A mother/coach allowed her daughter to play volleyball. She will be suspended from volleyball for 10 days.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Fiserv Forum during the second day Republican National Convention. The second day of RNC was centered on border and crime policies. Photo: Jasper Colt / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN
Broward County Public Schools employee Jessica Norton was suspended for ten days, but not fired, for letting her transgender daughter play on girls’ volleyball.
“I mean, obviously I don’t want to get fired from my job, I love my job, but I don’t think the decision for any suspension was correct,” she said after the meeting.
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The school board voted 5-4 to suspend her after taking several weeks to investigate prior instances of employees violating the law to determine the punishment that best suited the scenario. The school board decided to suspend her for ten days instead of terminating her. The state fined the school $16,500 for Norton’s daughter’s participation.
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Norton is an information specialist and JV volleyball coach at Monarch High School. Her daughter previously attended the school district but is now in online school.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn had pushed to fire Norton. The school board rejected the suggestion at a recent meeting. The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, backed by Ron DeSantis, was passed in 2020. The Norton family is currently challenging this law in court.
There was a debate on the floor to decide whether to suspend or terminate Norton.
School board member Brenda Fam said, “I think what happened is criminal in my opinion.”
“Ms. Norton did not abuse a child, she did not harm a child, she did what she thought was in the best interest of her daughter,” said school board member Sarah Leonardi.
“And if we do not terminate, then others would then be left to believe that they can, too, break the law, and I have a problem with that,” said Lori Alhadeff, school board chair.
“The child has suffered enough, and so has this family, I think we need to move forward,” school board member Jeff Holness said.
Norton responded by saying, “He’s right, nobody can understand what we’ve been through. We have received death threats, harassing calls and letters to our home, all for something they did. It wasn’t me. I was protecting my child, again, I did nothing wrong.”
Broward County Public Schools is the nation’s fifth-largest school district, comprising over 200,000 students.
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