School principal forced out after parents complain statue of David is too rude
Hope Carrasquilla, a US charter school principal, has been forced to resign from her position after a parent decreed an art lesson to be “pornographic”.
Carrasquilla was given an ultimatum - either she stepped down, or she would face termination from the Tallahassee Classical School - according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” she told the publication.
Carrasquilla also explained that she had been informed of her options by the school’s board chair, Barney Bishop. While Bishop has confirmed that he did hand down the ultimatum, he did not expand on why. However, Carrasquilla believes a Renaissance art lesson to be the main contributing factor.
The lesson in question saw students study Michelgangelo’s classic David, as well as his Creation of Adam fresco painting, and Boticelli’s Birth of Venus.
Apparently, the school is required to educate students about Renaissance art in their 6th grade. But for three parents this wasn’t reason enough, with each of them voicing their concerns about the lesson plan, while claiming that it had caused their children upset.
Two of the parents simply wanted to have been notified about the content before it reached their children, but one had stronger feelings, branding the situation “pornographic”.
Carrasquilla said that one of them was “point-blank upset”, and “felt her child should not be viewing those pieces.”
But as she informed HuffPost, things were “a little more complicated than that”, before sharing that the school’s usual protocol would be to inform parents before their children are presented with classical art, such as David.
According to the now-former principal, a “breakdown in communication” between herself, the direction of operations, and the art teacher has brought upon a kind of administrative oversight, and the parents had never received a letter about the lesson.
This came after a new rule was passed in February, with the school board mandating that parents must be notified a fortnight before any “potentially controversial” was taught to students. Parents would also be presented with the option to review their child’s curriculum, as well as any related media, with a reminder to be sent a week ahead.
“Parental rights are supreme,” Bishop explained, “and that means protecting the interests of all parents, whether it’s one, 10, 20, or 50.”
As her story began to circulate around the globe, Carrasquilla went on to explain in a statement that for a year, Bishop had “expressed his displeasure with my leadership when parents became upset about policies or procedures not being followed to the T.
“He was more concerned about litigation and appeasing a small minority of parents, rather than trusting my expertise as an educator for more than 25 years.”
Images: Getty