Middle School Teacher Fears She Could Be Fired For Displaying A Crucifix In Her Classroom

A Connecticut middle school teacher alleged that she could be fired for displaying a crucifix in her classroom after her lawyers and the school district’s legal team failed to reach an agreement Wednesday, the New York Post reported Saturday.

Marisol Arroyo-Castro, a teacher at DiLoreto Elementary and Middle School in New Britain from 2003 until her removal in mid-December 2024, exclusively told the outlet that she feared the risk of being fired or remaining reassigned when school resumes Aug. 19.

Arroyo-Castro, who reportedly has been teaching for 33 years and is a Catholic, alleged that her school’s vice principal instructed her to remove the 12-inch wooden crucifix that she had hung on her classroom wall for a decade — an instruction she said she initially obeyed but later abandoned, according to the outlet.

The vice principal reportedly issued the instruction after receiving a complaint from two individuals who were not named.

“I had it for 10 years and never a problem . . . And then one day I got a message [from the vice principal] saying that I needed to take it down,” Arroyo-Castro told the outlet.

“He said that it was against the Constitution when I asked why,” Arroyo-Castro added, the outlet reported.

Arroyo-Castro reportedly said she initially removed the crucifix and hung it under her desk according to the vice principal’s instruction. “I went home and cried for the whole night. And then I came back in the morning and I moved it” back to the classroom wall, she added, according to the report.

The school principal intervened, instructing Arroyo-Castro to hang it back under her desk before the close of work but she refused to comply, according to the reported allegation.

“When I came back the next day, somebody else removed it and put it in a box, and they told me not to return to the classroom,” Arroyo-Castro told the outlet. “A representative from the union escorted me out of the building.”

Arroyo-Castro alleged that she was then placed on paid administrative leave but recalled in March 2025 and reassigned to the duties of a “curriculum information teacher” which entailed performing clerical tasks related to curriculum development for which she said she had no training. She alleged suffering abandonment.

The teacher’s legal team accused the New Britain school district of violating the Supreme Court-backed freedom of personal religious expression.

Arroyo-Castro and one of her lawyers claimed that others had displayed various other religious emblems or messages, cultural symbols such as the LGBT pride flag, and images of family, pets and Baby Yoda on the school’s campus. (RELATED: ‘I Was Treated Like A Criminal’: Teacher Dragged Before Tribunal For Religious Views On LGBT)

A three-hour mediation held Wednesday between Arroyo-Castro’s legal team and the school district’s authorities and lawyers and a judge reportedly broke down.

Arroyo-Castro told the outlet that “a lot of teachers” and “even students” have shown her support.

While the school district said it was abiding by the legal separation of church and state, Arroyo-Castro and her lawyers expressed hope that President Donald Trump would weigh in, the outlet reported.