Florida principal ousted after complaints about Michelangelo's 'David' in art lesson

A Tallahassee, Florida, charter school principal said she was forced to resign after a parent complained that a Renaissance art lesson was pornographic.

Hope Carrasquilla had been principal for less than a year at Tallahassee Classical School before she resigned from her position during an emergency board meeting Monday. No reason was given at the meeting for her abrupt departure.

“It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” Carrasquilla told the Paste BN Network.

Carrasquilla said last week she was told by the school’s board chair, Barney Bishop, that she would have to resign or she would be fired. She believes the catalyst for the ultimatum was complaints about an art lesson on the Renaissance period.

In a statement released hours after her story began to spread around the globe, Carrasquilla said that in the last year, Bishop “has 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.”

Bishop, who confirmed he did give Carrasquilla that ultimatum, said he could not say why he asked her to resign because of the school’s employment lawyer’s advice. 

Tallahassee Classical, a Hillsdale College curriculum school, is required to teach about Renaissance art in sixth grade.

But three parents complained that the lesson’s content, which included learning about Michelangelo’s sculpture “David” and the "Creation of Adam" fresco painting and Boticelli's "Birth of Venus," upset their children.

Art or pornography? Michelangelo's David has been controversial since the beginning. Here's how

'Parental rights are supreme'

Michelangelo, considered one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, created "David" between the years of 1501 and 1504 during the height of the cultural movement. The sculpture is a symbol of the strength and independence of the Florentines, according to the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, the museum which displays the work of art.

Out of the three parents, two said they wished they had been notified of the lesson beforehand, and the other parent complained the lesson was pornographic, Carrasquilla said.

A letter notifying parents of the art lesson should have been sent to parents, Carrasquilla said, but a breakdown in communication between the principal, the director of operations and the art teacher led to an administrative oversight, and parents were not informed.

The board passed a new rule last month that would require parental notification two weeks in advance of any curriculum that is taught that is “potentially controversial,” Bishop said.

The parents will also be able to review the curriculum and the photos that go along with it, and a reminder notice will go out one week in advance.

“Parental rights are supreme, and that means protecting the interests of all parents, whether its one, 10, 20 or 50,” Bishop said.

But some parents are frustrated with what they say is a lack of communication from the school and constant teacher turnover.

Carrie Boyd, who has a third grader and a seventh grader at Tallahassee Classical, said Carrasquilla’s resignation came as a shock to her and other parents.

The last-minute board meeting at 7 a.m. Monday did not give parents time to learn what happened or give input about the school’s new principal.

Boyd said she has also noticed a “paradigm shift,” at the school, and communication from administrators is taking on a non-secular tone.

“It’s starting to feel like the school is becoming part of an agenda,” Boyd said.

Association with Hillsdale College

Last year, Hillsdale College dropped Tallahassee Classical's affiliation for not meeting improvement standards. The charter school, which was established as a member school, was able to regain curriculum status.

Hillsdale had been continuously advising Tallahassee Classical since the school opened in the fall of 2020 and was an initial selling point of the charter.

Classical education emphasizes the centrality of the Western tradition in the study of history, literature, philosophy and the fine arts, according to Hillsdale's website. 

"It features a rich and recurring examination of the American literary, moral, philosophical, political, and historical traditions to equip students for citizenship," its website states.

The private conservative college, located in Michigan, has recently gained the attention of higher education leaders in Florida. Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six board members to New College, a liberal arts college in Sarasota, in a conservative takeover of the school.

One of those new board members is parents' rights activist Christopher Rufo, a dean at Hillsdale College and a senior fellow at The Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank. Rufo joined DeSantis when the governor signed HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Act, which is derided by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

“It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South,” said James Uthmeier, chief of staff for DeSantis.

Tallahassee will be on 'cutting edge' of DeSantis agenda on education, board member says

Bishop, who is also a lobbyist, has been vocal during this session’s committee meetings, including name dropping Tallahassee Classical during public comment.

He said Tallahassee Classical will be at the “cutting edge” and sometimes ahead of legislation that is expected to pass this year, including a bill that would require later start times for middle and high school students and the expansion of the Parental Rights in Education Act.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading the move to ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4 to 12. The proposal, which does not have to be approved by the legislature, will be voted on by the state Board of Education next month.

All ages:DeSantis to expand so-called 'Don't Say Gay' law to Florida high schools

“We agree with everything the governor is doing in the educational arena. We support him because he’s right,” Bishop said.

“The whole woke indoctrination going on about pronouns and drag queens isn’t appropriate in school,” he continued.