A high school in Florida reassigned several employees, including its principal, after a transgender athlete was permitted to play on a female sports team.
Principal James Cecil of Monarch High School, who has worked for Broward County for 25 years, was removed pending an investigation into “allegations of improper student participation in sports,” according to a Monday email announcement from Broward County Public Schools (BCPS).
A transgender athlete who plays on one of the high school’s female sports teams is the subject of the investigation, multiple BCPS sources told NBC6, despite the statement providing little explanation for the choice.
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The statement reads, “The principal of Monarch High School and several staff members have been reassigned to non-school sites pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of improper student participation in sports. We will continue to follow state law and take appropriate action based on the investigation’s outcome, even though we are unable to comment further at this time.”
“Although we cannot comment further, we will continue to follow state law and will take appropriate action based on the outcome of the investigation,” the statement read. “We are committed to providing all our students with a safe and inclusive learning environment.”
According to court records, a transgender volleyball player from Broward County sued the state in June 2021 after Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill prohibiting biological males from participating in women’s sports.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit on November 7 claiming that Title IX only “prohibits discrimination on the basis of biological sex—not gender identity.”
This same transgender volleyball player is the focus of the high school’s investigation, according to sources who spoke with CBS Miami.
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The staff members who were let go were not named in the statement, but sources who talked to CBS Miami said that the assistant principal and athletic director of the school were among those who were moved.
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