Principal terminated following parents’ outrage

It stands five meters high, is made of marble and represents the young Israeli shepherd boy at the moment he challenges the Philistine warrior giant, Goliath, to a fight.

The sculpture “David” was completed by Michelangelo in 1504, and is currently on display in the Accademia Gallery in Florence. The sculpture of the biblical figure is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance.

But there are certainly divided opinions about that, something a Florida principal has noticed the effect of.

Forced to resign

Hope Carrasquilla had hardly had a year in the principal’s chair at the Tallahassee Classical School in Florida, when on Monday this week she was elected by the school board as follows:

Enten resign from the job with immediate effect, or be fired.

The principal himself thinks so in an interview with the local newspaper Tallahassee Democrat that she was forced to resign after complaints had been received about the art teaching.

The case was that the pupils in the sixth form had been shown pictures of world-renowned works of art which “Birth of Venus”, «Creation of Adam» and “Michelangelo’s David”.

Shortly thereafter, three parents filed complaints that the lesson had upset their children.

Races for children’s art: – It’s a loop!

Increased parental power

According to Carrasquilla, two of the parents’ complaints were that they had not been informed about the lesson in advance.

– The last parent described the Renaissance class as “pornographic”, Carrasquilla tells the Tallahassee Democrat.

In February, the school board adopted a new rule that required all class topics that were too “potentially controversial” to count had to be made known to parents in advance. That included the art classes.

– The parents’ rights take precedence over everything else. It involves protecting the interests of all parents, whether it’s one, ten, twenty or fifty, chairman Barney Bishop explains to the news website The Huffington Post.

According to Carrasquilla, a letter was to be sent to parents ahead of the lesson in question. She claims a breakdown in communication between herself, the art teacher and the operations director ended with the letter never reaching the parents.

Tattoo shock: – The wife is crying

– Will appease minority

The matter of the nude artworks will not be the first time the headmaster has come to blows with the chairman of the board at the school.

– Bishop has previously expressed his dissatisfaction with my leadership because parents have been upset that guidelines and procedures have not been followed to the letter, she says to the local newspaper.

– He has been more concerned about court cases and appeasing a small minority of parents, rather than relying on my nearly 25-year expertise as a teacher, she adds.

Faced with the board’s and Bishop’s ultimatum, Carrasquilla chose the former. On Monday, she informed the board that she was resigning from her position.

“It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat.

Makes the net boil

Third principal in three years

In an email sent to the school’s parents late Monday night, the board informed that Cara Wynn would be the new principal at Tallahassee Classical School. She will thus be the third principal in a row since the school opened its doors in autumn 2020.

Barney Bishop confirms to The Huffington Post that he gave Carrasquilla an ultimatum, without wanting to elaborate.

– It is not unusual for new schools to go through several principals, he believes.

Still, not all parents are happy with what’s happening at the Florida school. One of them is Carrie Boyd, who herself has two children who are in the third and seventh grades respectively.

Boyd tells The Huffington Post that he has noticed a “paradigm shift”.

– It starts to feel as if the school is about to become part of an agenda.