Florida school: Leave your Bible and faith at home

In the fall of 2021, a science teacher singled out Florida teen Nicholas Ortiz in front of his fellow students for believing in God, telling him he should not believe the Bible, according to the boy’s parents. Students piled on, regularly mocking his faith — some even threatening to physically harm him.

Nicholas, at the time a 14-year-old freshman at Miami charter public school Mater Academy, regularly brought his Bible to school and shared his Christian beliefs with other students. In late February, his parents,  Rafael and Lourdes Ortiz, filed a federal lawsuit claiming their son has been repeatedly harassed and bullied by students for his faith and that school officials failed to take any action to protect him. The Ortizes also accused the school of retaliating against Nicholas for acting on his First Amendment right to exercise his religion freely, at one point telling him he could not bring his Bible to school.

The Ortizes say administrators repeatedly failed to investigate their reports under the school’s anti-bullying policy as required. According to the Feb. 28 complaint, student harassment of Nicholas culminated in December 2021, when two students falsely accused Nicholas of threatening to shoot another student. The accusations were posted online and quickly cascaded, with some parents joining in, sharing posts that claimed Nicholas had a “kill list,” was “on the run,” and was a “psychopath.”

U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents visited the Ortiz family and concluded the accusations were unfounded. Rafael Ortiz notified school officials of the finding. According to the lawsuit, administrators responded that his characterization of the events was inaccurate, but wouldn’t say how. Then, on Dec. 8, a school administrator notified Rafael that Nicholas was suspended for 10 days for “disruption to the learning environment.”

Mater Academy did not respond to WORLD’s request for comment.

“Mr. Ortiz is experiencing something that no American should ever have to experience,” said Harmeet Dhillon, a California attorney representing the Ortiz family. “It’s bad enough that the school has done nothing to stop the bullying from his peers, but have gone as far as joining in on targeting Mr. Ortiz for simply practicing his faith.”

A similar incident is playing out in Washington state, where parents say their second grader was sent to the principal’s office 10 times since the beginning of the year for sharing her faith on the playground, according to the American Center for Law and Justice. And in January, a Michigan high school junior’s parents sued school district officials for suspending their son over off-campus texts and discussions expressing opposition to homosexuality.