District removes school officials to comply with Ron DeSantis’s strict anti-LGBTQ+ laws

A high school principal and four top staff members have been reassigned to “non-school sites” as investigators look for evidence they violated a Florida state law barring “improper student participation in sports.”

According to sources at Monarch High School in Broward County, the student in question is a female athlete who has transitioned or is in the process of transitioning while being allowed to play on the girls’ volleyball team.

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A Broward County Public Schools Special Investigative Unit is looking into allegations that school officials allowed the student — who was not assigned as female at birth — to play with other females on the team. The officials who allegedly colluded to allow the student’s participation include principal, James Cecil; Assistant Principal Kenneth May; teacher and Athletic Director Dione Hester; Information Management Technician Jessica Norton; and Alex Burgess, a temporary athletic coach.

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“The principal of Monarch High School and several staff members have been reassigned to non-school sites pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of improper student participation in sports,” said a statement from the school district.

“Although we cannot comment further, we will continue to follow state law and will take appropriate action based on the outcome of the investigation,” said John J. Sullivan, Chief Communications and Legislative Affairs Officer. “We are committed to providing all our students with a safe and inclusive learning environment.” 

Broward County Public Schools board member Torey Alston said the investigation was necessary to adhere to the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” a signature anti-trans bill signed by failing presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2021.

“The investigation will follow the facts and if it is revealed that state law is in question, I could tell you, we will follow state law,” Alston told 7News Miami.

That DeSantis-sponsored state law says student sports designated for females, women, or girls are not open to males, and a “statement of a student’s biological sex on the student’s official birth certificate is considered to have correctly stated the student’s biological sex at birth if the statement was filed at or near the time of the student’s birth.”

Opinions varied among classmates on the school district’s drastic response to a trans athlete on the volleyball court.

“I don’t think it should be a problem big enough for you to have the school’s principal reassigned,” said one Monarch High student. “At the end of the day, that’s just an extracurricular.”

“He should not be able to play on the team,” another student told NBC6 South Florida. “If he is a biological boy, I don’t think he should be able to play on a girls’ team.”

The administrative purge has inspired one group of Monarch students to organize a protest and possible walk-out in support of Principal Cecil, his colleagues, and the transgender community.

“If we were to just sit here and just get them to go to the boy’s team, then it would look like we are not supportive of people’s perspective on things, like, being a girl or a boy or whatever,” a student organizer said.

“This school is really big on LGBTQ+ clubs and stuff like that, so, it kind of would look more hypocritical on our part.”