A Tallahassee school administrator says she was forced to retire after parents complained about her ‘p*rnographic’ art session.
Hope Carrasquilla observed her sixth-grade students’ learning about Renaissance art when renowned pieces like ‘The creation of Adam’ and Michelangelo’s masterpiece ‘David’ were displayed.
This did not sit well with parents.
Hope had been the principal of Tallahassee Classical School for less than a year when she was abruptly asked to quit by the school’s board chair.
The former principal claims that board head Barney Bishop informed her she would be fired unless she resigned.
As a result, she abruptly announced her retirement from the school during an emergency board meeting on Monday (20 March).
Ms. Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat that she believes she was asked to retire because of recent complaints from parents concerning an art session.
Mr. Bishop, she claims, had previously “expressed his displeasure with my leadership when parents became upset about policies or procedures not being followed to the letter.”
“He was more concerned with litigation and appeasing a small minority of parents than trusting my expertise as an educator for more than 25 years,” she continued.
Ms. Carrasquilla claimed that after showing students pieces of art such as ‘Birth of Venus,’ ‘Creation of Adam,’ and ‘David’ (all of which feature nudity), three parents complained that the session had offended their children.
According to the former principal, while two parents complained that they wished they had been notified about the lecture ahead of time, the other called the Renaissance instruction “p*rnographic.”
Just last month, the school board established a regulation requiring any ‘possibly controversial’ lesson topics, including world-renowned art, to be made available to parents in advance.
“Parental rights are supreme,” Mr. Bishop added, “and that means protecting the interests of all parents, whether there are one, ten, twenty, or fifty.”
Carrasquilla alleges that a letter was sent to parents ahead of the art lesson but that due to a breakdown in communication between her, the art teacher, and the director of operations, the message was never delivered.
When queried about the departure, Mr. Bishop replied that it was “not uncommon in new charter schools to go through several principals.” However, he did reveal that he had given Ms. Carrasquilla an ultimatum, though he would not explain why.
