Board, family settle lawsuit

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — The family of a student who said a science teacher burned the image of a cross on his arm settled a federal lawsuit with his former school district in their effort to move past the incident, a lawyer said Thursday.

“It’s really to put at least this part of the case behind them and to move on with things,” said attorney Doug Mansfield of Columbus. “I think they regretted bringing the lawsuit.”

The Mount Vernon school board approved a $121,000 settlement Wednesday with the family of the student identified in the lawsuit only as “James Doe.”

The agreement would require the district to pay $5,500 to the family and $115,500 to the family’s lawyers.

A similar suit by the family is still pending against the eighth-grade teacher, John Freshwater.

The settlement prevents the suit against the district from going to trial as scheduled in May.

“The board feels it would be best to have the future, not the past, in front of us,” said Sarah Moore, an attorney who represents the school board.

Mansfield said the student’s family is moving out of the district northeast of Columbus about 20 miles south to Granville because of the case and a community backlash that it prompted. He said the boy has started school in a new district.

“He’s a remarkable kid, a very strong kid, a very smart kid,” Mansfield said. “This has been a huge deal for him. I wouldn’t wish this for any kid to go through.”

The school board voted to fire Freshwater last year after an internal investigation concluded he had preached his Christian beliefs in class and had used a scientific device known as a high-frequency generator to burn the student. The cross lasted a few weeks.

Freshwater has filed his own $1 million lawsuit against the district, claiming it violated his free speech and civil rights.

A hearing on the firing has been ongoing in the district for longer than a year and has cost $300,000, Moore said. Freshwater said at a board meeting after his firing that he has never branded or burned anyone.

At least a dozen teachers from the district have testified on his behalf during his appeal hearings, saying they never heard complaints from students about Freshwater.

Two science teachers said they have used the device Freshwater is accused of using in the burning incident on students to demonstrate electrical current.