Florida high school coach suspended for allowing her own trans teen to play on women’s volleyball team

Jessica Norton, an employee of Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, allowed her 16-year-old transgender daughter to compete in the past two women's volleyball seasons despite the prohibition, officials said. Her child has decided to finish school online in the wake of the scandal, the Daily Mail reports.

On Tuesday, the Broward County school board voted 5-4 to suspend Norton from her position for 10 days without pay. She will also no longer be allowed to work as a computer information specialist, but must be given a job with equal responsibility and pay. Norton was initially placed on leave in November after the Florida Athletic Association became aware of the scandal and was subsequently removed from the school.

The Florida Athletic Association fined the school $16,500 for violating the act and placed the school on probation. Norton's actions could also open the school up to a lawsuit if a female athlete feels they were kept off the team or lost a scholarship because of Norton's child's placement on the team.

School board member Debbi Hixon, who proposed the censure, said on Tuesday that while they would not recommend termination since it was a first offense, "Our employee made a choice not to follow the law."

However, not all school board members were as forgiving. Three of them supported Superintendent Howard Hepburn's recommendation that Norton should be fired, citing that she put the school in jeopardy by intentionally violating the law.

Brenda Fam, another school board member who enraged Norton by referring to her trans-identified male child as a boy during the meeting, wanted Norton to face criminal charges. However, the Fairness in Sports Act only carries civil penalties.

The Norton's are plaintiffs in a pending federal civil rights lawsuit trying to block the Fairness in Sports Act, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021.