Current:Home > NewsFlorida school board unlikely to fire mom whose transgender daughter played on girls volleyball team -Thrive Financial Network
Florida school board unlikely to fire mom whose transgender daughter played on girls volleyball team
View
Date:2025-04-15 19:47:34
PLANTATION, Fla. (AP) —
A Florida school board appeared unlikely Tuesday to fire an employee whose transgender daughter played girls’ high school volleyball in alleged violation of state law, but postponed their final decision until next week.
The board is in Broward, one of the state’s most politically liberal counties, with twice as many Democrats as Republicans, and a large LGBTQ+ community. In recent years, attention on transgender children has spiked as conservative leaders seek to make trans rights a hot-button issue both in Florida and across the country.
Most of the nine members of the Broward County school board appeared ready to reject Superintendent Howard Hepburn’s recommendation that Jessica Norton be fired as a computer information specialist at Monarch High School, where her daughter played on the varsity team last year.
But many also said they didn’t think Norton should go unpunished for violating the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which Gov. Rob DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature approved in 2021. The law, which the Broward board lobbied against, bars trans students from participating in girls and women’s sports.
A district committee recommended that Norton receive a 10-day suspension, but Hepburn, who was hired in April, called for her firing. He said Tuesday he feels that’s the appropriate punishment for violating the law.
During a 90-minute discussion, many board members said that seemed disproportionate. One suggested adopting the 10-day suspension, while another suggested five days. The state athletic commission fined the school $16,500 for violating the law and the principal and three other administrators were temporarily removed from the school after the investigation went public in November.
“I appreciate a mom fighting for the rights of her child, I really appreciate that, but this crossed a lot of different lines,” member Debbi Hixon said. “Her protecting her child, her daughter, affected so many other people and children.”
The school district is the nation’s fifth largest, with almost 255,000 students at 327 schools.
Broward’s board, acknowledging Norton’s case is unprecedented, eventually adopted member Torey Alston’s suggestion that the superintendent’s staff compile a list of every employee in the last five years who violated a law, the circumstances and how they were punished. The board, after looking at roughly comparable violations, could then make a decision next week.
Norton, a district employee for the past seven years, has been on paid leave since November. In response to the vote, she said, “it was nice to hear that some people understand it’s not a black and white thing.”
Her daughter, now 16, was class president and homecoming princess before deciding to leave Monarch in November when the district launched its investigation and public attention spiked. She now attends school online. The girl, who is small and slight, often sat the bench as the Knights went 13-7 last season.
“She’s becoming more back to normal,” Norton said. Still, “she knows all of her friends are going to start school next month and she’s not going to be there.”
DeSantis made his opposition to transgender rights a part of his failed campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Florida is among at least 25 states that adopted bans on gender-affirming care for minors and one of at least 24 states that’s adopted a law banning transgender women and girls from certain sports teams.
The Nortons are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit trying to block Florida’s law as a violation of their daughter’s civil rights. Norton’s child began taking puberty blockers at age 11 and takes estrogen but has not had gender-affirming surgery. Such procedures are rarely done on minors.
When investigators interviewed three Monarch volleyball players, they said the team did not change clothes or shower together, so they were never disrobed with Norton’s daughter. All three said they knew or suspected Norton’s daughter is transgender, but it didn’t bother them that she was on the team.
veryGood! (28456)
Related
- Small twin
- Flavor Flav Warns Snoop Dogg, Pitbull After Donald Trump's Pet Eating Claim
- Deion Sanders flexes power he says he won't use: 'I have a huge platform'
- Caitlin Clark returns to action Wednesday: How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Nebraska’s top election official might try to remove a ballot measure to repeal school funding law
- Pregnant Margot Robbie’s Pal Shares How She’ll Be as a Mom
- 'It just went from 0 to 60': Tyreek Hill discusses confrontation with Miami police
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- 'The Daily Show’ live debate episode with Jon Stewart: Start time, where to watch and stream
Ranking
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- A wrongful death settlement doesn’t end an investigation into a toddler’s disappearance
- Poverty in the U.S. increased last year, even as incomes rose, Census Bureau says
- A Texas man is sentenced for kicking a cat that prosecutors say was later set on fire
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Donald Trump Speaks Out on Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes
- California's Line Fire grows to 26,000 acres, more evacuations underway: See wildfire map
- The first general election ballots are going in the mail as the presidential contest nears
Recommendation
Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
NFL averaged 21 million viewers per game for opening week, its highest on record
Investigators probe Indiana plane crash that killed pilot, 82
2 transgender New Hampshire girls can play on girls sports teams during lawsuit, a judge rules
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Focusing only on your 401(k) or IRA? Why that may not be the best retirement move.
South Carolina, UConn celebrate NCAA championships at White House with President Biden
Investigators probe Indiana plane crash that killed pilot, 82