for more than 12 years. Those who say they know her describe her as inspirational, caring, and someone who made her students feel safe. SHS has opted not to renew her teaching contract for the 2025-2026 academic year. Calhoun admits to having broken a Florida state law: calling a student by a name other than their legal name without parental permission. Her last day at her job will be in May, at which point the state of Florida will review her teaching credentials.

The issue stems from a 2023 law, championed by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, that requires parental permission for a student to be called by anything other than their legal name. If your son was named Elizabeth at birth but now goes by Ezra, for example, a teacher would need you to sign a Parental Authorization for Deviation from Student's Legal Name Form to call him that. But this also extends to nicknames. So if your daughter is named Elizabeth, a teacher would also have to get your permission to call her Liz.

The move came amid a flurry of other “anti-woke” legislation pertaining to students and education, including prohibiting the use of preferred pronouns if they don’t match one’s sex assigned at birth, restricting books that include “sexual conduct” from grades that are not age-suitable (without sufficiently defining “suitable”), barring classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten to eighth grade, and more.

Calhoun is the first person to lose their job as a result of the law, and has received an outpouring of support from her community and beyond. Parents and students spoke on her behalf at a recent Board of Education meeting. Florida Now reports that students demonstrated at SHS, with some staging a walk out and more still joining together with signs and cheers and protests after school. A Change.org petition calling for Calhoun’s reinstatement has garnered more than 20,800 signatures as of press time.

For their part, Brevard County Public Schools asserts its compliance with state laws. “BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed,” they told Florida Today in an email.

Calhoun’s colleagues also stand with her, with the Brevard Federation of Teachers releasing a statement on its Facebook page reading, in part

“We stand in solidarity with a teacher in Brevard for the actions taken against her for calling a soon-to-be graduating high school senior by the name the student has been known as for most of their high school career. We are shocked at the superintendent’s heavy-handed decision to essentially terminate a veteran teacher who has inspired and advocated for her community, profession, and students for more than 12 years.”

It concludes: “Every student deserves to be treated with dignity and respect — they need classrooms where they can learn, grow, thrive, and connect with their educators, peers, and communities. Every educator deserves the ability to do their job without fear of whatever political battle they will be thrown into.”