Florida Principal Out After Viewing Of Michelangelo's 'David' Upsets Parents | HuffPost Latest News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The principal of Florida's Tallahassee Classical School is out of a job after parents complained that their sixth-grade children were shown Michelangelo's 16th century "David" sculpture, with one parent calling it "pornographic," the Tallahassee Democrat first reported.
The now-former principal, Hope Carrasquilla, told HuffPost the situation was also "a little more complicated than that," noting that the usual protocol is to send parents a letter before students are shown such classical artwork.
Due to "a series of miscommunications," the letter did not go out to the sixth-grade parents, and some complained, Carrasquilla said.
One parent was "point-blank upset," Carrasquilla continued, and "felt her child should not be viewing those pieces."
Roberto Serra - Iguana Press via Getty Images
The board of the charter school decided Monday to give the principal the choice to resign or be fired after less than a year in the job. She was the school's third principal since it opened in the fall of 2020, per the Tallahassee Democrat.
The move comes as conservatives in Florida and elsewhere battle to step up their input in primary education.
Michelangelo's marble sculpture of the Biblical figure David was crafted between 1501 and 1504, originally commissioned for an Italian cathedral. It now resides at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence.
Carrasquilla said she had taught in classical education for a decade and knew that "once in a while you get a parent who gets upset about Renaissance art" — hence the letter. She was not surprised by the reaction from the school board chair, Barney Bishop, but the fact that other board members went along with him was unexpected.
In a call with HuffPost, Bishop emphasized that the nude sculpture incident was one of multiple issues with Carrasquilla. He declined to go into specifics, citing advice from the school's employment lawyers.
Bishop explained he was lobbying for legislation that would give parents even more input in primary education.
"Parental rights trump everything else," Bishop said. He added that the pandemic's remote teaching gave parents a clearer window into their children's education and prompted some to choose schools like Tallahassee Classical.
"They didn't like the woke indoctrination that was going on," he said.
Bishop accused Carrasquilla of trying to "gin up a lot of publicity" by sharing her experience.
Carrasquilla said many other parents and faculty members were upset about her ouster and have been reaching out with support.
The Tallahassee school is a public charter institution that focuses on classical learning, a teaching philosophy centered on a traditional Western liberal arts education that aims to impart critical thinking skills children can use throughout their lives. Classical learning is also popular within the Christian homeschooling movement.
The Tallahassee Classical School is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian institution that has sought to expand its influence over the last decade by helping set up public charter schools. Hillsdale briefly cut ties with the Tallahassee school in early 2022 for not meeting improvement standards, but it later regained affiliation.
Hillsdale has raised funds for the charter school network by pledging to fight "leftist" and "distorted" teaching of American history, such as the lessons about slavery contained in The New York Times' 1619 Project, the newspaper reported last year.
"We don't use pronouns," Bishop said. "We don't teach CRT and we don't ever mention 1619 — those are not appropriate subjects for our kids."
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This is what nonsense comes from the gop's stupid culture war...
I thought that he used a slingshot.
That would be what he has over his shoulder...
Perhaps JBB thought he needed an additional weapon.
That pretty much says it all.
...and that it is close to the seat of power in Florida....
Is this really an issue, or is it, like so many other political ideas, just ginned up to make people have an opinion?
There it is! Some conservatives are 'policing' educational formats and the classics neat to beware! Because some conservatives are 'coming for the classics' now! Can anyone see how repressive Florida is becoming?
What I want to know: Can any member living in Florida feel the repression blanketing the state (yet)?
BTW, my opinion, of pornography and obscenity is it is an item or a thing which has not been known to be acceptable in this country without age limit requirements, not artwork on display for protracted periods of time and accessible to our generations (who can no longer wash it out of their minds o unsee it).
It is conservative over-reach. Put another way, this is a form of conservatives 'backlash' for losing confederate statutes recently.
BTW, Thomas! Thomas! Thomas! Is back!
Hi Thomas, good to see you again.
It is close to the seat of power and it seems another example of the bizarre path that Florida is heading.
The nude human body is not pornography. Pornography is a media depiction of sexual acts.
Even dumbasses know that.
I’m surprised that liberals aren’t bemoaning school children being shown religious artwork created by a white, male European.
Italians weren't considered to be white at the time of Michealangelo and his portraits suggest strong Mediterranean lineage other than what we now consider to be "white European".
Your link is about the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not when Michelangelo lived or today.
Here, one about the birth of whiteness and it's relevance to African slavery
and justification of caste systems in White Nations like the English French & Dutch.
The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea | Race | The Guardian
Yes, I’ve read similar articles and think that they are accurate.
The work is a masterpiece if not for the image, but the sheer time and dedication that went into it. The multiple disciplines one had to have mastered in order to create that are beyond most people. The David is truly a Human treasure.
Fuck anyone who takes "offense" to it.
But this "parents choice" in action. Parents are fucking idiots, hence why most of them are not teachers.
Interesting that many people feel the same way about people that take offense when people don't want to call them their gender of the day.
Charlie Sykes told his podcast audience yesterday that this was the plot of an episode of the Simpsons long ago.
I do believe the Simpsons lifted the idea for that episode from the Vatican's "Fig Leaf" campaign.
Just guessing that this woman could not pick her husband's genitals out of a lineup. /S
Who knows, this David wasn’t snipped. Maybe he wasn’t really Jewish.
david obviously left her feeling short changed in life...
Apparently these parents don't actually live in Florida. Go to Miami for a night.
He's aiming to make sure that the kids would not be more educated or worldly than their parents.
I think one problem is that maturity appears to be waning rather than increasing. Maybe there is some other kind of virus that puts a governor (as in car motors) on growing up mentally.
I hope they never go to Europe then. Funny how cultures that are ten times older than ours have never had the prudeness issues that our juvenile snowflake culture does.
europe, where catholic priests are married with children...
The nuns don't have a problem with the statue of David as can be seen with them taking a selfie.
It is a religious statue......
snicker snicker snicker
go figure, huh?
my favorite commercial client was a nun. she was hip, hilarious, and wasn't fond of priests at all...
The Europeans must really laugh at the Americans' childishness.
I agree, every time we add another gender the rest of the world shakes their heads and laughs.
put some maga boxers on him...
that's still borderline for thumpers...
but seeing underoos on that statue would probably cause a lot of tennis elbow injuries for rwnj's...
Awww git it gurl! Thou name is Davída Couture Fabulosio. Well I declare!
On a serious note: What is the history/reason for this statute of David being 'bare' by Michelangelo? Anybody know?
I know now. It was the Renaissance and nudity (in art) was popular.
They turned him into a Ken doll!
Great.
"Shouldn't he have some clothes on? No! Wait, Now I will really have to arrest you."
He's clearly wearing a MAGA Emperor's Suit.
Oh no you "di'int"! What we are doing to 'defame' David might be against the law! Where are the lawyers when you need counsel?
Really should be facing the other direction.
When we visited Florence, we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see their collection, especially "David". At our first sight of "David", both my wife and I were overwhelmed by how magnificent it is and we were left practically speechless. It is truly one of the greatest achievements in cultural history.
My wife and I felt the same. An astonishing sculpture, even if it was done by a white European.
IMO THIS is what's pornographic:
and this....
Those who are offended by David are likely the same men who are terrified of a trans man in the men’s room that might catch a glimpse of their micropenis.
I wonder if they get as upset when they see balls dangling from a pickup truck's hitch.
... that's way different. everbody knoz trucks don't have no balls...
... just like their goober drivers.