Parents Engulfed in Paperwork as Florida Schools Open With New Rules

Parents in Florida schools are being required to fill out a slew of forms as the new school year approaches as part of the "parental rights" in education initiatives being pushed in the state by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The forms address new rules for schools in the Sunshine States where parents must specify their student's nickname or new name, give their child permission to check out certain books from school libraries, opt in or out of health services from counseling to temperature checks to ice packs.

Teachers are not allowed to ask students their preferred pronouns nor discuss gender or sexual identity in anyway with their classes. If they do, the teacher risk losing their professional certifications.

Students who wished to be referred to as a nickname must have their parents report it on their forms. For example, if a child named "Michael" wished to be called "Mike," their parent has to indicate that on the form. The same rule applies to transgender students who no longer use their birth name. School staff members, however, can choose whether or not they would like to refer to a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.

In schools districts across the state, students, staff, and visitors, will be required to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender they were assigned at birth. Any violations of this law could cost a school district up to $10,000 in fines.

Parents can also choose what kind of book access their students can have in the library. Students can be granted full access, no access, or access to certain material, based on what their parents indicate on the forms.