Suspended Monarch High administrators cleared in trans athlete probe

FORT LAUDERDALE - The principal, assistant principal, and athletic director of Monarch High School in Coconut Creek are back at work after being cleared in an investigation involving a trans athlete at the school.

Principal James Cecil, Assistant Principal Kenneth May, and Athletic Director Dione Hester were temporarily suspended or re-assigned last November pending the outcome of the investigation as to whether they violated a 2021 state law by allowing a trans athlete to play on the girls' varsity volleyball team.

The student, a 10th grader who played in 33 matches over the last two seasons, was removed from the team last November after the school district was notified by an anonymous tipster about her participation. Her removal led hundreds of Monarch students to walk out of class protest.

The student and her parents filed a federal lawsuit in June 2021 challenging the Fairness in Women's Sports Act that bars transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student-athletes identified as girls at birth.

Also, suspended last November was the mother of the trans athlete who works at the school. The investigation into her remains ongoing, according to the school district's Special Investigate Unit.

Last year, The Florida Athletic Association fined Monarch High School $16,500 for the violation and put the school on administrative probation until this November.

"Monarch High School complied with the sanctions imposed by the Florida High School Athletic Association, including paying the assessed fine and attending the organization's compliance seminar in early May," according to a statement from the school district.