Parents, teachers and students urge Brevard School Board to reinstate teacher Melissa Calhoun

Dozens of parents, teachers and students at a School Board of Brevard County meeting pressed the board to reinstate Melissa Calhoun, a teacher whose rehire was omitted from the board’s instructional staff recommendations. Public speakers said the Florida Education Practices Commission had declined to strip Calhoun’s certificate and that the board had previously said it would reconsider rehiring if the state left her license intact.

The issue drew sustained public comment because, speakers said, the board’s earlier statements created an expectation that it would follow the state’s decision. “You said if they did that, you would bring her back,” Andrew Spar, an elementary music teacher and president of the Florida Education Association, told the board. “Miss Calhoun should be in the classroom.”

Speakers said the board’s action — not listing Calhoun among the district’s recommended hires — contradicts public statements made at earlier meetings and damages trust between district leaders and staff. Vanessa Skipper, vice president of the…