A teacher who’s been working in Connecticut public schools for 32 years was placed on paid administrative leave for proudly displaying a crucifix in her classroom, according to her legal team.
Marisol Arroyo-Castro, who teaches seventh-grade social studies at DiLoreto Elementary and Middle School in New Britain, had a golden crucifix on the wall next to her desk for 10 years before she was ordered to take it down by school officials.
After initially complying, she put it back up on the wall out of ‘personal conscience.’ She was then suspended without pay for two days, before being placed on paid leave in mid-December, where she remains until now.
School officials say she wasn’t just suspended for her refusal to hide the cross, but also based on claims from students that she used religious references in her lessons.
The school district told DailyMail.com that Arroyo-Castro was given several options to keep the cross in her classroom, but so it wasn’t visible to students. They also said they reminded her she was free to pray during the school day when students weren’t with her.
Powerhouse law firm WilmerHale, along with First Liberty Institute – a nonprofit law firm focused on religious liberty cases – represent Arroyo-Castro and are threatening to sue the Consolidated School District of New Britain if she is not reinstated.
Assistant Principal Andrew Mazzei pulled Arroyo-Castro into a meeting on Friday, December 6 and ordered her to remove the crucifix by the following Monday, according to a letter her lawyers sent to the school and the district.
In another meeting, this time with five school leaders present, Arroyo-Castro was told to put the crucifix under her desk.
Marisol Arroyo-Castro, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at DiLoreto Elementary and Middle School, was placed on administrative leave after failing to take down a crucifix she was displaying in her classroom
Pictured: The golden crucifix is seen on the wall next to Arroyo-Castro’s desk
Putting the cross under her desk upset her because it was ‘hiding her light.’ So ‘after many tears and prayer, she returned the crucifix to its original location,’ according to her lawyers.
On Thursday, December 12, Arroyo-Castro was suspended for two days without pay, per the complaint.
Over the next four days, she refused to budge on the school’s demand that she put the crucifix in a ‘private space.’ On Monday, December 16, school officials put her on paid administrative leave.
Arroyo-Castro was allegedly approached by the district with offers to retire early in exchange for agreeing not to sue.
The district called the claims made by Arroyo-Castro and her lawyers ‘misleading’ and explained that they had also received complaints from students and parents that she incorporated her Catholic beliefs into her lessons.
This alleged conduct made students of different faiths uncomfortable, according to District Superintendent Dr. Tony Gasper.
‘The school administration received, relatively simultaneously, concerns from students and staff members about both the crucifix and very concerning statements and behavior by Ms. Arroyo-Castro in the classroom,’ Gasper told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘We are investigating whether the actions of Ms. Castro infringed upon students’ rights to attend school without having an adult impose her religion upon them.’
Based on reports, Arroyo-Castro called her students ‘sinners’ and told them ‘they need Jesus.’
She also frequently used phrases like ‘Poppa God,’ while frequently weaving in ‘themes and stories from her religion into classroom instruction,’ according to students that came forward.
Pictured: This is where school officials wanted Arroyo-Castro to place her crucifix, according to her lawyers
Gasper added that displaying a religious symbol, such as a cross, ‘violates both federal and state laws requiring public schools to remain neutral in religious matters.’
Keisha Russell, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute, told CTInsider that the allegations of Arroyo-Castro talking to students about her religion only surfaced with the complaint about the cross.
Russell further claimed Arroyo-Castro was never told about concerns that she was using her religion in the course of her duties as a teacher until she was told to remove the crucifix.
To boost their argument for religious persecution, Arroyo-Castro’s lawyers cited a 2022 Supreme Court decision that upheld the right of a Washington state high school football coach to pray with his team on the field after games.
Coach Joseph Kennedy was placed on administrative leave in 2015 and later reached a nearly $2 million settlement with the school district. He also got to return to a coaching position for the 2023 season.
Russell said this case very much applies to the situation Arroyo-Castro finds herself in.
‘Requiring a teacher to purge their workspace of anything religious is blatant hostility that violates the First Amendment,’ Russell said.
‘The Supreme Court said in the recent Kennedy decision that teachers have the right to engage in personal religious expression under the Free Exercise Clause, including when students are present.’
Ray Padilla, a parent to two children at the school, expressed frustration that Arroyo-Castro was on placed on leave. At the same time, he said his feelings would change if it were true that she was incorporating her religion into lessons
Russell also pointed out that other teachers at the school have items that could be construed as religious, such as a photo depicting a Virgin Mary statue and a coffee mug that has a Bible verse on it.
Ray Padilla, a parent to two children at the school, was frustrated at the school’s decision to boot Arroyo-Castro out of the classroom.
‘I’m kind of mad about it because any other religion can display their stuff except for Christianity. We’re always getting attacked And I’m a Christian myself,’ Padilla told FOX61.
‘We can display Rainbow flags, pride stuff, Muslim stuff and nothing gets done about it, but only Christianity gets attacked.’
When asked if he would change his perspective if Arroyo-Castro had been incorporating her religion into lessons, Padilla said, ‘If that’s the case, you got to separate the school and the religion. You just can’t force religion onto somebody.’
Russell said Arroyo-Castro does not want to sue the school but will do so if the district does not allow her to come back and display the crucifix.
