Topic: Is having a Bible in the classroom a Mount Vernon Teacher's right?

[The_Rooster]

It's like "Law and Order" meets "Touched by Angel" when it comes to R. Kelly Hamilton.

The guy obviously enjoys being portrayed as a "martyr"

His attorney is as nutz as he is as evidenced by the below, which is a direct quote from nutcase  R. Kelley Hamilton
Everybody in this world is given an opportunity to be obedient at any given time, and it just so happens that I’ve known for several years prior to this event taking place that God made it very clear that one day I would be arguing about the First Amendment as it relates to His Bible. I’ve known this and I can’t wait to share that with others. But, you know, for anybody that doubts God’s intervention in this particular matter, they simply have to recall chapter 6 in Ephesians and the spiritual battle and the [bounty?] that is being fought. The symbolism is so great in this particular case. Recognize that “fresh water,” of course, represents baptism, and that’s exactly .. that’s John’s last name. There is a .. the opposing attorney in this particular case, his last name is Millstone. All you need to do is go to the book of Luke, and when you take a look at the book of Luke it will say, you know, “It would be better for someone to put a mill stone around their neck than to keep these little ones from me.” Then, of course, the judge’s last name in this particular case, his last name is Shepherd. So you start putting some of the symbolism together just on the names, you start to see some of the unique intervention that God has had in this particular matter.

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Can anyone in this town actually still be taking these people seriously?  $300,000 down the drain of school monies that could have better been used to educate our children......because of Freshwater's EGO?  The guy breached his contract; he tried to push his own religious agenda on his students - if he wants to push such an agenda he needs to find employment in a parochial setting, NOT a public secotr

Someone needs to send Freshwater and his attorney packing.......quickly......the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously shot down Freshwater's attorney's latest tactic last week - it's time ot GIVE IT UP guys

 

[ClockStopper]

Well, the hearing will resume late this month.  They've scheduled Oct 28, 29, & 30, Nov 17, 18, & 19, and Dec 10 & 11.  Whether they'll use all of them depends on how many more witnesses Hamilton calls, whether the Board will put on a rebuttal case, and if so, whether Hamilton will respond to the rebuttal.

[harper]

for those of you who have no clue, Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey will cost the school board about $450.00 per hour...all for a shoddy investigative report that was disemboweled by the other teachers and students' testimony...with the family settling for just their legal fees plus one dollar, you ought to get a clue as to how this one is going...and who really is getting burned...

 

[wonderin]

for those of you who have no clue, Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey will cost the school board about $450.00 per hour...all for a shoddy investigative report that was disemboweled by the other teachers and students' testimony...with the family settling for just their legal fees plus one dollar, you ought to get a clue as to how this one is going...and who really is getting burned...

 

You must not be attending the hearing, nothing has been disemboweled!

[seabiscuit]

for those of you who have no clue, Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey will cost the school board about $450.00 per hour...all for a shoddy investigative report that was disemboweled by the other teachers and students' testimony...with the family settling for just their legal fees plus one dollar, you ought to get a clue as to how this one is going...and who really is getting burned...

 

Yes, I'm not really sure where you got this information but I've been at all but 2 hearing dates and it certainly was not "disemboweled".

[harper]

from a lawyer who used to work for squire, sanders, and dempsey...

[seabiscuit]

from a lawyer who used to work for squire, sanders, and dempsey...

they provided you with the hourly rate or the "disembowled" statement?

[harper]

both.

[seabiscuit]

both.

So you're saying that an ex-employee of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey have attended these hearings on their own time?

I find that fascinating!

[cateyes]

  Many attorneys I have no doubt are following this case....as they do many cases thruout the nation.

 And that fee...is inline with many attorneys fees ....some come far more expensive.. I have hired them....cheap one gets you little..

[seabiscuit]

I don't disagree about the hourly charge and I'm sure that there are many attorneys following the story.  What I disagree over is the "disembowled" statement.  I haven't heard that assessment of what went on and I was in the hearing.

[seabiscuit]

The hearing resumes...........

[The_Rooster]

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/10/28/freshwater-morning-update

Buddy Dave wrote the speech, Buddy Dave set the tone.  Those weren't John Freshwater's words...  those were Buddy Dave's.  Unreal.

[wtfreak]

I wouldn't care who wrote them, I would care who spoke them!

[Bubbleburst]

From my story on KP

MOUNT VERNON - A press conference on the Public Square in April 2008 was not the work of suspended Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher John Freshwater, a witness testified during the administrative hearing that resumed this morning.


Religious provocateur Coach Dave Daubenmire took credit for calling the press conference and leading the charge for initial publicity that followed Mount Vernon City Schools officials' request that Freshwater remove a bible from his desk when students were in the classroom. The media campaign was a response to a phone call he received on the morning of April 16 from Freshwater explaining what happened.


Daubemire said the time to act was immediately, because he felt Freshwater would soon be consumed by allegations that would lead to his termination. The president of Pass the Salt Ministries referenced being asked to leave the Mount Vernon Middle School before getting to speak to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in September 2007 as an indicator that the administration was "out to get John Freshwater."


Daubenmire had been a featured guest speaker of the MVMS FCA on at least three prior occasions.


"I told him, 'This isn't about the FCA, this is about you, buddy. You better buck up because this is about you. If this is about me, I would fight back now.'"


That's one of the reasons Daubenmire said he didn't waste any time in writing and sending out press releases.


"It was my press conference," he said. "I'm the one who called to let the media know what they were getting ready to do with my, John Freshwater. That's what I do. I call press conferences, to raise awareness to things going on."


Freshwater, he said, turned to him for advice because he had taken Daubenmire's class on religion in public schools at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. And at the end of the class, Daubenmire told students to call him any time with questions.


Topics on religious expression and limitations placed on public school teachers were a part of the course. Daubenmire taught from a textbook which he said spelled out that Freshwater had a right to have a bible on the desk in his classroom.


That textbook was brought out during the hearing.


"I said, 'Hey John, I'm not going to stand by and watch this happen and here's where this thing is heading," Daubenmire said. "They're going to put you in a box, going to cost you your job and you're going to spend the rest of the time fighting to get your job back."


Freshwater, he said, was resistant to the idea of a press conference and publicizing the issues but changed his mind later. And prior to April 16, 2008, Daubenmire said his relationship with Freshwater had been casual, at best.


Daubenmire is no stranger to legal battles surrounding religion in public schools
 

He left the London City School District in the late 1990s following a legal battle over engaging in prayers with students, using biblical scripture in Thursday night team dinners and meeting to pray after games.


All that, he said, was legal, and admitted to using the bible and scripture in coaching, and also admitted to showing the movie Jesus of Nazareth to his special education class. 


"I prayed in 1997 [with the players] because it was in compliance with the law," said Daubenmire.


Daubenmire spent most of the morning testifying at the hearing for Freshwater, who is on unpaid leave for allegedly burning a student with an electrostatic generator, preaching religion in the presence of students, among other things.


Mount Vernon City School District Attorney David Millstone began cross examining Daubenmire just before noon about his views on religious items in a public school setting.


Daubenmire agreed that defying the wishes of an employer, particularly surrounding religious issues, is insubordinate, but said he answers to a high power.


"It's obedience to God, and I obey him first," he said.


Similar to a trial, the hearing underway today is an administrative proceeding before a referee appointed by the Ohio Department of Education. At its conclusion, the referee will make a recommendation to the Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education about its decision to terminate Freshwater.