A Florida school district said it won’t renew the contract of a teacher who used a student’s preferred name, instead of legal name, without parental permission, in violation of state law.

Melissa Calhoun is a literature teacher at Satellite High School in the coastal city of Satellite Beach, Florida. According to her LinkedIn profile, she’s worked for the Brevard County Public Schools district for the past 12 years. 

Unless the state intervenes, Calhoun, who did not immediately return requests for comment, could be one of the first educators to lose a job under Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, or what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Brevard County Public Schools conducted an investigation after receiving a complaint from a parent who said Calhoun had used a name other than their child’s legal name without the parent’s permission, according to a statement shared by Janet R. Murnaghan, a spokesperson for the district. 

“This directly violates state law and the district’s standardized process for written parental consent,” the statement said. “Based on the teacher’s own admission that she knowingly did not comply with state statute she received a letter of reprimand. Teachers, like all employees, are expected to follow the law.”

Since the state will be reviewing Calhoun’s teacher certificate based on the complaint, the district said it will not renew her annual contract, which expires in May, until the issue is resolved. 

Dozens of students staged a peaceful walkout Thursday to protest the district’s decision not to renew Calhoun’s contract, according to NBC affiliate WESH of Orlando. 

“We’re here to really show support for Ms. Calhoun and to show that we are not OK with what is going on,” sophomore Brianna Knight told WESH. “We truly are upset that we are losing such a positive teacher.”

Calhoun’s supporters also started a petition asking the Brevard County School Board to reinstate her. As of Friday afternoon, it had garnered more than 22,000 signatures. 

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education law in March 2022. At that time, it prohibited “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” 

A year later, he signed an expanded version of the measure that prohibits sexual orientation or gender identity instruction in prekindergarten through eighth grade, restricts reproductive health education in sixth through 12th grade, and bars schools from requiring students or employees to refer to each other with pronouns that do not align with their assigned sex at birth. It also prohibits transgender school employees from sharing their pronouns with students, among other restrictions. 

In July 2023, a few months after DeSantis signed the expanded measure, the Florida Board of Education passed new rules to ensure schools were following the law and to “strengthen and enhance the safety and welfare of students in K-12 public schools and protect parental rights.”

Among those rules was a requirement that school districts receive parental permission before staffers can call a student by anything other than their legal name, including a nickname, even at the student’s request.

At a school board meeting this week, several parents spoke both in favor of and against the district’s decision not to renew Calhoun’s contract.

“There was no harm, no threat to safety, no malicious intent,” one parent of a student in the district who also said she was one of Calhoun’s colleagues said during the meeting, WESH reported. “Just a teacher trying to connect with a student, and for that, her contract was not renewed despite her strong dedication and years of service. I ask you, how can we justify this?”

School board member Katye Campbell said during the meeting that people might think the rule is “silly,” but that it’s important. 

“The parents are the number one decision-makers for their children,” Campbell said, The Washington Post reported. In response to a question about students’ rights, she said the district shouldn’t interfere in families’ decisions “unless we legally have a reason to.”

The Education Department’s Office of Inspector General plans to conduct a “series of reviews” into the recent mass layoffs at the nation’s education agency, according to a letter obtained by NBC News. 

The probe comes amid efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle the U.S. Education Department, which President Donald Trump has long wanted to do but cannot fully achieve without congressional approval.  

That has not stopped him from trying. In March, Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin winding down the department. The order came shortly after the Education Department announced it was reducing its workforce by about 50%, which McMahon said reflected the department’s commitment to “efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.” 

Trump has said he wants states to have oversight over the education system. The federal workforce cuts have alarmed education advocates, who worry the layoffs will lead to fewer resources for disadvantaged students and other problems.  

A group of 11 Democratic senators expressed their concerns to the Education Department’s acting inspector general, René Rocque, writing to her on March 27 to ask for an investigation into the Trump administration’s intention to dissolve the department and warning that the cuts could have “disastrous consequences.”  

The department’s Office of Inspector General confirmed Thursday that it had responded to the senators but declined to provide further comment.

In the department’s letter to the senators, which was sent Wednesday to the senators and viewed by NBC News, Rocque wrote that the office would conduct “a series of reviews to provide information on the Department’s programs and operations following recent workforce changes.” She said in the letter that she hoped to report on her office’s progress this summer and that she would share results of the reviews with the senators. 

She also wrote that her staff would conduct reviews of selected offices in the department to identify the effects of staffing cuts, and their reports would include suggestions to “help ensure productive and efficient operations” following the workforce changes. 

