A high school employee in southeast Florida has been suspended without pay for 10 days after allegedly violating the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act by allowing her teenage son to play on the girls’ volleyball team.
Jessica Norton worked as a computer information specialist at Monarch High School, about 15 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, for seven years and also coached the junior girls volleyball team.
“She knew what the law was. She made a decision not to follow the law. And there need to be consequences for that decision.”
But last November, Norton and several other school officials were relocated to other school district facilities after news broke that her son, who identifies as transgender, was playing on the girls’ volleyball team. As The Blaze News previously reported, Norton had allegedly written her son as “female” on paperwork asking about his sex at birth.
In March, the Professional Standards Commission recommended that Norton be suspended for 10 days, but then-President Licata and current President Howard Hepburn reversed that decision and recommended that he be fired.
Broward County Board of Education Lobbied against fairness legislation in women’s sportshas been embroiled in a dispute over Norton’s case over the past few weeks. On Tuesday, the committee voted 5-4 to suspend Norton without pay for 10 days and remove him from his position as a computer information specialist.
“I thought they wanted me to just resign and say it was over, but I didn’t.”
But before the final vote, lawmakers on both sides of the issue spoke out.
Commissioner Lori Alhadeff argued that firing was the only way to stop other district employees from committing similar FWSA violations. “If we don’t fire them, it will encourage other employees to believe they can break the law, too. I have a problem with that,” Commissioner Alhadeff said.
Board member Brenda Pham also called for Norton’s firing, calling her an “LGBTQ+ advocate” and likening her alleged falsification of her son’s gender records to giving a false address to get your child into a better school, which is a criminal offense in Florida. “What happened, in my opinion, is a crime,” Pham said.
“This is not a question about her son or her family. This is about what she did as an employee and how she harmed others,” Hwang added.
Jessica Norton and her husband, Gary Norton, were at the meeting on Tuesday but walked out of the room after Pham allegedly “misidentified” the gender of their son. Pham claimed she was simply quoting from a news article.
Board member Debbie Hixson also took issue with Norton’s alleged falsification of her son’s records, but stopped short of calling for her to be fired. “She knew what the law was. She made a decision not to follow the law. There should be consequences for that,” Hixson said, noting that this was Norton’s “first offense.”
“We don’t fire people for a first offense.”
Other members expressed support and sympathy for Norton’s claims.
Committee member Sarah Leonardi argued that Norton had caused no substantial harm to anyone by authorizing her son to receive puberty-suppressing drugs when he was 11, and then estrogen later.
“Ms. Norton did not abuse her child, she did not harm her child, she did what she thought was best for her daughter,” Leonardi said.
Jeff Holness would only say, “This child has suffered enough, and so has this family. I think we need to move forward.”
After the vote, Norton expressed relief that she still had her job and despaired at being suspended. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Nothing,” she said.
“I fought for her,” Norton continued, “I didn’t back down. I didn’t quit when I was sure they wanted me to just resign and say it was over.”
Norton declined to say whether she would return to her position with the school district. Her son, now 16, is attending online classes. He was previously class president and homecoming princess at Monarch High School.
Several of the boy’s former teammates said they knew or at least suspected he was male but never showered or changed clothes near him, WTVJ reported, adding they had no problem playing with him.
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021, bans women from playing on women-only sports teams.
The state athletic commission fined Monarch High School $16,500 in connection with Norton’s son, and the school could face future lawsuits if female players who didn’t make the team claim they were denied scholarship opportunities. Associated Press report.
The BlazeNews reached out to Governor DeSantis for comment on Norton’s suspension but did not receive a response.
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