Weston Subject of Comments: MV School Board Meeting

Dr. Lynda Weston, formerly Director of Teaching and Learning at Mount Vernon City Schools, Ohio, was the subject of the public participation portion of Monday’s school board meeting. Weston is scheduled to testify at the February 20, 2009, John Freshwater contract termination hearing.*

Weston recently retired and the board is in the process of finding a person to fill her position. The board is considering re-hiring Weston for the position, although according to board president, Ian Watson, it would be only for a very short period to fill in until another person can be found.

“We are talking months, not years, and very few months,” Watson said. “That is not our first choice, certainly, I repeat myself on that. But if we cannot find a permanent person to fill that position prior to probably spring break, we will have to have a plan ‘B’ in effect.”

Controversy has arisen in the community over what Weston’s involvement may be in the process of seeking the firing of Freshwater.

Those that spoke at the school board meeting talked about their interaction with Weston and their knowledge of how Weston has handled the hiring of teachers in the school district.

Attempts to contact Weston for comment have been unsuccessful.

*According to the Mount Vernon News website, the February 20 hearing has been postponed until February 26. Delayed again.... The Mount Vernon News website at 4:55 P.M. on Wednesday (2/25/09) posted this news item, "The hearing originally scheduled to resume this Thursday has been postponed until Friday, February 27."



( Weston Subject of Comments (part 1): MV School Board Meeting 2/2/09 )

( Weston Subject of Comments (part 2): MV School Board Meeting 2/2/09 )

Static Electricity

The following testimony took place between 3:04 P.M. and 3:17 P.M. on 1/16/09.

Donald Newcomer teaches sixth-grade math at Mount Vernon Middle School—his 31 year career in the Mount Vernon City School District includes teaching sixth-grade science.

Like eighth-grade science teacher John Freshwater, Newcomer used a Tesla coil during some of his lessons. Newcomer said that he used the device to help students to become excited. It was used during a unit on electricity.

Newcomer described touching the energized device like that of rubbing your feet on carpet and then touching something.

About 100 students touched the device during the times he demonstrated it—all willing volunteers, Newcomer said. The students would touch it with the tip of their fingers. Some students chose not to touch it.

The only times that he had it up to full voltage was when he would demonstrate with it by putting the tip of the device near the metal on the chalk board. When doing this he would sometimes turn off the lights in the room so the students could see the spark better, Newcomer said.

Like other teachers who have testified, Newcomer said that he has no safety concerns about the Tesla coil. Newcomer said he would not use the device if he thought it was going to hurt anyone.

Newcomer has two daughters that went through Freshwater’s class. His daughters never complained about Freshwater—one even recently commented to him about having liked Freshwater, Newcomer said.

***

The manufacture of the Tesla coil, Electro-Technic Products, Inc., gave this description of the device: “It has an output of between 20,000 to 45,000 volts, at a frequency of approximately 500kHz. When properly adjusted, when the electrode is held within ¼ to 1 in. (6 to 25 mm) from a metal object, a spark will jump to the metal. Current output of the spark is about 1 mA.”

High voltage is present anytime a spark is visible—even if it is a spark that resulted from walking across carpet and then touching a door handle. (The amperage of electricity is primarily responsible for injuries, not the voltage.)

The length of the spark is a good indicator of how high the voltage is. To learn more, visit the webpage by William J. Beaty “‘Static Electricity’ means ‘High Voltage’: Measuring your body-voltage.”

Science Teacher: Tesla Coil is Safe

The following testimony took place between 2:29 P.M. and 2:45 P.M. on 1/16/09.

Steven Farmer—an eighth grade science teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School for a period of four years ending in 2005—testified about his experiences with the Tesla coil. (Farmer is currently a science teacher at Mount Vernon High School.)

Farmer used the Tesla coil during lessons on gases and electricity.

Using the Tesla coil on students allows them to experience the flow of electrons first hand, Farmer said. One way Farmer used it was for him to touch the device and then have a student touch his hand. The other way was for them to touch it directly. Farmer said that he never used it on anyone’s arm.

(Witnesses and those who came to watch the Freshwater termination hearing on Friday faced sub zero temperatures.)

If the Tesla coil is grabbed tight it does not hurt, Farmer said. However, he does not think that a person would leave their finger on the device for long. Farmer said that he has only used the device on someone for a second, or a few seconds, at a time.

The first time that Farmer remembers seeing the Tesla coil was when he was a student at the middle school. Farmer said that he had Jeff George as a science teacher but does not remember if George used the device on anyone.

The Mount Vernon News managing editor Samantha Scoles interviewed George for an article they published on April 25, 2008, titled “Experiments typical part of curriculum”: “George said that in his lessons he used Telsa coils and the Vandergraph conductor, a smaller version of a device found at COSI that sends your hair in all directions when touched.”

When Farmer teaches science, he brings in material to supplement what is provided by the school. Most of the outside material is from research done on the internet which Farmer puts into slides he creates in Microsoft’s PowerPoint program, Farmer said.

Kelly Hamilton, John Freshwater’s attorney, asked Farmer if teachers have wide latitude in what they can bring into the classroom. Farmer agreed that they do.

Hamilton asked Farmer if there had been any instructions with the Tesla coil. Farmer was not sure if there were any written instructions—he said that he probably received general instructions on how to use it.

The report by H.R. On Call, Inc. contained the statement, “There was no written instructions that could be located with the device, however operating instructions were available and could be downloaded from the company’s website.” The warning in the downloadable manual is to “Never touch or come in contact with the high voltage output of this device, nor with any device it is energizing.”

Hamilton asked Farmer if he had ever thought to look for instructions on the web about using the device.

Farmer replied that he never searched the web for instructions.

Hamilton reminded Farmer about his statement that he used the web for research when preparing lessons. Hamilton then asked—since Farmer was comfortable with using the internet—why he did not look for that information on the web.

Farmer’s response was that he did not go looking for more information because he already felt comfortable in his ability to use the Tesla coil.

Hamilton brought out the exhibit of the two photos supplied by the Dennis family. Hamilton asked Farmer to look at the photos and tell him if he had ever seen anything, as a result of using the Tesla coil, that looked like what was depicted in the images.

The two photos show someone’s arm, allegedly that of Zach Dennis, with what appears to be burn marks. In one photo the burns appear as the shape of a capital “T.” The second photo the burns form the shape of a lower case “t.” (There are also what appears to be additional red lines running parallel to the trunk of the “T.” The camera angle, and the lighting, is such that these lines are de-emphasized.)

After examining the photos, Farmer said that he has never seen marks like that from his use of the Tesla coil. There has never been any blisters, raised skin or red marks, Farmer said.

Farmer said he has never received any complaints about Freshwater.

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(The electrostatic device is manufactured by Electro-Technic Products, Inc. Photo. )