BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A teacher not having her contract renewed over the use of student’s “preferred” name has one member of the Brevard County school board calling for her to be able to keep her job.
John Thomas challenged the rest of the board Tuesday night to let Melissa Calhoun return to Satellite High next year even though the district said she broke the law and now the state is reviewing her teaching contract.
Watch previous coverage below.
Thomas told News 6 reporter James Sparvero that Calhoun made a mistake and acknowledged that mistake.
“I think it’s something that she can recover from,” Thomas said. “We’ve seen an outpouring of support from the students and other teachers. It just shows what kind of person she is. She just deserves to have a second chance.”
Another school board member, Matt Susin, told Sparvero in an interview last week that Calhoun admitted to breaking the law and the district must follow the law.
Thomas responded that the board can still be able to encourage the superintendent to reevaluate the decision.
Superintendent Mark Rendell sat down with News 6 anchor Lisa Bell in an interview about Calhoun Tuesday before the board meeting.
Watch Lisa Bell’s one-on-one interview with Superintendent Mark Rendell below.
Some of Calhoun’s supporters said they will continue to rally for her.
Thomas said he’ll also consider bringing forward his proposal again at a future meeting.
“I think it certainly doesn’t help Brevard Public Schools be the best we can be by losing a great teacher,” he said.
Thomas said he would tell Calhoun to hang in there as the difficult circumstances continue to play out.
“I would probably encourage her to stay the course,” he said.
