A high school teacher in New Mexico has resigned after one of her pupils wrote a story about Jesus handing out marijuana.
The furore began when Cleveland High School teacher Katrina Guarascio set a creative writing task for her students, asking them to reimagine a fairy story or legend for the modern day.
One pupil decided to rewrite the story of the feeding of the 5,000, substituting the loaves and fish for marijuana.
According to the teacher, one of the other students was offended by the treatment of the biblical story and told her parents.
Guarascio told local broadcaster KOAT: "I'm not there to judge them. I'm there to encourage them."
"I don't take any personal offence. It's not written for me. It's written for them. It's how they can express themselves," she said.
Guarascio was put on administrative leave while the case was investigated by the district. She told KOAT that she felt pressured to resign.
A spokesperson for the school district said that the teacher left of her own accord and was not forced to resign. An additional statement was released by the district in an attempt to clarify the reason for the Guarascio's departure, saying that the school had additional concerns about her work.
"The public's erroneous perception of this issue is that it focuses solely on a student's creative writing assignment," the district said.
""There have been numerous concerns raised about this teacher and her classroom.
"We received reports of repeated uses of profanity and sexually explicit language in the classroom that were inappropriate in a public school setting. The teacher was offered the opportunity to change her instructional practices and she chose instead to resign, as is her right."
