MOUNT DORA, Fla. — While many Lake County students are heading back to school, one third grader’s new classroom is just steps away from her bedroom.

What You Need To Know

  • This is the first full year Florida’s Parental Rights in Education will be in effect at the state's public schools

  • The law prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade, or in any grade if it's deemed not age appropriate

  • Mount Dora mom Danielle Olivani said she is switching her child to homeschooling because of the new law

Gia is going into the third grade, but this school year looks different from years past.

“Gia had a wonderful support system at Triangle Elementary in Mount Dora," said her mother, Danielle Olivani. "Homeschooling for us now is just the better option."

The Mount Dora mom originally pulled her daughter out of school because of COVID-19. Gia is autistic, Olivani said it was the best solution.

With Florida’s new Parental Rights in Education bill and Individual Freedom Act being implemented in public schools, what started out as a temporary type of schooling, is turning into a permanent fixture.

“I definitely think the Parental Rights in Education Act could negatively affect Gia, because I could be in a relationship and Gia could mention that and could maybe be reprimanded for it,” said Olivani.

The law prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade, or in any grade if it's deemed not age appropriate. That's something Olivani said she didn't want to subject her daughter to.

This is the first full school year the law is being implemented in the state's classrooms, and while there are many questions on how each district plans to enact the new law, the mother-daughter duo said they were getting used to this new normal.