Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment - National Center for ...

and fostered an excessive entanglement of religion with public school education. The Dennises
should be granted summary judgment on this portion of their Establishment Clause claim as
well.
Case 2:08-cv-00575-GLF-NMK Document 60 Filed 11/16/09 Page 14 of 47
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
This case involves a teacher, a student, and the student’s parents. Defendant John
Freshwater taught eighth grade science at the Mount Vernon Middle School during the 2007-
2008 school year. (Def. Freshwater’s Dep. at 8-9, Oct. 14, 2009 (hereinafter “Freshwater Dep.”)
(attached as Ex. A); First Am. Compl. 11.) Plaintiff Zach Dennis was a student in Freshwater’s
science class that school year. (Freshwater Dep. at 144; First Am. Compl. 10-12; Zachary
Dennis Decl. 1 (attached as Ex. B).) Plaintiffs Stephen (“Steve”) and Jenifer Dennis are Zach
Dennis’ parents. (First Am. Compl. 3; Jenifer Dennis Decl. 1 (attached as Ex. C); Stephen
Dennis Decl. 1 (attached as Ex. D).)
On December 6, 2007—during the eighth grade science class that Zach Dennis
attended—defendant John Freshwater used an electrostatic device commonly known as a Tesla
coil to conduct various experiments. (Freshwater Dep. at 144, 163-64; Zachary Dennis Decl.
2.) Zach’s science class was the eighth period of the day—the last of the school day.
(Freshwater Dep. at 144.) Freshwater had used the Tesla coil in his classroom for years to
conduct experiments. (Id. at 154-55, 183-84.) The Tesla coil is a device that creates an
electrical charge between 20,000 and 45,000 volts, depending on how high or low the device is
set. (Id. at 145-46, 153.) The device has a metal tip, and when placed near an object, the
electrical charge that the Tesla coil generates will arc from its tip to that object. (Id. at 153-54.)
In Zach Dennis’ science class on December 6, 2007, Freshwater used the Tesla coil to apply
electrical charges to sealed tubes of gas and, depending on the color the tube glowed when
4