Teacher suspended over crucifix that hung by desk for 10 years, Connecticut suit says

A crucifix, approximately 12-inches tall hangs on a wall adjacent to Castro’s desk, along with children’s art and a calendar. According to a lawsuit, Castro was asked to move the crucifix to a spot underneath her desk by school officials. First Liberty Institute

Originally published February 7, 2025 for the Miami Herald

A Connecticut teacher is being reprimanded by school officials for refusing to take down a crucifix, which she said has brought her “peace and strength” over the last decade she’s had it displayed in her classroom, according to a lawsuit.

The complaint — filed Jan. 30 by Marisol Arroyo-Castro, who’s been an educator for 32 years and currently teaches seventh grade at DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School — accuses administrators at the Consolidated School District of New Britain of violating her rights to “free speech and religious free exercise.”

According to Castro’s attorneys, school officials have and “continue to punish (her) for engaging in private, non-coercive expression — specifically, hanging a crucifix among other personal items on the wall next to her desk — solely because her expression is religious and takes place on school property.”

In December, school officials asked Castro to move the approximately 12-inch crucifix after receiving complaints from parents and students about the culture of her classroom — including some students who said the crucifix and religious language Castro uses makes them feel uncomfortable, a spokesperson for the school district told McClatchy News.

“Every decision by the Consolidated School District of New Britain has been made in accordance with the law and in collaboration with our legal counsel,” Superintendent Tony Gasper said in a statement shared with McClatchy News. “This teacher has been offered various options to resolve this matter, all of which she has declined, therefore we look forward to resolving this matter in the court of law.”

The Connecticut case is the latest in a string of federal cases highlighting the ongoing debate of what it means to practice personal freedoms while retaining constitutional separation of church and state.

In the 2022 case Carson v. Makin, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can not choose to subsidize some private schools and not others based on religion. That same year, in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court ruled that a coach’s discipline for praying with students breached his First Amendment rights to free exercise and speech.

Crucifix controversy

For Castro, the crucifix is “part of her personal and religious identity,” and occasionally, she will stay at her desk during her lunch break to look at it and pray, according to the complaint.

Although other teachers at the school have personal items referencing religion on display — including a coffee mug with a biblical reference, a photo of the Virgin Mary and a Santa Claus — Castro is the only one who was asked to move hers, attorneys said.

According to administration notes shared with McClatchy News, Castro was called in to discuss removing the crucifix Dec. 6 after students had previously complained about it and other religious language she used in her classroom. She was instructed to take down the cross by the next Monday.

When school officials saw she had not complied, she was called into another meeting Dec. 10, when she agreed to move the crucifix to the underside of her desk, according to the notes.

But by moving the crucifix under her desk, as instructed, Castro became emotional, feeling as if it was “an affront to her faith,” attorneys said. The teacher then changed her mind and put it back in the original spot. After telling school officials of her decision to keep it up, she received a formal letter of reprimand asking her to move the crucifix and to “remain neutral when speaking of religion,” according to the Dec. 11 letter shared with McClatchy News.

“When a public school employee hangs a religious artifact in their classroom, it sends the message that the school district (which is an arm of the government) is promoting that religion, so putting that religious artifact on the wall of the school building is not legally permissible,” school officials said in the letter.

After still refusing to move the crucifix, Castro was placed on unpaid suspension for two days starting Dec. 12.

Then, Castro emailed school officials saying she could not return to school “in good conscience” if she was required to “hide” the crucifix, attorneys said.

“The crucifix that I hang by my desk does not violate the Establishment Clause. In fact, it is protected by my free exercise and free speech rights,” Castro wrote in the Dec. 16 email.

On that day, Castro was placed on paid administrative leave, according to a letter shared with McClatchy News. “The cross issue and student and teacher complaint are the reason she was put on paid administrative leave,” the district spokesperson told McClatchy News in a Feb. 5 email.

However, Castro’s attorneys told McClatchy News in a Feb. 6 statement that the school district did not bring up other accusations aside from the refusal to take down the crucifix until after she spoke up about her rights.

“We are disappointed that the district is trying to distract from their unconstitutional religious discrimination by smearing this veteran teacher,” Keisha Toni Russell, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute said in the email. “The bottom line is that school officials put Marisol on paid leave because she refused their directive to take down her crucifix.”

The complaint asks for equitable relief from suspending, assigning or disciplining Castro for hanging the crucifix, for her to be fully reinstated without conditions regarding the crucifix and to expunge all disciplinary records concerning the refusal to remove the crucifix.

New Britain is about a 10-mile drive southwest from Hartford.