Less than a month following a Florida Department of Education committee’s decision to uphold a Brevard teacher’s education credentials after she used a student’s chosen name without parental permission, the Florida Commissioner of Education emphasized that he believed she deserved a suspension.
“We were adamant, our attorneys, that a suspension was appropriate in this situation where there was an intentional withholding of information for a parent, where you knew you did not have a consent form on record,” Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said at an Aug. 20 board of education meeting in St. Augustine.
“The reason I highlight it is because it’s important that folks understand this is not going to be tolerated here in the state.”
At the meeting, the Florida Board of Education questioned whether they could overrule the decision and suspend former Brevard teacher Melissa Calhoun, an educator with more than 12 years of experience who was ousted after using a then-17-year-old student’s name without parental permission — an act in violation of a 2023 Florida Board of Education rule.
“I fully support that superintendent’s decision not to rehire this teacher,” Kamoutsas said. “Florida remains firmly committed to protecting parental rights. We will not tolerate situations where critical information is withheld from parents in violation of the law.”
The decision to not rehire Calhoun in Brevard, made by Brevard Superintendent Mark Rendell, was made public on Aug. 5, a day after Kamoutsas visited Brevard County. The decision was not influenced by his visit, according to the district.
“Dr. Rendell made the decision not to renew Ms. Calhoun’s contract last spring and recently reaffirmed that decision when she reapplied,” said Janet Murnaghan, a spokesperson for the district, told FLORIDA TODAY. “We appreciate Commissioner Kamoutsas’s support and leadership, however, the district’s decision was made independently.”
During the Aug. 20 meeting, board members and the commissioner repeatedly emphasized that Calhoun’s actions were “intentional” despite her repeated denial that she purposefully withhold information from the student’s parent.
In a statement to FLORIDA TODAY, Calhoun questioned the intentions of both Brevard Public Schools leadership and the Florida Department of Education.
“Dr. Rendell, (former Commissioner Manny) Diaz, and Commissioner Kamoutsas all seem obsessed with levying punishment much harsher than the recommendations given to them, while misrepresenting me as someone with intentions of purposefully subverting parental rights in public,” Calhoun said.
“To me, this calls into question their judgement and their intentions. Are they serving students or their politics?”
Could Education Practices Commission be overruled?
The journey to the Aug. 20 meeting has dragged on for more than five months, and it’s not clear when it will conclude.
On July 30, the Education Practices Commission — a third-party committee for the state that reviews discipline cases involving educators — upheld a settlement between Calhoun and the Florida Department of Education, agreed upon by former Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. prior to Kamoutsas’ appointment. The stipulations of the settlement ordered Calhoun, a former AP English Literature teacher from Satellite High, to pay $750 to the department and take a college-level ethics class. She was also issued a formal letter of reprimand and placed on a one-year probation, which will begin as soon as she is employed as an educator again.
The 2023 Florida Board of Education rule that says teachers can’t call students anything but their legal names without first obtaining written parental consent does not lay out a specific punishment for teachers who violate it. Calhoun’s actions were, she said, a mistake made with “no political intent.”
But during the Aug. 20 meeting, Kamoutsas made it clear that he didn’t feel a probation was a harsh enough punishment, saying he had advocated for a complete suspension of Calhoun’s license.
He commended Rendell for not rehiring Calhoun when she applied for a position at Satellite High following the Education Practices Commission meeting.
Kamoutsas repeatedly said Calhoun “intentionally” violated the rule, saying she was aware she did not have a signed form from the student’s parent — something Calhoun has disputed since an investigation was first launched in March 2025. Ultimately, the board discussed the possibility of overturning the EPC’s ruling and suspending her license, though it wasn’t clear if that would be possible due to the current legal process in place.
“I am working with the attorneys at the (Florida) Department of Education to see if there’s potential rule revisions that can be done on our end to try to prevent something like this from happening again in the future, but that’s still sort of in an exploratory phase at this time,” Kamoutsas said.
Calhoun argued that the Education Practices Commission is “part of a system of checks and balances to ensure that justice and due process is given to every educator.”
“Commissioner Kamoutsas also recognizes the process and is, unfortunately displeased with the decision of his predecessor, Mr. (Manny) Diaz,” she said. “It’s shocking though that those in power so blatantly and proudly refuse the advice of those they put in place to recommend judgement and punishment for individuals like myself.”
‘If it’s a mistake, we show grace’
Calhoun’s case took up a small portion near the start of the Aug. 20 meeting, which lasted more than four and a half hours, with the board debating what could — or couldn’t — be done about the situation.
Board member Esther Byrd questioned if the EPC’s decision could be overruled.
“It bothers me,” she said. “This board is put in charge of education in Florida. I mean, that’s a big responsibility. It’s a big job, and I feel like in that situation, I would like for us to have had some recourse when that decision was made.”
That’s when Kamoutsas explained that there isn’t a simple way to appeal the decision, but it may be possible to submit the case to the First District Court of Appeals.
Board member Daniel Foganholi emphasized that there should be communication between the board and educators, saying when he told his son’s first-grade teacher he went by a nickname, she “had a panic attack.”
“Certain teachers, if they don’t get the correct direction or correct communication, it can cause panic because they feel like they’re going to do something wrong or get in trouble,” he said, adding that that situation was “much different than what we’re looking at in Brevard.”
“I feel like a lot of teachers are paying the price for people doing the wrong thing,” he said. “We show grace. If it’s a mistake, we show grace, but if it’s something that’s intentional, an activist or somebody trying to do something, that’s different.”
Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, lambasted the board for their comments, saying they were “construing information in such a way to systematically blame teachers and go after teachers.”
He added that Kamoutsas was acting not according to right and wrong, but with a goal making “an example” of teachers.
“He wants to make an example, because that’s what the governor has told him to do,” Spar said. “He’s going to make an example out of every teacher. Why? To instill fear … and to chase people out of the profession.”
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker. Instagram: @finchwalker_.