Wednesday, January 22, 2014
COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court won’t reconsider its decision upholding the dismissal of a public school science instructor who refused to remove religious materials from his classroom.
The court denied John Freshwater’s request for reconsideration in a split decision today. The court previously ruled the Mount Vernon district had grounds to fire Freshwater in 2011 for insubordination for keeping religious books and a poster of a praying president.
Freshwater’s attorneys argued the court wrongly interpreted his attempts to deal with what they called vague requests from administrators with flat-out insubordination.
Atty. Rita Dunaway says they’re disappointed and considering their legal options.
Three justices dissented today, saying the case could be a basis for districts to fire teachers for insignificant reasons. Their opinion says evidence against Freshwater wasn’t sufficient to establish insubordination.