I was fired for showing my students an iconic piece of art – but parents complained it was pornographic

A headmaster was fired for a lesson in Renaissance art.

Hope Carrasquilla served as principal at Tallahassee Classical School in Tallahassee, Fla. for less than a year before announcing her retirement this week.

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Her resignation came after a parent of a student at the school reportedly complained that one of the world’s most treasured artistic masterpieces was pornographic.

The school board chairman told her she would either have to quit or be fired, but didn’t specify why the principal was being asked to leave, The Independent reported.

Carrasquilla believes the threat to fire her is related to a lesson in Renaissance art.

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

Barney Bishop, the school board chairman, admitted giving the principal the ultimatum when the news agency spoke to him, but refused to explain why he did so, on the advice of the legal team.

The former headmaster said the school is required by law to provide classes in Renaissance art to sixth graders, who are typically 11- and 12-year-olds, as part of the annual curriculum.

She said three parents complained that their children were made uncomfortable by the lesson, which included a section on Michelangelo’s sculpture David.

Two of the three parents who complained about the art classes reportedly said they wished they had been notified before he was taught, and the third parent openly said the classes were pornographic.

“Parents’ rights are paramount and that means protecting the interests of all parents, whether it’s one, 10, 20 or 50,” Bishop said.

According to The Independent, the school board issued a rule two months before requiring parents to be notified two weeks before teaching “potentially controversial” information.

Many world-famous works of Renaissance art, such as Michelangelo’s David, contain detailed depictions of the human body, including nudity.

But it’s not just those who have complained about the art classes who are upset.

Other parents are frustrated that the school does not communicate about the high turnover rate of school staff.

The parents of the school’s students reportedly did not receive many indications that the principal would be evicted from the school. A parent with a third grader at the school, Carrie Boyd said.

She added that there could be a “paradigm shift” at the school, noting that non-secular language is on the rise.

“It feels like the school is becoming part of an agenda,” she told the Tallahassee Democrat.