A Pasco County Schools employee filed a complaint with the principal about her coworker’s parking space at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Pasco County, Florida.
The teaching assistant, Marina Gentilesco, said she was offended by a Bible verse that her coworker painted on her parking space, according to WFLA-TV.
The Bible verse is taken from Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
“It said, Christ. I was startled by it. I was very upset by it,” Gentilesco said, according to WTVT.
Gentilesco said she wouldn’t have such a problem with it if it were something inside of a church building, but she feels it’s inappropriate to display a Bible verse on a parking spot.
“You put it on a state-funded property. I’m not OK with it,” she said, according to WFLA.
Pasco County Schools claims that the parking spot on which her coworker painted the verse is her paid parking spot.
Gentilesco went on to state that she has to walk by it every day, and it angers her because she’s a Jew.
“I feel like it’s attacking me as a Jew,” she said.
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“My parents are Holocaust survivors, and I would never try to convince someone to change their faith. The Jews were murdered because they were Jews, and Christians survived, and it just brought back the memories of what my parents went through,” Gentilesco said, WTVT reported.
Apparently, Gentilesco is unaware that there were some Christians who were murdered for defending the Jews. One of the most well-known stories is that of Corrie ten Boom.
Nevertheless, Gentilesco went on to say, “It brings me to the verge of tears, because it brings me back to the 6 million that perished. Six million perished because of our faith — because we’re Jews,” according to WFLA.
The principal was sensitive toward her complaint and took it to the district to see what the proper response to the complaint should be.
The district decided that they would not require the verse to be removed from the parking space.
“It’s not a violation. This is personal expression,” Pasco County Schools Public Information Officer Stephen Hegarty said.
“There is no proselytizing going on,” he continued. “It’s not compelling students to do anything one way or the other.”
He added that it’s simply the self expression of one teacher and it’s “just like they might wear a crucifix on their shirt.”
“Teachers and students are free to express themselves,” Hegarty said.
