Suit over burning of student settled

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 29 (UPI) -- An Ohio family claiming a teacher burned a cross on their son's arm and taught Christian doctrine in class says they've settled a suit against the teacher.

Details of the settlement between the family of Zachary Dennis, teacher John Freshwater and the insurance carrier for the Mount Vernon City Schools were not released, The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.

The Mount Vernon Board of Education is not a party to the settlement, school board attorney David Millstone said.

District officials don't know and aren't entitled to details of the deal, he said.

"Even though the board carries the insurance policy, it has no authority to approve the settlement," Millstone said.

In August 2009, the school board settled another federal lawsuit brought by the Dennis family, the Dispatch said.

In both that case and the current one, a lawyer representing the Dennises said, the goal was "correcting a wrong done to their child."

Meanwhile, Freshwater has brought a lawsuit against the school district, which announced in June 2008 its intention to fire Freshwater for teaching religion in his science class.