Parents tell Monroe County School Board the District Violated Parental-Rights
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Key West parent blasts Horace O’Bryant Middle School staff for “egregious violation of parental rights” after daughter held during dismissal—calls for reinstated procedures, staff training, and an apology.
Monroe County School Board Violates Parental-Rights
At the latest Monroe County School Board meeting, Key West parent Roy Telfer raised serious concerns about how his daughter was dismissed from Horace O’Bryant Middle School.
He summed up his position clearly: “We are reporting an egregious violation of legal parental rights and a fundamental misunderstanding of the limits of school authority.”
According to Telfer, staff moved his daughter into a cafeteria holding area without notifying the family. When his wife arrived at the usual walker gate to pick her up, school staff refused to release the child.
A school resource officer even told her she had “no parental right to dictate the process of retrieving our child.”
The principal later reinstated dismissal procedures for Telfer’s daughter so she can walk home, but the family asked the board to go further. They want the problem fixed for all students, because Mr. Tefler claims other parents have dealth with the same issue.
Their requests included:
Reinstate walker dismissal procedures for all students identified as walkers.
Provide training for administrators and the school resource officer on the legal limits of their authority.
Require the assistant principal involved to apologize directly to the child.
Brian Desilets is the current principal of Horace O’Bryant School in Key West, serving since 2022. He comes to Monroe County from New England. The school is one of the largest PK–8 schools in the Florida Keys.
Telfer says the school has a legal problem, citing Florida statutes during his remarks that support parental rights. He urged the board to make sure staff understand the boundaries of their authority when transferring custody to a parent.
The board did not take immediate action at the meeting regarding this complaint. While his daughter’s dismissal procedure was restored, the broader remedies he requested remain unresolved.
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