Florida Teacher Fired For Using Student’s Preferred Name
The law passed in Florida in 2023 has first been enforced when Melissa Calhoun, long time educator at Satellite High School was fired for calling a student by their prefered name.
Melissa Calhoun was fired for doing what most of us take for granted: calling someone by the name they asked to be called.
The longtime teacher at Satellite High School in Brevard County, Florida, lost her job for using a student’s preferred name—without parental consent. It wasn’t an act of rebellion. It wasn’t part of some activist agenda. It was a quiet moment of humanity in a classroom where, as any teacher will tell you, connection is half the battle.
Under a 2023 Florida law under Governor Ron DeSantis, mandates that teachers must get a written consent from parents before referring to a student by any name other than what’s on their birth certificate. No wiggle room. Not even if it’s a nickname. Like many teachers across the country caught in the crosshairs of shifting laws and culture wars, Calhoun made a decision rooted in care. The student asked to be called by a different name. She obliged. And that was enough to trigger a formal reprimand, a non-renewal of her teaching contract, and an actual review of her teaching certification by the Florida Department of Education.
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This is the first reported case of a Florida educator being fired under the new regulation. And it sends a very clear message to every teacher in the state: your compassion is conditional.
Meanwhile, students and community members have rallied behind Calhoun. A petition to reinstate her has received over 14,000 signatures. Former students describe her as affirming, thoughtful, and deeply invested in their lives beyond the grades and attendance sheets. She showed up. She listened. She cared.
Satellite High School media specialist Kristine Staniec spoke out at the Brevard County School Board meeting in defense of her colleague. In her plea for fairness, she said, “The teacher made a difference in her classroom and in the lives of our students, including my own child. She deserved more than a quiet exit. She deserved fairness, context, and compassion.”
It’s easy to reduce this story to a political flashpoint. But that misses the quieter tragedy at its core: a teacher trying to preserve a young person’s dignity, and losing her job for it. What was once a space for growth and discovery has become a battlefield for identity and control. What’s just as devastating is the way a policy like this turns a moment of connection—one of the few tools teachers have to reach students who may feel unsafe or unseen—into a punishable offense. It’s the state turning tenderness into defiance.
Melissa Calhoun didn’t make a political statement. She made a human one. And she paid for it.
Related: Republican Lawmaker Walks Right Into His Own Trap On Pronouns
