TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — A Florida school is fighting back after a news story suggested its leadership canned the principal over concerns that the statue of David was pornographic.
Tallahassee Classical School announced on Friday it has retained former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson to help the charter school recover from an onslaught of bad press.
MICHAELANGELO’S DAVID: MASTERPIECE OR PORN?
On March 23, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the school forced Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign “after a parent complained a Renaissance art lesson was pornographic.” At issue was Michelangelo’s nude “David” sculpture.
The story was picked up by international media outlets and quickly spread around the world. Hillsdale, a popular conservative liberal arts college in Michigan, severed its partnership with Tallahassee Classical in response to the story.
One week later, Carrasquilla told The Epoch Times that the story was inaccurate.
Tallahassee Democrat Editor William Hatfield stands by the paper’s reporting, citing a Facebook post from the school board chair Barney Bishop – confirming the parental complaint.
Bishop asserts that said the incident did not impact Carrasquilla’s resignation.
“Bottom line, someone is not telling the truth,” Tallahassee Reports’ Editor Steve Stewart wrote about the contradictory claims.
REPORTS “HARMED THE SCHOOL”
Tallahassee Classical hopes Lawson and his firm can help restore its tarnished reputation. The school says a “false narrative” and “inaccurate reporting” have harmed the school.
“At no time has Tallahassee Classical School characterized Michelangelo’s Statue of David as pornography,” the school wrote in a press release. “Any suggestion otherwise is false and defamatory.”