The Office of Inspector General is an independent entity within the Education Department that is tasked with identifying fraud and criminal activity involving department funds and operations. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the office’s plans to conduct reviews into the mass layoffs. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, one of the Democrats who had asked for an investigation, said she was pleased with the office’s decision. The senators had asked for an evaluation of the financial feasibility of state and local governments taking over education funding and for an analysis of the possible far-reaching effects of dismantling the Education Department. 

“I called for an independent investigation into Donald Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education after hearing from parents, teachers, and students about the chaos he unleashed,” Warren, who has launched a campaign called “Save Our Schools” to defend public education, said in a statement to NBC News. “This investigation will help reveal what’s at stake for those families.” 

The National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union, called the reviews “a positive first step,” though the group’s president, Becky Pringle, said in a statement that she believed “Congress and the courts need to step in.” 

“Firing — without cause — nearly half of the Department of Education staff means those who ensure students can access educational opportunities without discrimination are no longer able to help,” she said in a statement to NBC News. “The dedicated public servants who helped families navigating the federal student aid process, ensured colleges provided the programs they advertised, and that loan servers did not improperly profit off students are gone. And the experts who track student achievement are no longer there to do their jobs.”

Some Democratic-led states and cities are pushing back on a Trump administration threat to cut education funding over diversity, equity and inclusion programs, creating a standoff that could test how far the White House is willing to go to press its demands on the nation’s schools.

State leaders in Minnesota and New York said they will not comply with an Education Department order to gather signatures from local school systems certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including the rejection of what the federal government calls “illegal DEI practices.” Chicago’s mayor promised to sue over any cuts. California and Vermont told schools they don’t need to respond.

It amounts to some of the most forceful opposition the Education Department has faced as it uses federal funding as leverage to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda on issues from DEI to campus antisemitism and transgender athletes. The White House has targeted colleges and K-12 schools alike, but unlike universities that rely greatly on federal grants and contracts, school systems get the vast majority of their money from state and local sources.

In a letter Monday to the Education Department, Minnesota’s education chief said the Trump administration overstepped its authority with its latest demand, adding that there’s nothing illegal about DEI.

“Threats to this funding without backing in law or established requirements put key programs at risk that students and schools depend on every day,” said Willie Jett, Minnesota’s education commissioner. The federal department “does not have the authority to unilaterally overrule the will of Congress.”

Jett said his letter would “serve as our response” to the Trump administration’s demand.

It follows a Friday letter from New York’s education office challenging the federal government’s latest demand. It said New York already has provided assurances that it follows federal law and “no further certification will be forthcoming.”

The U.S. Education Department told state agencies in a letter Thursday they must sign a document saying they follow federal antidiscrimination laws and get the same assurance from schools. The document threatens to cut federal money for any civil rights violation, including using DEI practices “to advantage one’s race over another.”

On Tuesday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon commended Puerto Rico for being the first to submit its certification. “Every state that wants to continue receiving federal funds should follow suit,” McMahon posted on X.

The letter does not carry the force of law but threatens to use civil rights enforcement to rid schools of DEI practices. Schools that continue such practices “in violation of federal law” can face Justice Department litigation and a termination of federal grants and contracts, it said.

The letter initially gave states 10 days to submit the certification. On Monday, the Education Department extended the deadline to April 24.

A department spokesperson said the agency is “simply asking school districts to certify they are following the law and not using race preferences or pernicious race stereotypes in schools.”

Even some Republican-led states believe they don’t need to get the document signed by each school. Missouri’s education office said schools previously provided assurances that should cover the department’s demand and it will reach out to districts “if additional information is necessary.”

Others are moving to follow the order, including Virginia and Arizona, where state education chief Tom Horne said the order “aligns completely with my philosophy.”

Vermont’s education chief assured schools the state supports DEI practices and said superintendents won’t need to sign the certification. Instead, the state will assure federal officials it’s already following federal law, Zoie Saunders, the state’s education secretary, said in a Monday letter to school districts.

The Illinois board of education rebuked the federal agency, saying it’s “attempting to exert power over every district in the country — even as it claims it’s returning education to the states.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said his city is willing to go to court over the order, which he called federal overreach.

The New York and Minnesota letters both cite past comments from Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education secretary during his first term, extolling the virtues of diversity and inclusion. In a 2020 memo to agency staff, DeVos wrote that “embracing diversity and inclusion are key elements for success.” The states argue the Education Department is shifting its position without explanation.

The states also accuse the Education Department of making broad declarations about the illegality of DEI without citing policies that violate federal law. Minnesota’s letter said if the federal agency has identified DEI practices that violate civil rights law, “we request advisement of them.”

Many states said they’re still reviewing the letter.