“Information regarding a student’s preferred name is just one component of a form that parents are asked to complete. “The District is in compliance with the State’s Parental Rights measure,” the spokesperson said. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the School District of Palm Beach County said the Florida Department of Education has provided information about the parental rights bill on a resource page. For example, Woods said, teachers were told on the second day of school that they will have to fill out and send a form home to students’ parents if the students ask to use names that are different from their legal names.

In Palm Beach County, Woods said, teachers have received little guidance about how to abide by the law, and the guidance they have gotten has been unclear. As a result, school districts’ interpretations of how to best implement the law vary widely. The law doesn’t give examples of what is age or developmentally appropriate, and it doesn’t outline what breaking the law would look like. Proponents of the Parental Rights in Education law say it’s limited to classroom instruction in kindergarten through third grade, but critics say the part of the law that prohibits instruction that is “not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” opens up teachers in any grade to lawsuits from parents. “So they will remain in a closet, not helping anyone.” “I didn’t have any controversial books, but what we keep hearing repeatedly is: ‘Well, if something happens, you could lose your license,’” he said, referring to a state educator’s license.

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