Missing Evidence in John Freshwater Hearing

The following testimony took place 10:03 A.M.—3:54 P.M. on 12/29/09 and 9:06 A.M.—4:36 P.M. on 12/30/09.

School board attorney David Millstone presented new evidence during the cross-examination of John Freshwater—documents possibly from Freshwater’s classroom. What didn’t turn up was evidence that Freshwater would like to see—his lesson plans and teacher edition textbooks with his handwritten notes.

Freshwater stated that these documents, which he thinks are in the possession of the Mount Vernon City Schools, would provide exculpatory and exonerating evidence.

The cross-examination of Freshwater began on Tuesday morning. Prior to Freshwater taking the stand, a previously unavailable witness gave a brief testimony regarding what the witness said was alterations on one of the board’s exhibits. (See previous article “Email Was Altered, According to Witness in John Freshwater Hearing.” )

(The Freshwater hearing is taking place in the Knox County Service Center.)

Student surveys/data sheets

The new evidence brought by Millstone included two documents that supposedly contain data collected about student Zachary Dennis at the beginning of the school year. Freshwater stated that he did not use this form.

Another document was a “multiple intelligence” survey. Freshwater stated that he also did not use that survey.

When The Columbus Dispatch published an article about Freshwater’s testimony, the article included misleading information. The article by Dean Narciso was titled “Mount Vernon science teacher's survey addressed faith.”

The title should have included an attribution for the assertion being made in it. Example: “Dispatch headline writer says Mount Vernon science teacher used survey that addressed faith.”

The caption provided by the Dispatch for a photo of Freshwater, included in the article, also contained misleading information: “Teacher John Freshwater at first denied in a hearing yesterday that he had surveyed students.” This incorrectly implies that Freshwater later changed his testimony. Freshwater never acknowledged using the survey.

Both the headline for the Dispatch article and the description with the photo were probably not written by the reporter, Narciso.

Several of the other “new” pieces of evidence were actually quite old. One was a letter dated 1994 that had at the top “to John Freshwater.” Another document was from 1988. Freshwater said that he had not seen these documents before.

The new documents were shown to Freshwater, however, the board has not made a motion to enter the documents as exhibits. Freshwater’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton, stated the following day that he will be objecting to the documents’ admission unless the board brings someone to authenticate them.

Answers in Genesis

Millstone questioned Freshwater about his prior testimony regarding Answers in Genesis. There wasn’t anything new to cover on this subject due to the thoroughness of attorney Hamilton during direct examination.

When Dispatch reporter Narciso wrote about the cross-examination, he expressed his opinion that Freshwater changed his testimony: “Asked if he referred students to Answers in Genesis, a religious Web site, Freshwater said no. Later, he reversed that statement, admitting that he had. ‘I'm not sure that you're taking it out of context,’ he said.”

Freshwater did not reverse his statement—what he did was try to clarify for Millstone what he meant by his testimony. The core of Freshwater’s testimony did not change. At issue was whether or not the word “referred” was the best description of what Freshwater did in regards to AIG.

Freshwater testified that the website answersingenesis.org showed up on a list of internet search results that was on the screen in class—a student later asked for permission to use the computer lab to look up the website. Freshwater allowed the student to do so. The second situation in which Freshwater “referred” students to AIG was when Freshwater took a van load of students and adults to the AIG museum.

Praying with students

One of the affidavits that Freshwater prepared—with the intent of providing it to the H.R. On Call investigators—deals with the subject of praying with students. Freshwater said that HROC should have asked some additional questions on the subject but since they didn’t he was providing some clarification in his written response.

In the transcript Freshwater made of the HROC interview, he says that he does pray with Fellowship of Christian Athlete students because he is praying all of the time. He also says that his praying could be oral or not.

In the portions of the affidavit that Freshwater referred to while testifying, he clarified that the prayers when he was around students were silent “Nehemiah arrow prayers.”

