The Blount County Board of Education rejected the adoption of three new biology textbooks because they present evolution but do not present creationism, The Daily Times, Maryville, Tennessee, reported on April 5.
The vote to reject the textbooks passed 2 to 1, with four board members declining to vote. Board members Mike Treadway and Jean Simerly voted to deny the texts and Don McNelly voted to approve them.
According to Technology supervisor Brian Bell, who is charged with assisting teachers in choosing the textbooks, the next course of action would be for the matter to be taken back to science instructors at the high schools and have them write a curriculum that includes creationism taught beside evolution. With that curriculum in place, the board would be content to adopt the three texts.
For the article in The [Maryville, TN] Daily Times see: "Creationism vs. evolution central debate behind rejection of textbooks," 5 April 2003.
April 7, 2003