VIERA, Fla. — During its final meeting of 2022, the Florida Board of Education (FLBOE) offered an update on 10 school districts it was monitoring to ensure compliance with the state’s Parental Rights in Education Act, deemed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics.

Brevard Public Schools (BPS) was among 10 districts across the state that came under the board’s scrutiny earlier this year.

Back in mid-October, the FLBOE held a presentation regarding the change in state policy.

Jacob Oliva, the senior chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, followed up with a letter on November 18. In that letter, Oliva stated that a review of the BPS policy and procedures showed “that some of these policies or procedures may have not yet been updated to comply with revised Florida law and State Board of Education rule.”

The rules laid out by BPS included a provision stating that “All students are to be referred to by the gender pronoun and name consistent with their gender identity in verbal and written communication.”

The former BPS policy also allowed all students “to access locker rooms and restrooms that are consistent with their gender identity or to be provided appropriate accommodations.”

During the BPS school board meeting on November 22, the board gave direction to change policy regarding bathrooms and locker rooms, limiting those to only the gender assigned at birth and not gender identity.

On November 28, Assistant Superintendent Christine Moore, who is retiring in January, sent a letter to all principals and the leadership team notifying them that the FLBOE rule on separating bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms by gender assigned at birth went into effect on Nov. 22.

She noted that, for schools with impacted students, they should reach out to both the student and their parent/guardian to address concerns.

A solution offered was using a single stall restroom or clinic restroom and to have staff and faculty “use consistent language for single stall restrooms and be consistent with their availability for all students.”

In a letter dated December 6, from outgoing Superintendent Dr. Mark Mullins, he said the “LGBTQ+ District Guidelines” were removed from the BPS website.

During the December 14 FDBOE telephone meeting, the board acknowledged the receipt of Mullins’ December 6 letter.

“The department is still working with the district to seek further clarification on if there’s any additional support guards or guides being used or how the policies or procedures are being implemented,” Oliva said during the meeting call.

The board also discussed the standing of nine other school districts: Alachua, Broward, Duval, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.

New incident reporting rule

The board meeting also highlighted an update to the “School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting (SESIR)” rule. Rule 6A-1.0018 was first implemented in July 2021. It has been updated four times with two corrections made within 2022.

During Wednesday’s call, Tim Hay, the executive director of the Office of Safe Schools within FDOE, summarized the most recent changes, which were published on November 22 and became effective as of December 14.

Hay said the change stemmed from an August 2022 meeting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School Public Safety Commission when they established a workgroup “to address obstacles to accurate data reporting by schools and districts.”

The workgroup met five times between September and November. Following those, the assessor workgroup presented a cluster of recommended changes to the commission at its November 16 meeting.

The newly changed rule also includes key language changes. That included shifting “larceny and theft” to “grand theft,” “Physical attack” to “simple battery,” and “vandalism” to “criminal mischief.”

“These changes are designed to clarify when and how an incident should be reported,” Hay said. “There is also now a requirement for a district designation of assessor contact person.”

Hay also stated that there were some changes to the definitions of bullying, hazing, injury, vaping, and weapons. There’s also a change to require all incidents to be reported “even if there was no resulting discipline or law enforcement action, and regardless of the student’s capacity to understand the appropriateness of their behavior.”

“The Office of Safe Schools is proud of the efforts that resulted in this rule and we remain committed to the vital work of school safety,” Hay said.