A Connecticut public school teacher who was suspended after refusing to remove a crucifix from her classroom is taking her First Amendment battle to a federal appeals court. Marisol Arroyo-Castro, who had displayed the religious symbol near her desk for nearly a decade, is challenging a school district’s decision to remove it. The case is scheduled for oral arguments on December 7, 2026.Arroyo-Castro taught middle-school social studies at DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School in New Britain, Connecticut. She said the crucifix was a personal expression of her faith and a source of comfort during her working day. However, school administrators instructed her to take it down, warning that refusing to comply could lead to disciplinary action.The disagreement escalated in December 2024, when the teacher was reprimanded for insubordination. The school district subsequently removed the crucifix and suspended her for two days without pay. She was later placed on paid administrative leave and reassigned to a non-teaching position in March 2025.
Teacher says crucifix was a personal expression of faith
Arroyo-Castro said the crucifix had been displayed near her desk for approximately 10 years. She described it as something that helped her remain calm while grading papers and completing other classroom work.“I pretty much kept it to myself,” she said, explaining that the symbol was a personal source of comfort.She recalled becoming emotional when administrators told her to remove it. According to her account, she was informed that she could return to her classroom only if she left the crucifix behind.“I said, ‘I can’t,’” she recalled.
Appeals court examines whether a teacher’s display of a crucifix violated rules governing religious expression in public schools. (Photo: First Liberty Institute)
On December 11, 2024, Arroyo-Castro received a formal reprimand for insubordination. The following day, the school removed the crucifix and suspended her for two days without pay. On December 16, she was placed on paid administrative leave. In March 2025, she was reassigned to a role that did not involve teaching students.“They suspended me,” she told Fox News Digital. “Then they told me that they were going to pay me after that, but that I couldn’t go back into the school near the children, that they didn’t want me around the students, that I’m not supposed to talk to the students or interact with them or any of the staff in the school.”
Federal appeals court to hear teacher’s First Amendment case
Arroyo-Castro filed a federal lawsuit in January 2025, alleging that the school district had violated her First Amendment rights by restricting her religious expression.In November 2025, a federal judge denied her request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that she was unlikely to succeed because the crucifix display constituted government speech. The teacher subsequently appealed the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.Her legal team is arguing that the crucifix represented private religious expression rather than an endorsement of religion by the school.Becky Rees Dummermuth, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, which is representing Arroyo-Castro, said the appeal would focus on the protection afforded to teachers’ private religious expression under the First Amendment.“So we’ve appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and in the next couple of weeks, on Dec. 7, we’ll have an oral argument there in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City, and we’ll argue before the court that Marisol’s speech was private speech,” she told Fox News Digital.Dummermuth also referred to the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in the case involving former high school football coach Joe Kennedy, whose post-game prayers became the subject of a legal dispute.The attorney said the case supported the argument that public school employees do not automatically lose their right to private religious expression at work. First Liberty is relying on the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses in its challenge.
School district says dispute involved more than the crucifix
The Consolidated School District of New Britain has defended its actions, maintaining that the dispute involved concerns beyond the presence of a religious symbol in the classroom.In a statement to Fox News Digital, the district said its concerns related to a broader pattern of statements and actions involving students from different religious backgrounds.“The Consolidated School District of New Britain has consistently maintained that this matter extends beyond the presence of a religious symbol in a classroom. As outlined in the attached independent, third-party investigative report, the district’s concerns involved a broader pattern of statements and actions that raised serious concerns about the treatment of students of differing religious backgrounds.”The district said it had offered Arroyo-Castro several ways to practise her faith without affecting the religious freedoms of her students, but that she and her attorneys had declined those options.It also said it had a responsibility to ensure that classrooms remained inclusive and welcoming to students and families from different faiths.The district referred to an independent investigative report that included interviews with four teachers, the principal, the assistant principal and Arroyo-Castro. The report documented claims by some students that the teacher had referred to God, Jesus and religion in ways the investigator considered inappropriate. Arroyo-Castro denied making such references during class.Teachers interviewed during the investigation also raised concerns about her classroom management and interactions with students.
First Liberty disputes school district’s explanation
First Liberty Institute has challenged the district’s account, arguing that administrators had told Arroyo-Castro she could return to her classroom if she removed the crucifix.“The school district repeatedly told Ms. Castro that she could return to the classroom if she simply took down the crucifix. When they removed her from the classroom, the only concern they mentioned was preventing an alleged Establishment Clause violation, a baseless concern that cannot survive the Supreme Court’s Kennedy decision,” the organisation said.The school district, however, maintains that its decisions were based on its responsibility to protect students’ religious freedoms and provide an inclusive learning environment.The Second Circuit hearing on December 7 will consider Arroyo-Castro’s appeal against the denial of her request for preliminary relief. The dispute centres on whether the crucifix was protected private religious expression or a classroom display that the school could regulate.
