Freshwater Hearing to Conclude Soon

The 18-month ordeal of the contract termination hearing of John Freshwater will continue into February and possibly longer, according to David Millstone, the attorney representing the Mount Vernon Board of Education in the hearing. The Mount Vernon Middle School eighth grade science teacher is accused of burning students with a Tesla coil and violating the First Amendment by endorsing religion in his public school classroom.

The New York Times reported on Jan. 19 that the hearing was set to end on Jan. 22, but it was rescheduled. "We've seen a lot of delays," Millstone said, but declined to comment on why. According to Millstone, there are two more days of hearings scheduled. "I believe it will end sometime in February, but I don't want to guarantee anything," he said.

The specific allegations against Freshwater are numerous. Perhaps the most serious is the accusation that he burned students with a Tesla coil, an electricity-producing device, on their forearms, in some cases in the shape of a cross. The original lawsuit was filed by the parents of a burned student who suffered lasting pain as a result of the classroom experiment. In John Doe, et. al. vs. Mount Vernon City School Board of Education, Freshwater was also accused of teaching creationism and intelligent design. According to a court order of the Southern District of Ohio Court, "Freshwater also allegedly advised his students that, although he is forced to teach from the textbooks, the teachings are wrong or not proven according to the Bible." According to Millstone, Freshwater is accused of saying in class: "I know how the world's going to end because I've read it in the Book" and "science is wrong and we see that. There's a recent study in Time magazine where they said that they found a gene that is linked to homosexuality, but the Bible says homosexuality is a sin and therefore those who choose to be homosexuals are sinning."

Public school teachers are required to follow curriculums approved by the state and local boards of education. According to page 130 of the Ohio State Board of Education's Academic Content Standards for eighth-grade science, by the end of the curriculum students should grasp the concepts of evolutionary theory, including being able to "[e]xplain how variations in structure, behavior or physiology allow some organisms to enhance their reproductive success and survival in a particular environment" and "[e]xplain that diversity of species is developed through gradual processes over many generations (e.g., fossil record)." Under the category of Ethical Practices, the Standards mandate that students understand how to "[e]xplain why it is important to examine data objectively and not let bias affect observations."

Freshwater also kept a Bible on his desk, along with posters with religious quotations and copies of the Ten Commandments in his classroom.

In early 2008, the parents of the severely burned student filed a complaint about Freshwater to the School Board, which conducted an investigation into the allegations, according to Millstone. The Board instructed Freshwater to remove the religious display, and although he removed the Ten Commandments and all but one of the posters, according to Millstone, he "left his Bible on his desk and went out on the public square and … thumbed his nose at the District and said 'I have a constitutional right to have a Bible on my desk and I'm therefore not going to remove it.'"

Freshwater then checked out two library books, according to Millstone, and placed them on his desk: Jesus of Nazareth and another version of the Bible. He was charged with insubordination for refusing to carry out the district's orders.

Finally, Freshwater is accused of actively participating in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a student religious group of which he was a sponsor, by praying with the students and contacting speakers for the group. As a public school employee, his involvement in the group legally could be only "on a non-participatory basis," said Millstone.

Legal action

In early July 2008, the Board of Education adopted a resolution to consider terminating Freshwater. According to Ohio law, after the Board adopts such a resolution, the teacher under consideration has a ten-day window in which to request a due process hearing before the Board makes its decision. Freshwater did so, and the Ohio State Department of Education appointed a referee to look into the case and make a recommendation to the Board. Since then, the pre-termination hearings have been going on and Freshwater has been suspended without pay, according to Millstone.

Besides the current contract termination hearing, several other legal disputes have arisen in connection with the Freshwater case. Currently, Freshwater himself is suing the Mount Vernon Board of Education, and the parents of the MVMS student are suing Freshwater, said Millstone.

The parents had initially sued the Board of Education as well, but on Aug. 26, 2009, the plaintiffs and the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education settled the lawsuit filed against the Board, Superintendent Stephen Short and Mount Vernon Middle School Principal Bill White. The settlement agreement concerned only the Board, Short and White and had no effect on the plaintiffs' claims against Freshwater, according to the Board's meeting minutes for the special session on Aug. 26, 2009.

Freshwater could not be reached for comment. Short and members of the School Board could not speak publicly about the case.