>Until now, there have been no reported cases of Florida educators losing their jobs as a result of Florida's rule requiring parental permission to use an alternative name for a student.

>While BPS opted to reprimand Calhoun and not renew her contract, it's not clear if these consequences would universally apply to other teachers who didn't comply with Florida's law.

>The 2023 rule dictates that Florida districts must develop a form for parents to sign indicating they consent to the use of an alternative name for their child, but the law doesn't lay out what the consequences are for teachers and other staff members who don't comply.

>[While another Florida statute](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1000/Sections/1000.071.html) that has been challenged and partially blocked from being enforced prohibits public K-12 educators from requiring students to address them by a preferred pronoun or a "personal title" that does "not correspond to that person's sex," the statute doesn't dictate whether or not students may go by another name or pronoun.

>Guidelines in [The Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida](https://www.fldoe.org/teaching/professional-practices/code-of-ethics-principles-of-professio.stml) address certain issues related to LGBTQ issues — such as prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity except in certain cases and using restrooms designated for the opposite sex — but don't address the usage of alternative names.

>Teachers shouldn't discourage or prohibit parental notification of decisions related to a student's mental, emotional or physical wellbeing, according to the principles, though it is not specific about what these decisions may encompass. It also adds that an educator may withhold this information if there's a reasonable belief that disclosing it would cause abuse or neglect to the student.

>[Florida's law prohibiting K-12 teachers from using preferred pronouns has been challenged,](https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/07/11/judge-allows-challenge-against-florida-pronoun-restriction-to-go-on/74372576007/) with teachers suing the Florida Department of Education and other officials within it, as well as the Hillsborough County School Board, Lee County School Board and Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees.

>Federal Judge Mark Walker blocked part of the law, though the state appealed the decision.

Florida teacher loses job after using student's preferred name