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A panel recommends saving the Citrus High work, despite an earlier decision to eliminate it.
By BARBARA BEHRENDT
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 24, 2001
INVERNESS -- The bullfighting fight is not yet over at Citrus High School.
School officials said in May that the mural, which has riled Pine Ridge resident Joseph P. Smith, would be painted over this summer as a part of the regular maintenance at the school. Smith has argued that the mural, painted a dozen years ago by students, depicts a cruel blood sport that glamorizes animal torture and violence.
But students, staff and community members protested the decision to eradicate the mural, which is on the wall in teacher Dorothy Zay's classroom. They approached Michael Mullen, the new principal at the school, and told him they saw the painting as a part of the Spanish culture.
Last week, Mullen established a review committee using a procedure set out in school district rules. The committees are used to review any question about the curriculum that might be raised.
The committee reviewed the information submitted by Smith, including graphic pictures of actual bullfights, and examined other materials from the Spanish class including textbooks and other items depicting bullfighting.
The committee ruled that the mural should stay, and Mullen said Monday that he will back that recommendation.
"I didn't feel it was fair to get rid of the mural without following the proper process," Mullen said. "I take his complaint very seriously, but if you start trying to censor things without going through the process, you're going to get yourself in a bind. . . . You are going to end up opening a door you cannot close."
Smith said he is not going to drop the issue. He has already made his wishes known that he plans to appeal to Superintendent David Hickey and the School Board.
In a letter to Hickey sent Monday, Smith asks how Mullen could circumvent the decision made in May to paint over the mural. He included a letter from student services director Bonnie Hardiman stating that the mural would be covered.
"Now it seems that a snap decision was made on a local level perhaps without full knowledge of the great amount of negotiations that went before," Smith wrote to Hickey.
He told Hickey that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is still interested in holding a demonstration against the mural and the cruel sport it depicts. They earlier had planned to bus animal rights activists into Inverness for such a protest, including a mock bullfight and fake blood.
In his letter, Smith says a protest will come if the mural isn't removed.
"There is no need to escalate this situation into something that will be difficult for all who are involved. The mural promotes and glorifies animal degradation and torture, something that is abhorrent to civilized people," Smith wrote. "Please continue with our original plan, which is to have your current art students create a Spanish scene that is in keeping with modern themes."
Mullen maintains that he had to follow the review process. He said he has already told Smith that the cultural lessons that address bullfighting can also address how it is outlawed in countries where it is considered cruelty.
"That way we could present his point of view," Mullen said. "We're not promoting bullfighting . . . but we can't surrender the school to someone who has a protest."