Florida Demands Districts Comply with New Anti-LGBTQ+ Rules
The State Board of Education in Florida will meet on Wednesday to discuss school district compliance with the state’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights.Last month the state’s Department of Education sent letters to 10 districts statewide asking them to confirm they had updated their policies and guides to comply with new rules passed by the board in October.
Many of the issues cited in the individual letters dealt with LGBTQ+ student privacy, and the use of bathroom and locker facilities by transgender students.Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, wrote letters to select school districts in November citing specific examples where existing district policies and publications did not comply with the new rules.
The districts included Alachua County, Brevard County, Broward County, Duval County, Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, Hillsborough County, Indian River County, Leon County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County.“After initial review of the policies and procedures submitted by the district, it appears that some of these policies and procedures may have not yet been updated to comply with revised Florida law and State Board of Education rule,” Oliva wrote in the letters.Under Florida’s controversial HB 1557 passed and signed into law earlier this year, parents must be notified of any changes related to their child’s health and well-being and the school’s ability to provide a safe and supportive education.
Depending upon the circumstances. Oliva wrote to the Palm Beach County School District, a “student’s privacy, name and pronoun usage, and restroom and locker room usage” could be impacted by the new rules and law.
