Mount Vernon (Ohio) district spends $900,000 in effort to fire teacher

From The Columbus Dispatch: The Mount Vernon (Ohio) school district will spend more than $900,000 for the process that determined whether an eighth-grade science teacher accused of melding religion and science should have been fired. A hearing referee has submitted his opinion that the teacher, John Freshwater, should be fired. The school board has voted 4-1 to accept that decision.
JUNE 2009...from The Mount Vernon News: John Freshwater, a science teacher at Mount Vernon (Ohio) Middle School who is facing dismissal for allegedly praching Christianity during class, has accused the Mount Vernon district of discrimination in a lawsuit. Freshwater contends the district discriminated against him because of personal religious beliefs and says the board is trying to fire him because he kept a Bible on his desk. The board suspended Freshwater last year for alleged professional misconduct. The board has said its decision was based on an investigation that found that Freshwater caused physical harm to a student during a science experiment, overstepped his bounds as a monitor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, promoted particular religious beliefs in the classroom while denigrating others, and was insubordinate in refusing to follow directives from school administrators.