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https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/back-to-school-students-bombarded-with-anti-woke-regulations-in-florida-17625525
Under a new rule adopted by the Florida Board of Education in July, parents must fill out a consent form before their children can go by a nickname in public schools. If Thomas wants to be called Tommy in the classroom, or Katherine prefers that teachers refer to her as Kat, they will need their parents' written permission.
The Board of Education said the change was made "to protect the fundamental rights of parents." If the form is not completed and a parent does not sign off, school staff must refer to students by their legal name.
"This amendment is to strengthen the rights of parents and safeguard their child's educational record to ensure the use of the child's legal name in school," a statement included on a July 19 agenda reads.
Local and national LGBTQ advocacy groups tell New Times the rule is not about parenting rights but rather an extension of a political agenda that stomps out LGBTQ expression in schools. They say the new requirement comes hand in hand with Gov. Ron DeSantis' and the Florida legislature's expansion of the Parental Rights in Education law, AKA "Don't Say Gay" bill, for this school year. HB 1069, which was passed this past legislative session, prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity through eighth grade and bars public school employees from asking kindergarten through 12th-grade students their preferred personal pronouns (e.g., "he," "she," or "they").
HB 1069 also bars school staff from referring to a student by a "personal title or pronouns" that "do not correspond to that person's sex" as assigned at birth. The bill states that sex is an "immutable biological trait" and "it is false to ascribe a pronoun that does not correspond" to a person's sex.
Under a new rule adopted by the Florida Board of Education in July, parents must fill out a consent form before their children can go by a nickname in public schools. If Thomas wants to be called Tommy in the classroom, or Katherine prefers that teachers refer to her as Kat, they will need their parents' written permission.
The Board of Education said the change was made "to protect the fundamental rights of parents." If the form is not completed and a parent does not sign off, school staff must refer to students by their legal name.
"This amendment is to strengthen the rights of parents and safeguard their child's educational record to ensure the use of the child's legal name in school," a statement included on a July 19 agenda reads.
Local and national LGBTQ advocacy groups tell New Times the rule is not about parenting rights but rather an extension of a political agenda that stomps out LGBTQ expression in schools. They say the new requirement comes hand in hand with Gov. Ron DeSantis' and the Florida legislature's expansion of the Parental Rights in Education law, AKA "Don't Say Gay" bill, for this school year. HB 1069, which was passed this past legislative session, prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity through eighth grade and bars public school employees from asking kindergarten through 12th-grade students their preferred personal pronouns (e.g., "he," "she," or "they").
HB 1069 also bars school staff from referring to a student by a "personal title or pronouns" that "do not correspond to that person's sex" as assigned at birth. The bill states that sex is an "immutable biological trait" and "it is false to ascribe a pronoun that does not correspond" to a person's sex.