Tesla coil

Freshwater testified that he was surprised with how much the Tesla coil was discussed during the HROC interview—because the matter had already been resolved in January of that year. (See previous article “Tesla Coil Matter Was Officially Resolved January 2008.” )

Before touching volunteers with the spark from the Tesla coil, Freshwater said that he would first demonstrate the device on his own arm. He said that he would hold his arm up and apply the spark to a single area briefly.

Most students also only had the spark touched to their arm briefly before pulling away, Freshwater said. Of those that didn’t pull away, he would make the motion or movement of an “x” with the device but was not trying to make an “x” mark on their arm.

Freshwater said that he has not branded or burned any student—there is no evidence that he has harmed any student during the years that he used the device.

LEGO bricks

Millstone asked Freshwater if he ever used LEGO bricks in his class. Freshwater replied that if he has used them it has been a long time—he could not recall if he put LEGO bricks out on the table and asked students if the bricks could put themselves together.

Following these questions, Millstone played a recording of an interview from April 25, 2009— Right Remedy hosted by Dr. Patrick Johnston—in which Freshwater was also asked about the LEGO bricks:

Johnston: “And tell us about the LEGOs, I thought that was fascinating.”

Freshwater: “Students showed me, many years ago, and I used it up to 2003, these LEGOs, he actually did it for his senior paper, he did it and showed it to me, it is a very simple demonstration, gathering up a bunch of LEGOs, and he made a demonstration. He made an airplane or a car out of the LEGOs. And he had a bunch of other ones, same pieces, and he scattered them all on the floor, put them in a box and threw them on the floor. And he asked the kids to watch them there. And we watched them for a while and he said, if we watch them for a day will they form into this car or airplane? The kids said no. If we watched them for five to ten years, would they turn into this airplane—no. Or anything like this airplane—no. So he strung it out to ten thousand years, to millions of years, what is the chance of this becoming this airplane or this automobile? The kids all agreed it won’t happen, and then he, he, we, [sic] compare it to the eyeball, what is the complexity of the eyeball compared to the very simplicity of LEGOs coming together and forming a car like structure. And we all know that just a simple cell or groups of cells forming an eyeball is so complex with these DNA molecules, that the chance of that happening is slim to none.”

When the recording was done playing, Freshwater said that it was the student who did the demonstration with the LEGO bricks.

During redirect from his attorney, Freshwater explained that when Millstone asked him about the LEGO bricks he did not recall anything at all about the project—when the audio was played that refreshed his memory.

Freshwater said the interview itself was preceded by an off air discussion with the host about the student’s LEGO project—which helped him remember when he went on the air.

Expelled movie

Freshwater offered his 2007-2008 class an extra credit project that involved watching the movie Expelled: “Watch and exam [sic] the film ‘Expelled-Ben Stein’ and explain why it is important to examine this film objectively and not let bias affect your observations.”



Freshwater said that prior to giving the assignment he had not seen the film but did understand it to be a good science movie. The movie, he said, provided evidence of evolution and evidence for other ideas. Ultimately, he believed the movie to be about examining data objectively and not letting bias affect observations. Only two students did this extra credit project, Freshwater said.

(When student Zachary Dennis testified he said that he and a friend went and watched the movie the weekend that it came out. Dennis said that he was accompanied by his parents.)

Bible on the desk

Freshwater never removed the Bible from his desk—even when the school year ended. Freshwater said it wasn’t until late July or early August of 2008 that Superintendent Steve Short ended up giving the Bible directly to him.

The directions from school administration concerning the Bible were confusing, Freshwater said. He did admit that on two occasions—April 7, 2008 and April 16, 2008—he understood that he was supposed to remove the Bible from his desk.

Freshwater said that he prayed with his family and made what he believes is a constitutional decision to leave the Bible on the desk.

After April 16, 2008, Principal Bill White did not tell him that he had a continuing duty to remove the Bible—no one told him after that date that he still had to remove the Bible, Freshwater said.

He was never informed by White, Short or any other administrator that he could file a grievance, Freshwater said.

