
Marisol Arroyo-Castro, a teacher for the Consolidated School District of New Britain (CSDNB) in Connecticut for 32 years, was suspended recently for refusing to remove a crucifix from her desk and classroom. The cross had been on the wall near her classroom desk for the past decade.
Last week, Arroyo-Castro was asked to go to her vice principal’s office at the DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School, who threatened her with insubordination and termination if she didn’t remove the cross. Arroyo-Castro is a devout Catholic and believes having the crucifix on her desk brings her strength and peace despite the “concern” told to her by school officials.
WFSB NBC 3 in Connecticut reported that the teacher took the threat seriously and placed the crucifix below her desk. A couple of days later, she put it back on her classroom wall. The school suspended Arroyo-Castro for two days without pay. She is now on paid administrative leave following a meeting with DiLoreto school principal Dario Soto, CSDNB chief of staff Maryellen Manning, American Federation of Teachers field operative Ed Leavy, and her CSDNB union representative Jennifer Pagan.
According to the New York Post, First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit religious liberty law firm, picked up Arroyo-Castro’s fight and sent a warning letter to the school advising against violating the teacher’s constitutional rights. The letter alleges that DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School responded by suspending Arroyo-Castro for two days without pay. She is now on paid administrative leave.
The following day, Castro told the school principal she would not remove the cross. The principal then warned her that she must remove the religious symbol from her desk to properly “live out [her] faith” and “give Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
First Liberty claims their client has been “pressured to resign or retire early and sign an agreement not to sue the district.” The law firm argues that the district is violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, which the CSDNB claims is “inaccurate and misleading.”
“Recent claims regarding the Consolidated School District of New Britain’s actions toward a staff member are both inaccurate and misleading,” Superintendent Tony Casper wrote. “To clarify, the matter involves the teacher’s decision to prominently display a religious symbol—a crucifix—on the front wall of her public school classroom, which violates federal and state laws requiring public schools to remain neutral in religious matters.”
Casper wrote that Arroyo-Castro “refused to address the school’s concerns in a manner that respected both her faith and the diverse religious beliefs of the students in the classroom.”
The First Liberty Institute shared that one teacher at the same school has a “coffee mug with Proverbs 3” on their desk, and another teacher has a “small photograph of a statue of the Virgin Mary” in their “personal bulletin space.” There is no record of complaints against them.
Following the national attention of the story, the CSDNB told Fox News in defense of its decision, “The symbol posted on the classroom’s front wall is important. It was part of the classroom environment for all students to see, infringing on the religious freedom of our students.”