School Employee Says She Feels ‘Attacked’ by Bible Verse Painted on Co-Worker’s Parking Spot

The verse reads, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

The employee who complained about the parking spot, Marina Getilesco, works as an instructional assistant at the school.

She said she is Jewish and feels the parking spot verse is an “attack.”

“I feel like it’s attacking me as a Jew,” she said. “You put it on a state-funded property … I’m not OK with it.

“I was startled by it,” Getilesco was quoted as saying. “I was very upset by it.”

The school district has not said if it will change or remove the painted verse from the parking space.

According to The Christian Post, Pasco County Schools spokesman Stephen Hegarty said that as far as he knows, Gentilesco is the only staff member to have “questioned the appropriateness of the message” in the parking spot.

Hegarty said students and staff are sometimes allowed to personalize their parking spaces.

“So long as the saying or image is not in poor taste, it is considered personal expression,” said Hegarty. “In this case, the staff member painted a religious message.

“Since it is not in poor taste, is not of a proselytizing nature, and is not related to curriculum, it doesn’t violate any of our policies.”

A Jewish Community Relations Council representative told a news station that the parking space personalization likely does not constitute a First Amendment violation.

“Because the school is giving the teachers and the students a certain level of freedom to decorate their own space or to individualize their own space, it doesn’t necessarily run into a violation of the establishment clause,” JCRC Chair Jonathan Ellis was quoted as saying.

Photo courtesy: Helen Cramer/Unsplash

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.