Wealthy Florida couple sues 'woke' $22,000-a-year Catholic school to rescind $1.35 million donation pledge because it teaches LGBTQ issues

A wealthy Florida couple has filed a lawsuit demanding that the Catholic school their daughters attend return their $240,000 donation and reimburse their younger daughter's tuition for teaching 'woke' LGBTQ curriculum.

Anthony and Barbara Scarpo pledged to donate $1.35 million to the Academy of the Holy Names in Tampa, Florida at a fundraising event in 2017. 

They had asked that the money be used toward the school's 'master plan' and for scholarships for disadvantaged students, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

By 2018, they had already paid $240,000 towards their pledge and have raised more than $9 million for the school.

For their efforts, the school renamed its auditorium the Scarpo Family Theater and named the two philanthropists co-chairs of the school's fundraising campaign.

But the wealthy couple, who own a diamond and jewelry import company as well as the First Trust Funding Group, have filed a lawsuit demanding that their pledge be rescinded and the tuition they had already paid for their younger daughter, who has been transferred to another school, be donated to the Catholic charity of their choice.

Former Academy of the Holy Names president Art Raimo, left, posed with Barbara and Anthony Scarpo during the Tampa school's annual gala fundraiser in 2017, when they pledged to donate $1.35 million to the school

Their two daughters attended the school. One has since graduated and the other has been transferred to another school over the academy's alleged 'woke' curriculum

A lawsuit filed in the Hillsborough County Circuit Court last week also asks that the school stops advertising itself as a Catholic institution and the Florida Catholic Conference stop accrediting the school as such.

In the lawsuit, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, the couple claims the school has distanced itself from traditional Catholic teachings and is instead embracing a divisive 'woke culture' where priority is given to 'gender identity, human sexuality and pregnancy termination among other hot button issues.'

It says students at the school are made to feel guilty for being white and having enough money to attend the private school, where tuition and fees range from $14,650 for preschool students to $22,450 for girls at the college preparatory high school.

In a letter Anthony wrote to the school at his older daughter's graduation, he said: 'The continued indoctrination of your twisted version of social and racial justice, equity, inclusion, sexuality and today's politically-correct narrative has permeated like a stench through the halls of the Academy and been allowed to seep into the minds of our children, causing stress, anger, guilt and confusion.'

'You were always eager to solicit our hard-earned money and take what you could,' he wrote, 'but held firm as you dragged dozens if not hundreds of conservative families and teachers through your re-imagined, highly progressive world, even as parents and students asked you, pleaded with you to stop, slow down.'

The suit also reportedly includes a letter from Art Raimo, then-president of the academy, and Ernie Garateix, chairman of the school's board, sent to parents about the creation of a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion committee.

In the letter, the school officials wrote that the school has to 'reject racism and hatred' in the wake of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

'It is imperative we have conversations that are uncomfortable, learn from them, reconcile and grow,' the letter reads, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 

It also reportedly said 'the social teaching of the Church and our participation within this teaching should be at the heart of what guides our work as a community. 

'The well-being of all staff and pupils requires the removal of any barriers of prejudice, discrimination and oppression if we are all to strive and realize our full potential as unique and fulfilled human beings.'

The Scarpos filed a lawsuit in county court last week demanding that their pledge be rescinded and the tuition they had already paid for their younger daughter be donated to the Catholic charity of their choice

The Scarpos argue in their lawsuit that the letter did not 'recognize the harm to their white, non-diverse students by making them believe that they and their families are personally responsible for the historic harms some members of our society have visited on other members of society.'

The suit also claims parents were upset about a sign in one of the school's common areas that explains how to be an ally to the LGBTQ community without 'an explanation into the perspective within mainstream Catholicism.'  

Emily Wise, a school spokeswoman, told the Times that these claims are 'false and unsubstantiated,' and that the curriculum 'is and always has been based on Catholic values,' which she said should include education on social justice, with special emphasis on women, children the poor and marginalized groups.

'We will continue to pray for all parties involved, and if necessary, we are prepared to defend ourselves in court,' she told the Times, with the school's lawyer, Gregory Hearing, saying that if the Scarpos move forward with the lawsuit, the school would file a counterclaim asking them to pay the remained of the pledge - which, he said, they may be required to do under Florida law.