Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas recently filed an administrative complaint against Talbot Elementary School (TES) teacher Emily Caylen Grace, saying she violated state statutes and rules by asking students to address her with the non-binary title “Mx.” instead of “Ms.” or “Mrs.” 

The complaint comes on the heels of a letter Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent to interim Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) Superintendent Kamela Patton and members of the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) in October.  

In the letter, Uthmeier said his office had received a complaint about Grace’s use of the “Mx.” title, which he described as a “made-up term describing an individual who does not wish to identify her gender.” 

In the administrative complaint, which was submitted to the Florida Department of Education’s (FDOE) Education Practices Commission (EPC), Kamoutsas said Grace, a resource teacher at TES, broke Florida statues and rules during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years when “she asked and/or encouraged and/or failed to correct elementary students addressing her using the non-binary prefix Mx rather than Ms. or Mrs. as appropriate” with her sex at birth.  

“No school teacher can make elementary school kids use fake pronouns in Florida. This isn’t hard,” Kamoutsas wrote in a post on X on Thursday, with a copy of the complaint included in the post. 

“(Grace) has violated the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession prescribed by State Board of Education rules,” Kamoutsas said in the administrative complaint.  

Kamoutsas added that Grace’s use of the “Mx.” title violates Florida Statute 1000.071, “which relates to the use of personal titles and pronouns in educational institutions.”  

Kamoutsas suggested that the EPC “impose an appropriate sanction against [Grace’s] educator’s certificate.” The sanctions recommended by Kamoutsas may include any one or a combination of the following: A written reprimand; probation; restriction of Grace’s authorized scope of practice; an administrative fine; enrollment in the Recovery Network Program; suspending Grace’s teaching certificate; determining that she is ineligible for certification; or barrying Grace from reapplying for an educator certificate for a period of time or permanently.  

In an email reply to Mainstreet on Friday, Jackie Johnson, spokesperson for ACPS, said Grace was on administrative leave “pending the completion of the investigation.” 

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.