As evidence of his legal right to have the Bible on his desk, Freshwater pointed out that in a recording of Short, the superintendent acknowledged that another teacher, Lori Miller, could keep her Bible on her desk.

Additional statements by Freshwater

• At the time of his deposition for a federal case he understood the Tesla coil to have been disposed of in a landfill. He learned from his attorney, after making that statement, that his attorney hadn’t thrown it out but instead had given it to the board’s attorney.

• There is a difference between trying to find the truth and trying to prove a point. The board is trying to prove a point—they are trying to say that he is a Christian fanatic and that he was not teaching his students properly.

• The master contract states—“Article 4: Teaching Conditions: Individual Rights”—“The Board fully recognizes all personal rights and freedoms granted to teachers by the Constitution and the laws of the State of Ohio and the United States, and will abide by all laws that pertain to the teachers it employs. Further, the Board recognizes that teachers have the right to engage in a variety of personal activities and the Board will not take disciplinary action against a teacher unless a teacher’s personal activities interfere with the teacher’s performance of his/her contractual duties.”

• His beliefs did not interfere with his performance of his duties. He did his job, a very good job—look at his students’ OAT scores.

• He believes he had a right to engage in the activities on the town square. (See First Amendment to the United States Constitution: “Congress shall make no law […] abridging […] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”)

• After April 16, 2008 he did not get much help from the union. The union attempted to get him to sign papers that said they were not responsible for helping him—he did not sign the papers.

• The statement he read from on the square was written by Coach Dave Daubenmire. He only read portions of the statement.

• His son attended a Catholic school for a year—he would not have sent his son there if he thought ill of Catholics.

• HROC investigators were “trying to prove a point.” The “school board based their resolution almost strictly off that poor, poor report.”

• It is the administration’s responsibility to see to it that the contract was followed regarding the investigation.

• He received a phone call in June 2008 telling him he might want to look at the newspaper—the investigative report was released. That was how he found out HROC had concluded their investigation.

• The contract states that he “will” be given an opportunity to submit a comprehensive written response.

• There have been times during his testifying that he was “guarded”—he was not trying to be evasive although it may look that way. (For one reporter’s perspective on this topic, see Pamela Schehl’s article “Referee intervenes in hearing” published in the Mount Vernon News.)

• He would like to see Dispatch reporter Narciso go through forty hours, like himself, of sitting in the witness chair.

• Regarding the 15 affidavits he prepared in May 2008 that incorrectly list Franklin county as the place they were sworn: There is nothing in the contract that says his written response has to be a sworn statement. The location that they were signed does not make them defective under the contract.

• The two and a half hour interview with HROC did not cover everything that he was ultimately accused of.

• The Will Graham poster was placed there by FCA students—he understood that to be appropriate based on prior administrator Jeff Kuntz from 18 years ago.

• He did not talk about the Will Graham Celebration in the classroom.

• Prior to the HROC interview he did not know that he had rights under the collective bargaining agreement.

• He has assigned a project to students that involved having them describe an object in order to see how careful their observation abilities are. He did not recall if he ever used a trilobite as the object.

• He has taught about trilobites using the textbook—that they were extinct 400 million years ago. He never told students that the trilobites have been found with footprints or sandal prints.

• When asked if he has an opinion about whether the Bible provides that homosexuality is a sin, he responded that he did not have an opinion. (Note: The question was also worded one or two other ways, but I didn’t catch what the wording was.)

• The reason he went on the radio last week was to extend his hand out to the present board in order to try to resolve this issue. He wanted them to be aware that they had broken the master contract and that they had been missing information. He also said that he tried to track down all five members of the board and personally give them copies of all fifteen of his affidavits.

Legal expenses

Freshwater is currently suspended without pay. For those that would like to help with his legal expenses, checks can be made out to The Community Council For Free Expression (C.C.F.F.E.) and sent to

Trinity Assembly of God

1051 Beech St.

Mount Vernon OH 43050

For those that would like to help with the legal expenses of the school board—just pay your taxes.

