Parents tell Monroe County School Board the district violated parental-rights statutes during Horace O’Brien dismissal
Summary
A Key West couple said school staff and a school resource officer refused to release their daughter at her established walker gate; they urged the Monroe County School Board to reinstate the procedure, require staff training and issue an apology.
Roy Telfer, who identified himself as a Key West resident and parent of two Horace O’Brien students, told the Monroe County School Board he and his wife experienced what he called “an egregious violation of legal parental rights” during a dismissal last week.
Telfer said district staff moved their daughter into a holding area in the cafeteria without informing the parents. When his wife arrived to pick up their child at the established walker gate, he said, “the school staff continued to refuse my wife's clear demand to release our daughter,” and a school resource officer told his wife she had “no parental right to dictate the process of retrieving our child.”
The couple said the principal later reinstated the established walker dismissal protocol for their daughter, but they asked the school board to take three actions for all families: formally reinstate walker dismissal procedures for students identified as walkers; require comprehensive training for Horace O’Brien administrators and the school resource officer on their legal limits and obligations; and direct the assistant principal who initiated the incident to apologize to the child.
Why it matters: Telfer framed the incident as a legal problem, citing statutes by number during his remarks and asking the board to restore procedures so other parents do not experience similar treatment. He asked the board to ensure staff understand “the clear limits of authority during the transfer of custody to a legal parent.”
Board response and context: The public-comment segment concluded after Telfer’s remarks; no formal board action on his request was recorded in the meeting minutes or agenda during the session. Board members did not vote on or direct immediate districtwide training during the meeting; one board member later asked for the district to provide follow-up information on similar incidents when the board considers related items in the future.
What was said verbatim: Telfer told the board, “We are reporting an egregious violation of legal parental rights and a fundamental misunderstanding of the limits of school authority,” and later asked the board to “reinstate the established walker dismissal method immediately for all students whose parents identified their children as walkers.”
Next steps noted in the meeting: Telfer said the principal had reinstated the procedure for his daughter earlier the same day; he asked the board to pursue the two other remedies (training and an apology). The board did not make a formal motion on those requests during the meeting.
Clarifying note: During his remarks Telfer referenced Florida statutes by number as cited in the public comment; the article reports the speaker’s claim and the board’s recorded response but does not independently verify the legal interpretation of those statutes.
