A Florida high school employee was suspended Tuesday after a county school board found that she permitted her transgender daughter to participate on a girls’ sports team in contravention of state law.
The Broward County School Board voted 5-4 to suspend Jessica Norton from her job as a computer information specialist at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, a city about 15 miles north of Fort Lauderdale after she allowed her transgender daughter to play on the varsity volleyball team last year.
Norton, who had worked for Broward County Public Schools for seven years, was suspended without pay for ten days. Norton avoided termination, as suggested by Howard Hepburn, the district’s superintendent.
“I mean, obviously I don’t want to be fired from my job; I love my job, but I don’t think the decision to suspend anyone was correct,” Norton said following Tuesday’s board meeting, according to NBC South Florida.
Broward County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The school board determined that Norton violated Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a 2021 law that prohibits transgender girls and women from participating on school sports teams that correspond to their gender identification.
“She knew what the law was, but she chose not to follow it, and that must have consequences,” said school board member Debbie Hixon during the meeting.
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Norton’s suspension brings an end to a months-long issue surrounding her daughter’s participation on her high school’s girls’ volleyball team.
In November, the district relocated Norton and Monarch High School’s principal, associate principle, and athletic director to nonschool sites due to the situation. Their reassignments prompted hundreds of kids to walk out and demonstrate in support of Norton’s daughter.
In December, officials punished Monarch High School $16,500 and placed it on probation for a full year. The Florida High School Athletic Association also restricted Norton’s daughter from playing on any of the state’s school sports teams for about a year.
The 16-year-old left Monarch High School in November and has since enrolled in an online school.
“Nobody understands what we’ve gone through. We’ve received death threats, harassing phone calls, and letters mailed to our home, all because of something they did, not anything I did,” Norton added. “I was protecting my child.” Again, I did nothing wrong.
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According to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project, Florida is one of 26 states that have procedures in place to ban transgender participation in school sports.
According to NBC News In 2021, Norton and her daughter filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Broward County School Board, and numerous other Florida authorities over the statute. The litigation is still pending.