High School Fined $16,500 for “Breaking” Transgender Athlete Law
Daily Signal.Monarch High School is allowed to appeal the decision within ten days. Officials with Broward County Public Schools said in a statement that its “investigation into the matter remains ongoing at this time.”The punishment handed down against Monarch is the first instance of a school being penalized for violating the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” primarily aimed at preventing transgender female athletes from competing on women’s sports teams.The law allows “biological females” to compete on “athletic teams or sports designated for males, men, or boys,” as well as in sports that are designated as “co-ed.”“Thanks to [Republican Governor Ron DeSantis], Florida passed legislation to protect girls’ sports, and we will not tolerate any school that violates this law,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
wrote in a post on X. “We applaud the swift action taken by the FHSAA to ensure there are serious consequences for this illegal behavior.”Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis, Florida passed legislation to protect girls’ sports and we will not tolerate any school that violates this law.
We applaud the swift action taken by the @FHSAA to ensure there are serious consequences for this illegal behavior.…— Manny Diaz Jr. (@CommMannyDiazJr) December 12, 2023The sanctions against Monarch High School come after the county school district reassigned five school employees to off-campus jobs while investigating the allegations that a transgender athlete was allowed to play on the girls’ volleyball team.The relocated employees were school principal James Cecil; assistant principal Kenneth May; athletic director and girl’s volleyball coach Dione Hester; IT technician Jessica Norton; and coach Alex Burgess.Following the reassignments, hundreds of students at Monarch High School held a walkout in protest.
