MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- School board members met Friday to consider what to do with a science teacher whom investigators said preached his Christian beliefs in class and used a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.

The Mount Vernon School Board voted on Friday to pass a resolution to terminate a middle school science teacher who was at the center of a religious and educational controversy.

The controversy began this spring, when eighth-grade science teacher John Freshwater refused to remove his personal Bible from his desk inside his classroom, NBC 4's David Wayne reported.

Investigators said Freshwater preached his Christian beliefs in class and used an electrostatic device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.

Freshwater also taught creationism and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, according to a report by outside investigators.

School board members discussed the findings in a board meeting Friday, a day after consulting firm H.R. On Call Inc. released its report.

The resolution is essentially an indication that the board will terminate Freshwater if he does not appeal he resolution or does not file an appeal.

Freshwater has 10 days to appeal the board's decision. Both Freshwater and his attorney said they plan to appeal the decision, Wayne reported.

The report was released one week after a family filed a federal lawsuit in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on their child's arm that remained for three or four weeks.

Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, as a great guy. But Lynda Weston, the district's director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11 years at the district, the report said.

Freshwater used a science tool known as a high frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, the report said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on three to eight students and described the images an "X" not a cross. But pictures show the images depict a cross, the report said.

Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, according to a report by outside investigators.

School board members discussed the findings Friday, a day after consulting firm H.R. On Call Inc. released its report.

Superintendent Stephen Short wouldn't comment ahead of the meeting, his office said. A message seeking comment was left for Freshwater's attorney, Roger Weaver.

The report was released one week after a family filed a federal lawsuit in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on their child's arm that remained for three or four weeks.

Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, as a great guy. But Lynda Weston, the district's director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11 years at the district, the report said.

A former superintendent, Jeff Maley, said he tried to find another position for Freshwater but couldn't because Freshwater was certified only in science, the report said.

Freshwater used a science tool known as a high frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, the report said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on three to eight students and described the images an "X," not a cross. But pictures show the images depict a cross, the report said.

Other findings show that Freshwater taught the unreliability of carbon dating in support of opposition to evolution. He also told his class that homosexuality is a sin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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