MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) - A public school teacher preached his Christian beliefs despite complaints by other teachers and administrators and used a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms, according to a report by independent investigators.
Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism in his science class and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, the report said.

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The report comes one week after a family filed a federal lawsuit in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on their child’s arm that remained for three or four weeks.

Freshwater’s friend Dave Daubenmire defended him.

“With the exception of the cross-burning episode ... I believe John Freshwater is teaching the values of the parents in the Mount Vernon school district,” he told The Columbus Dispatch in a story published Friday.

Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, as a great guy.

But Lynda Weston, the district’s director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11-year term at the district, the report said.

Source

What an idiot.... get him out of the classroom. Oh you can’t he’s probably a member of the teachers union and fully protected.

Leon Trotsky - 21 June 2008 12:18 PM

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) - A public school teacher preached his Christian beliefs despite complaints by other teachers and administrators and used a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms, according to a report by independent investigators.
Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism in his science class and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, the report said.

***

The report comes one week after a family filed a federal lawsuit in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on their child’s arm that remained for three or four weeks.

Freshwater’s friend Dave Daubenmire defended him.

“With the exception of the cross-burning episode ... I believe John Freshwater is teaching the values of the parents in the Mount Vernon school district,” he told The Columbus Dispatch in a story published Friday.

Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, as a great guy.

But Lynda Weston, the district’s director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11-year term at the district, the report said.

Source

It seems odd the report only came out after the family filed a federal lawsuit. The district director said she has dealt with complaints for around 11 years and to me that shows the school had an idea of what the man was doing.
I can only hope more comes out about this story.

Found this on cnn.com and it has a picture of the burn on the boys arm. It looks like the burn runs almost the length of this boys forearm.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/20/teacher.cross/index.html