Freshwater: Back and Forth on the Admonishment

As I posted in March, the Ohio Department of Education issued a Letter of Admonishment to John Freshwater (PDF of the letter) for using a Tesla coil on middle school students.

Freshwater, through his attorney R. Kelly Hamilton, objected to the Letter of Admonishment. In a lengthy (188 page PDF!) objection, he argued that the local district’s action settled the issue, that Zachary Dennis was lying in his testimony, and that the Letter of Admonishment was “erroneous, defamatory and unwarranted.” (Mount Vernon News story.)

The Dennis family recently filed a rebuttal (PDF) arguing not only for the retention of the Letter of Admonishment but also that Freshwater’s teaching certificate (which expired last year) should not be renewed. (Mount Vernon News story.)

Still pending are Freshwater’s appeal of his termination in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas and his complaints to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I have no information on their progress (or lack thereof).