On April 3, the Blount County Board of Education voted not to adopt three high school biology textbooks because they do not present creationism alongside evolution, according to The Daily Times. The vote to reject the textbooks was 6-1 (contrary to the The Daily Times's previous report that the vote was 2-1 with 4 abstentions). Since the vote, board members have reportedly been inundated with letters and e-mails regarding the vote.
The district's technology supervisor, Brian Bell, said that the board's concerns about the textbooks would be assuaged by the district's high school science instructors' developing a curriculum in which creationism is presented alongside evolution. The textbooks in question were chosen by the biology teachers at the district's high schools.
April 23, 2003