The mom of a transgender athlete may lose her job with the Broward School District Tuesday after investigators alleged she violated a state law that bans anyone born male from playing on girls’ sports teams.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn is recommending the termination of Jessica Norton, an information management specialist at Monarch High in Coconut Creek. Her daughter played girls volleyball at Monarch in Coconut Creek, and girls soccer and volleyball at Lyons Creek Middle in Coconut Creek.
The School Board plans to discuss the matter at a meeting scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Tuesday at Plantation High, and the vote and discussion could be contentious. Four of nine School Board members told the Sun Sentinel they are unlikely to support firing her.
The issue relates to a state law passed in 2021 called the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which bans transgender girls from competing in girls sports in public schools.
School district officials investigated at least eight employees about possible violations to the law, including two principals, but only Norton is facing possible discipline. Hepburn’s recommendation is harsher than that of a professional standards committee of district administrators, which recommended a 10-day suspension.
The termination was scheduled to come before the School Board at a June 18 meeting but was unexpectedly removed.
“The item was postponed from the June meeting because the superintendent believed there would be more time available during the upcoming July 23 School Board Meeting for discussion by Board members,” district spokesman John Sullivan said.
As for why Hepburn overruled the 10-day suspension recommendation, Sullivan said, “The superintendent made his determination based solely on his review of the findings.”
Norton attended the June meeting and spoke during a public comments section, blasting the district’s handling of the investigation and saying the district had destroyed her child’s life.
A spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group providing legal representation to Norton and the teen, said the family would provide additional comments after Tuesday’s vote.
The investigation was launched in late November after board member Daniel Foganholi received an anonymous tip that a student born male was playing on the girls volleyball team at Monarch.
The fallout continued in December when the Florida High School Athletic Association fined Monarch $16,500, placed the school on probation and banned the student from competing in any sports for a year.
The district’s investigation of Norton accused her of knowingly allowing her child to play sports in violation of the law.
In addition to being an information management specialist, Norton was a volunteer coach for the volleyball team but had “no role, responsibility, or authority in the try-out and selection process,” nor in running practices or coaching in games, her lawyers wrote in a response to the district’s investigation.
The investigation said that in the spring of 2017, four years before the state law took effect, Norton asked a staff person at Winston Park Elementary in Coconut Creek to change the gender of her child from male to female. At that time, Norton was a parent volunteer but not yet an employee, the investigation said. She told investigators this request happened after she attended an LGBTQ roundtable with then-Superintendent Robert Runcie.
Investigators also questioned why Norton filled out an eligibility form with the Florida High School Athletic Association in February 2021, listing her child as female. That was four months before the family had the child’s birth certificate legally changed in July 2021, as well as several months prior to the state law taking effect.
The case became a local and state political issue. The state Department of Education told the district in November it expected “serious consequences” for anyone who violated the state law. Those communications occurred in the midst of DeSantis’ unsuccessful run for president.
“Under Governor DeSantis, boys will never be allowed to play girls’ sports. It’s that simple,” Cailey Myers, a spokeswoman for the education department, said in November.
With five School Board members up for election in August, the issue has also been debated during candidate forums and endorsement interviews.
It’s unclear whether a majority of the School Board will agree with Hepburn’s recommendation. Many observers expect the district’s three Republican members — Brenda Fam, Torey Alston and Daniel Foganholi — to support the termination Four of the board’s six Democrats told the Sun Sentinel they will likely oppose the recommendation. Five votes are needed for any action.
Foganholi, who received the initial tip about the student, said at a recent forum with the conservative group Moms for Liberty it was important for the district to follow the law.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. I’ll tell you what I think. I don’t believe biological boys should be playing girls sports,” he said at the forum. “But it doesn’t matter. State law states it very clear and we’re going to follow the law in Broward County.”
School Board member Jeff Holness said the district is now following the law, but there’s no law requiring the mother to be fired.
“The school was fined by the athletic association. The principal and administrative team were investigated and actions were taken to try to remedy the issue. The child is no longer on the team,” Holness told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board in a recent meeting. “Any action beyond that would be excessive and detrimental to the well-being of the student and the family.”
Board members Sarah Leonardi, Nora Rupert and Allen Zeman told the Sun Sentinel they also would prefer not to fire her.
“I’m hoping through the discussions, we come up with an alternative besides termination,” Zeman said. “I think we have to be clear-eyed and sober about what reaction Broward Schools should have.”
Rupert said the material she has received doesn’t show a serious enough violation to warrant the district’s reaction.
“This does not feel fair, right or impartial,” she said.
Board member Debbi Hixon told the Editorial Board recently she supports some kind of discipline but hadn’t decided whether that should be termination. She said the employee’s actions put other people’s jobs as risk.
“There has to be consequences for someone that knows something is wrong and decides to do it anyway,” Hixon said.
Other board members either couldn’t be reached or declined to say how they’d vote.
Norton wasn’t the only one who knew a transgender girl was playing girls’ sports in the district prior to November. Norton’s family filed a lawsuit against the district and state challenging the legality of the state law in June 2021.
“No one in the District told Norton that her daughter could not play sports, however Norton … who has no responsibility for setting or maintaining policy regarding athletics, is the only employee who is being disciplined,” Norton’s lawyers from the Human Rights Campaign, a group that fights for LGBTQ rights, wrote in a recent statement.
The lawsuit listed the student only by her initials and didn’t named the school she attended.
Marylin Batista, general counsel for the school district, was aware who the student was but was under a protective order from a judge to not reveal the name or identifying details, district spokeswoman Keyla Conception told the Sun Sentinel recently. The case is still active and the protective order remains in effect, she said.
An email obtained by the Sun Sentinel suggests that the Batista discussed the matter, at least in general terms, with district administrator Valerie Wanza in 2021. At that time, the student was playing sports at Lyons Creek Middle.
“The following questions have been asked by an attorney who represents a transgender child/and parents,” Batista wrote to Wanza on July 28, 2021. “Could I get your thoughts/ answers on these issues please? Can we discuss at 11am today if you are available?”
The questions ask whether the district plans to allow middle school transgender girls to play sports in the upcoming school year, whether the school district would defend a transgender girl’s right to play if there’s a lawsuit and whether the School Board would disclose a transgender student’s status without consent if there’s a lawsuit or complaint.
Concepcion said Wednesday that Batista’s email was part of the discovery process of the lawsuit and any available answers to the questions posed would be included in court documents.
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