DeSantis rolls out new Florida school rules banning ‘adult live performances’ on field trips

Ron DeSantis is preparing to introduce additional reforms in Florida public schools, banning cross-dressing for students and allowing children to use new names only with parental consent.

The Florida governor, along with Florida agencies, wants to give parents more power over their children’s education, limiting any activities that are considered age-inappropriate.

Florida’s Department of Education proposals, including a ban on districts from using the social media app TikTok, come after DeSantis has already received a slew of attacks related to his Parental Bill of Rights – regarded by critics as the “Don ‘t Say Gay’ law.

DeSantis’ ongoing war with Walt Disney Co. resulted from this controversial law. The presidential candidate this week filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from Disney accusing him of violating his contract with the state over the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Tuesday’s new rollout of the education-related rules comes in response to a series of controversial bills passed by the Florida legislature and signed by DeSantis that are set to go into effect soon.

Hearings are scheduled to discuss the proposed rules on July 19 in Orlando, a remaining blue dot in the middle of a now-established red state that was once a swing state.

First, the Department of Education said it will now ban public school districts from taking their students on field trips or other “school-sponsored activities,” including “adult live performances.” This is in response to a law banning children from attending drag shows in Florida with the increasing popularity of “drag story time.”

Part of DeSantis’ presidential platform includes a pledge to return schools to the mission of “education, not indoctrination.”

He argues that this so-called indoctrination amounts to districts, teachers and other educators pursuing a “wake up” agenda that introduces children to adult conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity at an early age.

“Florida is proud to be at the forefront of standing up for our kids,” DeSantis said in the press release last month when he signed into law the law banning children from drag shows. “As the world goes crazy, Florida represents a haven of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”

Under the new rule, there would be strengthened procedures for parental notification of field trips and related activities.

A second rule from the state’s education department would “ensure the use of the child’s legal name at school or a parent-approved nickname.”

The description of the potential rule says it was created with the intention of strengthening parental rights.

There is an existing rule that would change this new one regarding student records. Now, school boards may be subject to passing policies that require permission from “parents to specify the use of any deviation from their child’s legal name at school.”

“School districts will develop a form to obtain parental consent along with all required documentation, if applicable,” reads the draft rule, with a notice of the proposal adding: “This rule will ensure full transparency to improve the student’s record and protect parental rights.”

A third rule proposal would strengthen internet safety policies in schools — such as banning students from “accessing social media platforms, except when expressly directed by a teacher for an educational purpose” when using district-owned personal devices .

It is largely an attack on China-based popular social media app TikTok to ensure that the school’s Wi-Fi and devices are not “used to communicate or advertise a school district, school, school-sponsored club, extracurricular organization or athletic team’.