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School Board To Consider Evolution Resolution

By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: February 3, 2008

SEBRING — With all five school board members believing evolution should not be taught as fact, the School Board of Highlands County on Tuesday will consider a resolution opposing the state's proposed new science standards stance on evolution.

The proposed resolution states, "The board recognizes the importance of providing a thorough and comprehensive science education to all students in Highlands County, which the board believes should include the multiple theories regarding the origins of the universe and life on earth."

School Board Attorney John McClure asked the school board members at the Jan. 22 meeting if there was interest in such a resolution as other board members in the state have opposed evolution being taught as fact.

The board members who were present at the meeting, Donna Howerton, J. Ned Hancock, Richard Norris and Andy Tuck, said they would consider such a resolution,

"I wasn't at the meeting when all this occurred so I'm not privy to all the discussion," Wally Randall said Friday. "The controversy as I understand it was teaching evolution as a fact rather than as a theory."

Have they found the missing link? he asked. Is that why they are jumping from a theory to a fact?

"Once they find that missing link it will be OK with me if they teach it as a fact," Randall said. "But, as long as they still have missing links then it's still a theory. "

The resolution cites examples from the proposed science standards:

Grade seven standards: recognize and describe that fossil evidence is consistent with the idea that human beings evolved from an earlier species.
Earth and Space Science Body of Knowledge Standard 1: cite evidence used to develop and verify the big-bang theory of the origin of the universe.
Life Science Body of Knowledge Standard 2, Evolution and Diversity: evolution is the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence.

The resolution concludes as follows, "the State Board of Education is urged strongly to direct the Florida Department of Education to revise the new Sunshine State Standards for Science such that the big-bang theory and evolution shall be presented only as two of several theories in the study of science."

The school board will consider the resolution at its regular school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Garland Boggus Board Room, 426 School St., Sebring.

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