COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Humanist and secular groups have joined the side of an Ohio school board in a court battle over the firing of a public school science teacher who kept a Bible on his desk and was accused of preaching religious beliefs in class.
The Mount Vernon School Board dismissed John Freshwater last year after investigators reported that he preached Christian beliefs in class when discussing topics such as evolution and homosexuality, and was insubordinate in failing to remove the Bible from his classroom.
The American Humanist Association, the Secular Student Alliance, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State all filed arguments in support of the school board with the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday.
Messages were left with Freshwater's attorney.
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