Email Was Altered, According to Witness in John Freshwater Hearing

The following testimony took place between 9:14 A.M. and 9:49 A.M. on 12/29/09.

Former coach for Kenyon College, Ricky Warren, testified that an email used as an exhibit by the Mount Vernon Board of Education was altered. When shown a copy of the email prior to appearing at the hearing, Warren told John Freshwater’s attorney “[the email] looks a little screwy.”

The subject of the email was Warren speaking at the middle school for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting. The message thread of the email included the prior email that was signed simply “Freshwater.”

Teachers that monitor FCA are supposed to leave the inviting of speakers to the students. Freshwater’s daughter, Jordan, previously testified that she was the one who invited Warren to speak at FCA.

Warren explained that the format of the email was not the way he normally writes. If he has been corresponding with someone for a while he does not include the recipient’s name at the top.

Another problem Warren saw was that the punctuation of the email doesn’t consistently follow the British style. Warren, who moved to the United States from Jamaica, has only spent the last nine years in the U.S.

In response to a question from Freshwater’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton, Warren agreed it looks like someone may have backspaced Jordan’s name off the end of the email.

The email also lacks Warren’s signature, which he said would be unusual for him to do.

Before moving to Connecticut, Warren attended church with Freshwater in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Warren said Freshwater mentioned on one occasion, at church, that his daughter Jordan wanted to speak with Warren—the extent of the discussion was that Jordan was shy about talking with Warren.

Warren reiterated that it was Jordan who invited him to speak at FCA. “The whole communication has been between me and her,” Warren said.

***

Warren is a 2004 graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene University—click here for photos from his time as a player for MVNU men’s soccer team.

John Freshwater: Investigation Didn’t Follow Contract

Science teacher John Freshwater was suspended without pay in the summer of 2008—the decision to do so was based primarily on a faulty investigation.

Freshwater testified recently, in the ongoing administrative hearing, that the investigators did not provide him with an opportunity to give a comprehensive written response to the allegations that were made against him. Mount Vernon City Schools’ master contract required the investigators to give him that opportunity before they completed their report.

H.R. On Call, Inc.

The firm hired to conduct the investigation, H.R. On Call, Inc., interviewed Freshwater on May 15, 2008. Freshwater, referring to a transcript he made of the recorded interview, said that in the meeting they discussed scheduling a second interview and that the union representative even said he would have an opportunity to give a comprehensive written response. (He said that shortly after the meeting he gave a copy of the recording to Bill White to give to HROC and that he gave a copy to the union.)

While waiting for the second interview, Freshwater prepared his written statement which consisted of individual affidavits responding to the allegations that he was aware of at the time. He explained that he prepared the written response so that HROC would have all the information to make a sound decision.

Also at the May 15 meeting, Freshwater said he discussed his intent to provide the names of additional people to be interviewed. The school contract required that all witnesses identified by the teacher be interviewed and written statements be obtained from the witnesses if possible.

The second interview never took place.

Freshwater testified that it was from the newspaper he learned the investigation had been completed. “Mr. Freshwater found out in the newspaper, not from the school or investigators,” according to Levi Stickle at cfacts.

Freshwater stated that the HROC report was not complete or neutral.

Bible on the desk

The year and a half controversy began with a complaint about Freshwater having a Bible on his classroom desk. The family that made this complaint has yet to be publicly identified. (For coverage of the controversy when it first started, see the article by Jami Kinton published in The Mainsfield News Journal, April 17, 2008.)

Freshwater received his Bible as a wedding present 29 years ago. While explaining why the Bible is so much of an inspiration to him, he became teary-eyed and had to pause. The Bible has many emotional associations for him—knowing that it is there helped him get through the day.

He wondered why the school permitted Lori Miller to have a Bible on her desk but yet would not treat him the same. “There should not be any difference,” Freshwater said.

Freshwater stated that the written and oral instructions from Principal Bill White were confusing regarding what he was supposed to do with the Bible. All items that White clearly identified as needing removed from the room were removed, Freshwater said.

