PLANTATION, Fla. – A Broward school district employee who allowed her transgender daughter to play girls’ volleyball, prompting a state investigation, will not lose her job.
The Broward County School Board, in a 5-4 vote during a special meeting at Plantation High School, chose to suspend — rather than fire — Jessica Norton.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn had recommended Norton be fired, but she’ll instead be suspended for 10 days.
Investigators found her daughter’s participation on Monarch High School’s volleyball team violated a 2021 Florida law that bans transgender girls from participating in women’s sports.
Norton worked as a computer information specialist at the Coconut Creek school.
State athletics officials fined Monarch; its principal and two other staffers were later cleared of wrongdoing.
Norton spoke to media outlets following the vote, saying while she doesn’t agree with the suspension, she’s happy she did not lose her job.
“I mean, I wasn’t fired. I wasn’t terminated so kind of triumphant,” she said. “I fought back. I didn’t let them walk all over me. I didn’t step down. I didn’t resign from my job. I stayed until the end and I let them decide. Do I think their decision was correct? I don’t but, you know, I did what I had to do for my family.”
Norton said she planned to speak with her family following the vote to determine whether she wants to return to Monarch this upcoming school year.