COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — Students at Monarch High School in Broward County organized a walkout to protest the school district's decision to reassign the school principal and other staff members for allegedly letting a transgender student-athlete play on the girls' volleyball team.
The demonstration occurred at Monarch High School in Broward County. Local news footage shows a large crowd of students walking out of the school building and congregating outside on school property.
Officials are probing whether Monarch High principal James Cecil, assistant principal Kenneth May, athletic director Dione Hester and IM technician Jessica Norton violated SB 1028, the state law passed in 2021 that barred transgender female students from playing on women's and girls' sports teams.
"The school is not any good without a principal. We need someone here who is able to lead us. Even though it's a state law, I know according to state law you can't do it, but I think his punishment was too harsh," one student told CBS Miami.
"I don’t think it should be a problem big enough for you to have the school’s principal reassigned," another student told WSVN. "At the end of the day, that’s just an extracurricular."
While the district provided few details on the investigation, sources told CBS that it concerned a volleyball player at the high school who had transitioned from male to female several years ago.
While the student and her family declined to comment when news of the probe came to light, advocates for inclusivity in schools decried the district's decision.
"It's horrendous first on just a human level that the school would out somebody on an issue like this that's obviously incredibly sensitive. It's just dumbfounding, and the Broward County Schools should be ashamed of themselves," said Scott Galvin, Executive Director of Safe Schools South Florida.
Meanwhile, the head of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association issued a statement expressing confidence that the investigation would fully exonerate Cecil.
Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata said during a news conference Tuesday that a member of the community had made a complaint about the student-athlete last week. When questioned by reporters, Licata denied that the reassignments had anything to do with a lawsuit the student and her parents had previously brought against the school.
A federal judge ruled against the student earlier this month.
Reporting from The Associated Press contributed to this article