Tesla coil

The HROC report included the allegation made by one student of being burned during a classroom demonstration of the Tesla coil. (See the article “Tesla Coil Matter Was Officially Resolved January 2008.”)

Freshwater said that he never endangered any student during his time as a teacher—did not brand a religious symbol on anyone and never saw any evidence of harm from his use of the Tesla coil.

One of Freshwater’s early performance evaluations directs him to “work closer with Jeff George in core course curriculum in physical sciences.” Freshwater said that he did and that is where he learned to use the Tesla coil.

An evaluation from October 8, 1999 mentions the Tesla coil being used in his class. Freshwater said that the evaluator, former Principal Jeff Kuntz, would have seen the hands on demonstration that allowed students to touch the spark from the device.

Freshwater characterized Kuntz testimony, of not remembering, as going “neutral.”

Fellowship of Christian Athletes / Alleged exorcism

During Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings, Freshwater explained, he would be at the back of the room eating his lunch and sometimes reading a newspaper. He said that he did not exceed his role as monitor—did not lead or conduct prayer, did not initiate having the speakers come, did not say anything about removing Satan from anyone.

Freshwater said that he does pray silently on many different occasions throughout the day, referring to them as a Nehemiah “arrow prayers.” Anyone that thinks he prays out loud with the students should get an audio recording, Freshwater said.

He was not aware of any rule that prohibited him from talking to the FCA speakers when he saw them out in the community. (One example he gave was running into Father Hammond at a CareNet banquet. Since the students had already mentioned having Hammond come to speak, Freshwater brought the subject up with Hammond with the intent of finding out when he was coming.)

Freshwater said that he never mentioned anything about removing Satan from anyone’s body. Zachary Dennis had claimed this, even giving the description of Freshwater having his hands raised above his head.

Earlier in his testimony, Freshwater presented documentation that countered Dennis’ claim. The document “from Knox Community Hospital show[ed] that he was in therapy at the time, because of a 'Smoke Jumping' injury, and couldn't raise his hand above his head,” according to Levi Stickle at cfacts.

During the last few minutes of direct examination from his attorney, Freshwater stated that if the medical records show that Dennis is lying, Dennis cannot be believed on anything else.

Teaching beyond the standards

The June 20, 2008 resolution of the Mount Vernon Board of Education stated that Freshwater taught more than the standards for eighth grade science:

“Mr. Freshwater taught additional subject areas that are not included in the eighth grade American [sic] Content Standards, including but not limited to: thermodynamics, the periodic table, the big bang theory and the creation of the universe. By using class time to explore these subjects, Mr. Freshwater failed to properly instruct his students in the approved eighth grade American [sic] Content Standards. This serves as a disadvantage to his students, as the Mount Vernon City School District is built upon a progressive learning model, where each grade builds upon the curriculum standards of the courses in earlier grades.”

Freshwater pointed out that the textbooks provided by the school include mention of the big bang theory. One of the textbooks also contains a two page spread with the periodic table. No one had ever told him that there were things in the textbooks that he could not teach or that the students shouldn’t look at certain pages.

There are some things that he teaches as background information so that the students will be able to grasp other concepts. An example he gave was teaching the kids about the basics of cells and atoms—the students need to have an understanding of size, from atom to universe. He said that sometimes the students think that atoms are larger than cells.

In order to make sure that students pass the OAT test, Freshwater said he does review material from the sixth and seventh grades. His response to whether or not his students were taught properly—look at the OAT scores.

During his most recent year teaching, his students met and surpassed state testing standards. Freshwater’s students outdid all other eighth grade science classes at Mount Vernon Middle School.

Additional statements by Freshwater

• Never had a negative evaluation; one of the evaluations says “there is evidence of mutual respect”, “John goes out of his way to keep parents informed”, “he has a good grasp of the standards” and “he understands his subjects well.”

• Mount Vernon City Schools puts a lot of weight on the OAT scores—they are a test driven school.

