A series of laws passed by the Florida legislature earlier this year now have additional rules to go along with them, thanks to the Florida State Board of Education.

One of the rules that drew a lot of attention from both supporters and detractors was one that now puts a teacher’s license potentially on the chopping block for those who are deemed to be in violation of the “Parental Rights in Education” law House Bill 1557.

The change updates Rule 6A-10.081 to now state that Florida educators “Shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction to students in kindergarten through grade 3 on sexual orientation or gender identity.” 

It goes on to expand its definition of “discrimination on the basis of … sex” to now include “subjecting any student to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances inculcates or compels such student to believe any of the concepts listed in Section 1000.05(4)(a), F.S.”

The room in Orlando where the FSBOE meeting was held was well attended by those supporting and opposing this new rule and others. Among them was Sarah Calamunci, the Polk County election integrity division chair of the conservative non-profit County Citizens Defending Freedom (CCDF). 

The organization’s website states that it has active offices in Polk, Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties, with future plans across Central Florida, including Brevard, Orange and Volusia counties.

She and others argued that teachers should be on the hook with the potential to lose their licenses.

“A rule, law or statute is powerless without teeth in the language and a governing body willing to enforce it,” Calamunci said. “Teachers intentionally teaching the ideology to students should have their license revoked.”

Brevard County mom Connie Rooke was among the dozens in attendance of Wednesday’s meeting in Orlando who spoke out against this and other rules adopted by the board. The mother of three argued that this will create a chilling effect among educators when there’s already a teacher shortage in the State of Florida.

“If they address the fact that Suzie has two moms, a teacher could be held accountable and could be fired for that,” Rooke said. “That really hinders our ability to be able to embrace all children in the classroom and ensure inclusion and acceptance.”

Equality Florida Action, Inc. also issued a statement opposing the new rules. It’s a 501c4 that describes itself as “the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.”

The non-profit argues that the rule violates a recent legal ruling from federal Judge Allen Winsor and improperly shifts blame from school districts to teachers. In his 25-page dismissal of a challenge to HB 1557, he stated the following: 

“The law is enforced against school districts — not individual teachers. Fla. Stat. § 1001.42(8)(c)7.b.(I)-(II) With or without the law, school districts direct teachers as to what they may and may not teach."

Another rule adopted unanimously by the board necessitates parental notification when a school board or charter school allows “for separation of bathrooms or locker rooms according to some criteria other than biological sex at birth.” 

The new rule now states that such changes “must be posted on the district’s website or charter school’s website, and must be sent by mail to student residences to fully inform parents.”

That was met with praise from members of groups like Moms for Liberty and CCDF. 

“I want to thank the board for standing up to make sure our youngest children are not being sexualized public schools,” said Robert Goodman, who described himself as the executive director of CCDF in Polk County. “Public schools should not be a place to push sexual ideology hidden by buzz words, like diversity and equity.” 

That assertion was challenged by a number of speakers during Wednesday’s meeting. Kaitlin Burgett said she is the mother of a transgender student and argued that this rule will further stigmatize that section of the student population.

“This rule will create a problem where there isn’t one by sending a clear message that there is something so deviant and dangerous about children, like my daughter, that parents need to be informed about their possible presence. We know this isn’t true,” Burgett said.

“In fact, transgender kids are much more likely to be the victim of a violent crime. All this will do is add fuel to the flames of misguided fear towards transgender kids.”

An April 2022 study published by the National Library of Medicine stated that “82 percent of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40 percent have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.”

Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime stated that “One in two transgender individuals are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lives.”

Others in attendance during Wednesday’s FSBOE meeting, like Eric Scott, said these new rules missed the mark on helping students as a whole.

“[Teachers are] taking down pictures of their families and their homes and there are other teachers who don’t have to do that,” Scott said. “That is an unjust and unfair ruling and law that stems from a group of people that cannot separate sex from sexuality.” 

Scott pointed to these rule changes not being the end of the discussion, but a jumping off point. Several speakers with opposing views on the rules themselves agreed on this point, stating that more grades should be include beyond kindergarten through third grade when it comes to HB 1557.

“We hope in the future we see more legislation like this going for higher grade levels as well,” Goodman said. 

To read more about the other rules that were discussed and implemented, click here. To watch the school board meeting in its entirety, click here.