• Did not teach the meaning of Good Friday or Easter in his classroom.

• Never said opposites in magnetism attract and that it should be that way for humans as well.

• The Giraffe and Woodpecker worksheets were created by a former student; up until he stopped using them in 2003 they were used to show examples of improper use of scientific method. (These documents were submitted to HROC by Paula Barone.)

• He used stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul with the goal of providing moral or philosophical growth. (Ohio Revised Code 3313.601 states “No board of education shall prohibit a classroom teacher from providing in the teacher’s classroom reasonable periods of time for activities of a moral, philosophical, or patriotic theme.”)

• One of the evaluations talks about his “unconditionals” in a positive manner; the assignment, although extra credit, was for students to learn about unconditional love by helping someone without expecting anything in return from that person.

• The Watchmaker video was emailed to him; he watched it on his computer before school with his daughter and another person. His daughter Jordan showed it at FCA.

• His previous testimony regarding referring about a dozen students to Answers in Genesis needed clarifying; what he had been talking about was taking a van load of students and adults to the creation museum in Kentucky.

• His previous testimony about hydrosphere being a theory was incorrect; hydrosphere is only a hypothesis.

• It is permissible to allow students to debate creation and evolution; this debate was only held in one period during the school year 07-08 and was something these students wanted to do. His involvement was instructing them to research their position, giving them a few rules and supervising the debate to keep it civil.

• The HROC investigators did not ask him why he had the books, which were critical of evolution, in his classroom cupboard; he did not teach from these books or read them during class. He received most or all of them as gifts.

• People should not make assumption about someone based on the books that person owns.

• He did not make assumptions about Dr. Lynda Weston, former Director of Teaching & Learning, based on the books in her office. One of the books, which had her name on the inside cover, was The Case Against Standardized Testing—claims made in the book include “high scores often signify relatively superficial thinking” and “many of the leading tests were never intended to measure teaching or learning.”

• He received the Colin Powell/George Bush poster through his school mailbox. Two of his children are in the military, with one of them expecting to go to Afghanistan.

• His statement about referring Zachary Dennis to answersingenesis.org was in context of giving permission to Dennis to use the lab computers for research. Dennis had specifically asked if he could visit that site and Freshwater gave him permission; Dennis was only on the computer for five minutes until the bell rang.

• He had nothing to do with Dennis being assigned to his field trip group.

• Never made the statement that Jim Stockdale credited to him about gays; Stockdale may have overheard a conversation Freshwater had with other teachers regarding the Time magazine article about the gay gene.

• The use of the word “here” was not for the purpose of indicating that the textbook contradicted the Bible or his religious beliefs.

• He never tried to promote the Loch Ness Monster as a scientific concept.

• He never said that Good Friday should be called the greatest Friday ever.

• Did not assign Bible memorization to students; but has had his own children memorize scripture.

• He was sensitive to the fact that students did not want to come to the hearing to testify; some students were not called because he did not believe they could deal with being on the witness stand.

• He has no ill or bad feelings towards Catholics.

• Did not teach religious beliefs in his classroom.

• Was never a member of the union and had no knowledge of the grievance process.

Freshwater described himself as a positive person but that over the last year and a half he has become more cynical. This situation has also been hard on his family. Even with that, he said that he is not so disgruntled that he couldn’t work at Mount Vernon City Schools. He could walk in and pick up right where he left off—same administration and same board.

***

Additional media coverage of Freshwater’s recent testimony:

“Freshwater’s science classroom revisited” by Pamela Schehl for the Mount Vernon News. (December 9, 2009).

“Teacher continues defense” by Pamela Schehl for the Mount Vernon News. (December 11, 2009).

“Defense [doesn’t] rests in Freshwater hearing” by Pamela Schehl for the Mount Vernon News. (December 12, 2009).

(Note: Due to prior commitments, I was not able to be at the hearing for all of Freshwater’s testimony—as indicated in places, other sources were consulted for a few of the details in this article.)